GERMANY  |  Eastern Bavaria, Germany Travel Guide
Sunday, December 22, 2024
images
1 Of 5

A Brief History of Regensburg

A Brief History of Regensburg

Regensburg was first established as a Celtic colony, Radasbona, located here five centuries before the Romans erected a military camp in AD 80. By AD 179, this camp had been enlarged and was called Castra Regina. Two centuries later, Bavarian tribes forced out the Romans. Regensburg was the ducal seat of the Bavarian rulers from the sixth up to the 13th century.

In the High Middle Ages, Regensburg, with 10,000 inhabitants, was the largest and richest city in the region. In 1245, it became a Free Imperial City. Its decline after that was gradual. By the 16th century, trade routes had shifted and talent moved to the new upcoming cities of Augsburg and Nürnberg. As a result, much of the core of Regensburg that survived is older than that of those two cities. The changing fortunes saw the traders losing business and most of the city indebted to the Jewish bankers. In 1519, the city expelled the Jews and wiped the slate clean. However, the prosperity of previous centuries would never return.

From 1663 to 1806, Regensburg had the prestige of housing the Reichstag – the first Permanent Diet or Parliament in Germany. The Napoleonic wars saw an end of the Holy Roman Empire and in 1810 Regensburg lost its independence and became a provincial backwater in an enlarged Kingdom of Bavaria.

Regensburg’s economic revival waited until after World War II. New industries were founded in the region, including a BMW plant where virtually all 3-series models are produced – wait at the main station and a long train loaded with newly produced cars will pass by sooner or later.

Last updated April 9, 2012
Posted in   Germany  |  Eastern Bavaria
No votes yet
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Trending Themes:

Guides to Popular Ski Resorts

  • Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More

  • Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More

  • Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More

  • Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More

  • Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More

  • St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More

  • Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More

  • St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More

  • Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More

 

Copyright © 2010-2013 Indian Chief Travel Guides. Images tagged as (cc) are licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA license.