Regensburg,
Germany
Sister City since 1976
City Coordinator - Chris Naderer
Regensburg, sometimes formerly called Ratisbon in English,
is an historic, commercial and industrial city in Bavaria
dating all the way back to the first century. It is located
fifty four miles (eighty seven kilometers) southeast of
Nurnberg, on the northernmost bend of the Danube River,
with a population today of approximately 142,000 people
(about the same size as Tempe). The Bohemian Forest lies
directly to the east and offers dense, rolling hills for
recreation, while the Czechoslovakian border is only forty
two miles away in the same direction.
The present city developed out of the Castra Regina, an
important Roman camp on the northern fringes of the empire.
From about A.D. 530 to the first half of the 13th century,
it was the capital of Bavaria and the dukes of Bavaria
resided there during the 8th and 9th centuries. It is
believed that even in late Roman times it was the seat of a
bishop, and St. Boniface re-established a bishopric there
in A.D. 739. Throughout the early Middle Ages, Regensburg
was the cultural center of southern Germany and was
celebrated for gold work and expensive fabrics. In 1245, it
became a free imperial city and was a trade center before
the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. From
1663 to 1806, it was the permanent seat of the Imperial
Diet. In 1809, it was partially destroyed by the French,
under Napoleon, and a year later was incorporated into
Bavaria.
Regensburg is the most perfectly preserved Romanesque and
Gothic city in Germany. Its red tiled roofs and onion-dome
churches were spared damage in World War II... in fact, the
city has been little touched by war since Napoleon, who
scaled the town walls with ladders, was wounded there in
1809. In the last decade, the Alstadt or Old Town,
comprising fourteen hundred historic buildings that date
back to the Middle Ages, has been revivified.
The city has churches that date from the late Roman and
Carolingian eras except for their 17th and 18th century
baroque facades. The Cathedral of St. Peter (1250-1520) is
one of the finest Gothic structures in all of Bavaria. The
world famous Regensburger Domspatzen, the "sparrows of
Regensburg Cathedral", as the boys choir is called, began
its musical tradition of the city in this historic
structure.