Revealing Regensburg

Regensburg is renowned for its well-preserved and UNESCO World Heritage-listed medieval centre, but it’s a contemporary landmark that first grabs the attention as we step off our cruise ship for a stroll by the River Danube. Occupying a striking grey steel and glass building designed by Frankfurt-based architects WTR, the Museum of Bavarian History opened in 2018 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Kingdom of Bavaria’s constitution, and also the centenary of the Bavarian Free State. Bavaria is, of course, now part of a unified Germany, where they know Bavaria as Bayern. A figure of a lion — a traditional heraldic symbol of Bavaria — takes centrestage in the museum’s light-filled lobby. A gift shop sells Bavarian books and keepsakes (we bag a nice ceramic stein/beer mug), while a tavern-style restaurant rustles up specialities from across the state. The multimedia-boosted exhibition spaces, which incur an admission fee of €7 ($11) for adults, €5 ($8) for over-65s, celebrate Bavarian history, customs, culture and nature. Displays touch on everything from lederhosen and dirndls to FC Bayern and BMW, two giants of the German football and automobile industries respectively, both headquartered in Munich, the state capital, 125km south of Regensburg. We’d flown into Munich the day before, where our Viking representative led us to our 90-minute coach transfer to Viking Egil. It’s one of several Viking vessels that traverse the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, with this particular seven-night cruise flowing through Germany, Austria and Slovakia, before ending in the Hungarian capital, Budapest (you can also do the cruise in the opposite direction). Whether you start or finish here, Regensburg has the power to charm and fascinate. Unlike many German cities, it eluded large-scale damage during World War II, and is best discovered on foot. Viking offers at least one free excursion in each port and here we take a guided walk with Paul, an economics student at the city’s university. The son of a history professor (his parents met while studying at the university), Paul has an impressive grasp of Regensburg’s storied past, tracing its various episodes from ancient Roman stronghold and bustling medieval river port to its post-war and present-day fortunes. He shares stories beside Regensburg’s top sights, such as the Steinerne Brucke, one of the oldest stone bridges spanning the whole Danube. Pedestrians and cyclists pass by as we stand on this 16-arch, 12th-century structure, which connects the Altstadt (old town) and Stadtamhof, once a separate village that grew in size and wealth in the Middle Ages through the salt trade. Treading the narrow, cobbled streets of Regensburg’s historic core, we pass by converted salt stores and warehouses and grand patrician merchants’ tower-houses funded by the salt business. Paul points out the bulky Goliath House, whose facade has a vast mural of David and Goliath. Even mightier is St Peter’s Cathedral, considered the most significant piece of Gothic architecture in all Bavaria. It’s not quite at its photogenic best (an ongoing refurbishment has clad one of its two towers in scaffolding), but its sheer scale provokes awe. Also making its presence felt are the relics from Regensburg’s ancient Roman era, when it was called Castra Regina. Legions set up camp here to defend the border of their empire, the Danube, against the Germanic tribes on the other side of the river. We stop by Porta Praetoria, an arched gateway from AD 179, built for Marcus Aurelius (“He was the emperor from the film Gladiator,” says Paul). We see other sections of the Roman city wall (the most affecting bit is in a carpark by Dachauplatz). Perhaps the most absorbing — and disturbing — aspect of Paul’s tour is the focus on Regensburg’s Jewish heritage. The city was the home of Oskar Schindler for a period after World War II. The German industrialist helped save the lives of around 1200 Jews during the Holocaust, and a plaque marks the house in which he resided. Schindler received death threats from Nazis who had hunkered down in Regensburg after the war, says Paul, who also reveals that anti-Semitic attitudes had long prevailed in a city that had its first Jewish settlement in the early 11th century (much earlier than many other German cities). In 1519, the entire Jewish population was expelled from Regensburg after a conspiracy theory spread claiming they were poisoning the city’s wells. The majority Christian community destroyed the Jewish cemetery and recycled the tombstones. As we wander through the old Jewish quarter, Paul points out slabs inscribed with Hebrew words in the facades of buildings. “What’s most shameful is how this was all backed by the people at the very top,” he adds, pointing to a tombstone wedged into the old town hall. While Regensburg’s dark history is disturbing, Paul shares tales that reflect a more positive side of human nature. After revealing that a new Jewish cemetery opened in Regensburg in 2009, he brings us to Neupfarrplatz, where a memorial sculpture, the Ort der Begegnung (Place of Encounter), was designed by the late Israeli artist Dani Karavan to be a shared space for people to sit and mingle, whatever their nationality or religion. Some of Regensburg’s Christmas markets pitch up on this square in the festive season and you may hear carols floating from the 16th-century New Parish Church, which was built on the site of a former synagogue. After bidding Paul “auf Wiedersehen”, we pass a brand-new synagogue and cultural centre, opened in 2019 in another striking contemporary building. It’s next door to Rehorik, a cellar cafe and roastery that we’d heard about. It proves a good recommendation. The coffees are nice and strong, the interior warm and cosy. We’ll rest up here, reflect on that tour, plot the rest of our day and maybe pop back to the ship for a bit of lunch. Fact file + Steve McKenna was a guest of Viking Cruises. They have not seen or approved this story.