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Hello everybody ! Long promised now done - one page about
the town Regensburg in beautiful Bavaria. I beg your pardon for waiting so
long, but on one hand I have to work and earn some money and on the other hand
it was not easy to find some acceptable pictures ( I guess the town fathers
think the whole world now them so they see no necessarity to send me some).
But nevertheless let's now talk and drive to Regensburg. Arriving at Munich
airport we have a distance from about 100 km to reach the town. One of my sightseeing
trips in the area between Passau and Furth
im Wald.
Using the higway in direction Munich,
then turning at the highway cross at Neufahrn to the right in direction Nuernberg we reach after about 20 km a direct connection
to Regensburg. This freeway passed through a lovely hilly landscape, we could
even stop at the monastery of Weltenburg (look at the page of Kelheim
please) and then we see that huge Temple.
No, no, don't be afraid, I didn't miss the way and we're
now in Greece. This monument was built by king Ludwig I. (the father of the
dream king Ludwig II. - Neuschwanstein and other
castles he forced) as a hall of fame. Around 1800 the taste of the aristocrats
were touching antiques like the Akropolis and so on. This hall is named Walhalla
regarding very old German legends. If we can see the building the town Regensburg
will be reached in a few minutes.
Now you can see one main symbol of the town, the towers
of St. Peter, a church with "eternity" renovation work. Always you
can see somewhere people restoring some parts of that building, the stones
are very weak, we call them "sandstone" and so they must fix every
year something.
Here we are, in town. But please, be not angry, to discover
the nice old town, you must walk. A sightseeing tour with my van through the
old streets is not possible. This old center is more than 2000 years old, the
houses not all, but some parts of these old buildings you can find. And here
you have the explanation about the main title: because Regensburg is so old,
lots of people gave a lot of names. Three of them are historical briefed, the
first name was Rhataspone and was given by the Celtics. Then our italian friends
came, the Romans, and named it Castra Regina. The last name was given by the
Bavarians, they called the town in older times Reganespurc and with the centuries
now we write Regensburg.
The picture shows you an old part of the Roman Castell wall.
Even in the last two centuries the walls safed Regensburg a lot of times. And
a real joke of history was in the time of Napoleon. As the French army hunt
the Austrian troups, these escaped to Regensburg and defend the walls like
devils. And even with guns and canons the French could not conquer the town.
So they had to collect from all farmers in the area ladders to climb up the
walls, which army in the 19th century thought they need middle age methods?
To understand why the Austrian army was defending this town
of the risk of thousands of lifes you must know, mother nature is in that area
a great help against troups. Two rivers, the "Regen" (there the name
is part from) and the Danube are a natural border and very difficult to take
over. The only bridge in that old times was and is still the "Bridge of
Stones" you can see below.
Please be careful by walking over, the bridge was built
from 1135 till 1146 (by the help of the devil, the legend told - I'll tell
you a little later). Here I will stop and you can walk in old center town very
easily. Take a look at these old citizen houses, a demonstration of the old
richness by trade of salt and other goods coming down the rivers or the ware
pathes.
If you have Irish or Scottish blood in your ancestors, you
should visit the "scottish church" of St. Jacob. This monastery was
over centuries run by an Irish-Scottish Convent and so always a thorn in the
eyes of German Bishops. Still today the tradition of this convent will be delayed
somewhere near Loch Ness in Scotland.
What's the hell, what marvellous smell ? Easy answer, that
is the smell of a great speciality of Regensburg. These sausages are very known
and liked, they have a secret mixture. So, if you are sometimes in Munich and
see an advertisement at a butchers store "fresh Regensburger" that
means these sausages (man-eating is not more allowed in Bavaria since .....)
A great visiting point is the great town hall. Here was the meeting point of
the German parliament (not comparable with our democratic one now) from the
year 788 - 1806. There were bishops, kings, dukes, artists and other famous
people collected and they all thought about the best for Germany. Interesting
the long bench in that room, it was for all the paper works to be discussed.
So, if you sometimes are desparate about a long during decision of your own
buerocrazy think on Regensburg: from there the word is coming " to put
it on a long bench".
But I want not bore you with too much talking, go walking
and discover yourself, it is nice. Maybe, some of yours are now wondering about
the "devils-help" for the bridge building. Ok, keep your eyes off
and look by marching over the bridge to that stone made picture near the gate.
You will see some chickens there and here is the legend:
The Bridge of Stone and the devil
As the decision was made in Regensburg to build a huge
church and this brigde the both building leaders made a bet. Each of them thought,
he is faster ending his building than the other. Going home the bridge builder
met a curious strange guy on his way at home. This was the devil. He promised
to help building the bridge but he wanted to be paid. "What shall I pay
you" the bridge builder asked him. The devil answered: "the first
soul walking over your bridge should be mine". They made the deal.
In the meantime the church builder was wondering how
fast the bridge grew and the bridge builder had even problems to get all material
in time. After nine years ! this huge bridge was ready and the big celebration
of opening should be the next day. The devil was very happy because he hoped
to catch a priest or monk, these guys always are the first to open up new buildings
and to give the benediction. But the bridge constructioneer was a religious,
smart and brave man so the first souls walking over the bridge were some chickens
the builder hunt over the bridge. The devil was real nasty but the contract
was fulfilled, he got his souls.
That's for today. I hope you had a little bit fun again
on that travel and maybe, you will use my service to drive there and back.
I would enjoy that trip. Have a nice time always in Bavaria, when ever I can
I'll help you.
Sincerely yours
George
Script by J.W.Lohfink, for any mistakes in
spell or grammar I apologize as a precaution, corrections, questions or comments
please
mail to me.
>> German version
And last but not least, if you like to search on my page
more or in the internet,
then you'll find at the bottom the marvellous search-help
by Google.
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