Quick Stopover in Gothic Regensburg

Regensburg is beautifully situated on the Danube River and among the oldest settlements in Germany, going back to Roman times. But since we were trying to travel as far south as possibly on the first day of our Southern Germany road trip, we only had time for a brief afternoon stopover in Regensburg.

A TINY PHOTO SNAPSHOT OF REGENSBURG

We had about an hour or so for a quick zip around the old city centre (Altstadt), and spent most of that time being in awe of the majestic Gothic Regensburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter).

Once inside, we couldn’t quite get over the height of the ceilings. The vault rises to a height of 32 m in a sort of canopy, it’s incredible to think that this was man-made hundreds of years ago! You just wonder how many people died creating such marvels of architecture (or maybe that’s just my morbid mind…).

Just around the corner from the cathedral are remnants of Regensburg’s Roman past. Not much is left of the old Roman gate Porta Praetoria now but you can still admire the arch created around AD 179 – just think about for a moment how old that actually is! And some of it is still there!

In hindsight, we should have planned a longer stopover to really explore some of the sights, including visiting the torture chambers at the Altes Rathaus (Old Townhall), wandering along the banks of the Danube to see the 900-year old Steinerne Brücke (Stone Bridge), or trying out the world’s oldest sausages at the Wurstkuchl (sausage kitchen).

Apparently they’ve been making sausages there since 1135 – as I said, Regensburg is a seriously old town!

The husband recently read The Beggar King, most of which is set in medieval Regensburg and prominently features its torture chambers, so having actually seen the torture chambers and eaten one of their medieval sausages would have made reading the historical novel so much more exciting! 🙂

SUMMING UP

So, if you’re ever in that part of Germany and are keen on old stuff, stop over in Regensburg and dive into the past. And whilst you do that, enjoy a 900-year old sausage.

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