Tourist Attractions in Regensburg

Southeast of Bismarckplatz in Regensburg is the Early Gothic Dominican Church (13th C.), in the ascetic style of the mendicant orders, with a finely proportioned interior.

At Donaustauf, 11km/7mi east of Regensburg and 96m/315ft above the Danube, is the Walhalla, a "German Temple of Fame" resembling the Parthenon; it was built by Leo von Klenze in 1830-42 during the reign of Ludwig I.

At Kelheim, 26km/16mi southwest of Regensburg, commandingly situated above the Danube on the Michaelsberg, can be found the Hall of Liberation (Befreiungshalle; by Friedrich Gärtner and Leo von Klenze, 1842-63), a 59m/194ft high rotunda commemorating the wars of liberation of 1813-15. In the interior are 34 goddesses of victory by Ludwig Schwanthaler.

At the west end of the old town of Regensburg, in Jakobstrasse, is the Schottenkirche, built about 1150-80 by Irish ("Scottish") monks. The north doorway has enigmatic sculpture showing northern influence.

The best view of Regensburg is to be had from the 310m/340yd long Stone Bridge (Steinerne Brücke; 12th C.) over the Danube, a masterpiece of medieval engineering.

Days of Old Music is an annual three-day festival that takes place in early June. Events include chamber concerts and recitals by international performers, including orchestras from Europe and North America. The performances focus on early baroque and Renaissance music and take place in venues including the Minorettenkirche, City Hall, the Dominican Church and Duke's Hall.

The culture of the former East Germany is portrayed in the painting, plastic and graphic arts on display at the Eastern Germany Gallery Museum.

At Keplerstrasse 5 in Regensburg, is the house in which the astronomer Johannes Kepler died in 1630. It is now a museum (contemporary furniture, original instruments, working models, documents).

In Dachauplatz (56m/60yd long stretch of Roman walls) in Regensburg is the Municipal Museum, housed in a former Minorite friary (prehistory, Roman times, history of the town, art of the 14th-19th centuries, folk art).

To the west of Regensburg, on the banks of the Danube, extends the Herzogspark, with the Herzogspalais (Ducal Palace), now occupied by the Natural History Museum of Eastern Bavaria (petrography, mineralogy, paleontology, zoology, botany).

To the south, in the Stadtpark, is the East German Gallery.

In Haidplatz in Regensburg can be seen the 15th C. New Weigh-House (Neue Waage), the scene of a famous disputation in 1541 between Melanchthon and Johann Eck.

Adjoining the Bishop's Palace in Regensburg is the Niedermünster (12th and 17th-18th C.), with the tomb of St Erhard and 12th and 16th C. frescoes. Under the church are the excavated remains of Roman, Merovingian, Carolingian and Ottonian buildings (conducted visit).

In the Alter Kornmarkt (Old Cornmarket) in Regensburg, to the south of the Niedermünster, are: the so-called Roman Tower (actually a relic of a Carolingian imperial stronghold); and the Herzogshof, a residence of the Dukes of Bavaria which is mentioned in the records as early as 988. On the south side of the square stands the Old Chapel (Alte Kapelle; originally built 1002; choir 1441-52), with a sumptuous Roccoco interior. On the east side of the square is the Baroque Carmelite Church (1641-60; facade 1673).

Southwest of the Stone Bridge in Regensburg lies the old merchants' quarter, in which are a number of old tower-houses. The picturesque Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) dates from the 14th-18th centuries (historical apartments, medieval courtroom, collection of art and antiquities). The Imperial Hall (Reichssaal) was the meeting-place of the "Perpetual Imperial Diet," the first German parliament (1663-1806). The Baroque eastern wing, linked with the older part of the building by the tower, was added in 1661.

The old conventual buildings in Regensburg became in 1812 the residence of the Princes Thurn und Taxis, German Postmasters-General until 1866. Parts of the palace, which was altered and enlarged in the 19th C., are open to the public, including the museum in the old court stables, the Marstall.

To the north of the Niedermünster in Regensburg, the Danube is spanned by the Iron Bridge (Eiserne Brücke), near which is moored the museum ship "Ruthof/Ersekcsanad," an old paddle-steamer with an exhibition of material on the history of shipping in Bavaria.

On the south side of the Domgarten in Regensburg is the Early Gothic church of St Ulrich (c. 1025), with the Diocesan Museum (sacred art from the 11th C. onwards).

Thurn and Taxis Castle in Regensburg is made up of ancient abbey buildings. A unique feature is its well-preserved gothic cloister.