Ratisbon

Regensburg

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Regensburg
Coat of arms
Regensburg
Coordinates: 49°1′N 12°5′ECoordinates: 49°1′N 12°5′E
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Upper Palatinate
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord Mayor	Joachim Wolbergs (SPD)
Area
• Total	80.76 km2 (31.18 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
• Total	140,276
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	93001–93059
Dialling codes	0941
Vehicle registration	R
Website	www.regensburg.com

Regensburg (German pronunciation: [ˈʁeɡənsbʊɐ̯k]) is a city in south-east Germany, situated at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen River. With over 140,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest town in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg. The city is the political, economic and cultural centre of Eastern Bavaria and the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate.
The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a testimony of the city's status as cultural centre of southern Germany in the middle ages. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany.^[2] Generally known in English as Ratisbon until well into the twentieth century, the city is known as Ratisbonne in French and as Ratisbona in Spanish and Italian.

Contents

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Early history
  • 1.2 Middle Ages
  • 1.3 Modern history
  • 1.4 Nazism and World War II
  • 1.5 History after 1945
• 2 Geography
  • 2.1 Topography
  • 2.2 Climate
• 3 Main sights
  • 3.1 The city
  • 3.2 The surrounding
• 4 Culture
  • 4.1 Museums and Exhibitions
  • 4.2 Theaters
  • 4.3 Music
  • 4.4 Film and Cinema
  • 4.5 Buildings
  • 4.6 Recreation
  • 4.7 Memorial Sites
  • 4.8 Events
  • 4.9 Nightlife
• 5 Demographics
  • 5.1 Population
  • 5.2 International communities
  • 5.3 Religion
• 6 Politics
  • 6.1 Government
  • 6.2 Boroughs
  • 6.3 Sister cities
• 7 Economy
  • 7.1 Companies
  • 7.2 Tourism
• 8 Infrastructure
  • 8.1 Transport
  • 8.2 Energy
  • 8.3 Health
• 9 Education
  • 9.1 Universities and academia
  • 9.2 Research
  • 9.3 Schools
• 10 Sports
  • 10.1 Football
  • 10.2 Ice Hockey
  • 10.3 Baseball
  • 10.4 Athletics
• 11 Notable residents
• 12 Gallery
• 13 See also
• 14 Notes
• 15 References
• 16 External links

History

Early history

The remains of the East Tower of Porta Praetoria from Ancient Roman times

The first settlements in Regensburg date to the Stone Age. The Celtic name Radasbona was the oldest name given to a settlement near the present city. Around AD 90, the Romans built a fort there.
In 179, the Roman fort Castra Regina ("fortress by the river Regen") was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.^[3] It was an important camp on the most northern point of the Danube: it corresponds to what is today the core of Regensburg's Altstadt ("Old City") east of the Obere and Untere Bachgasse and West of the Schwanenplatz. It is believed that even in late Roman times the city was the seat of a bishop, and St Boniface re-established the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739.
From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of the Agilolfing ruling family. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne. In 792, Regensburg hosted the ecclesiastical section of Charlemagne's General Assembly. The bishops in council condemned the heresy of Adoptionism taught by the Spanish bishops, Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgel. After the partition of the Carolingian Empire, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, Louis II the German in 843. Two years later, fourteen Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of Christianization of the Czech people, and the diocese of Regensburg became the mother diocese of Prague. These events had a wide impact on the cultural history of Czech lands, as they were consequently incorporated into the Roman Catholic and not into the Slavic-Orthodox world. The fact is well remembered, and a memorial plate at St John's Church (the alleged place of the baptism) was unveiled a few years ago, commemorating the incident in the Czech and German languages.
On 8 December 899 Arnulf of Carinthia, descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg (known as Ratisbon at the time), Bavaria, Germany.^[4]
In 800 AD the city had 23,000 inhabitants and by 1000 AD this almost doubled to 40,000 people.^[5]
In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of Crusaders that attempted to force the mass conversion of the Jews of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.^[6]
Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge across the Danube was built at Regensburg. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice, and this began Regensburg's golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the cultural centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabrics.

Middle Ages

Imperial City of Regensburg
Reichsstadt Regensburg
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1245–1803 →
Capital		Regensburg
Government		Republic
Historical era		Middle Ages
-	First settled	Stone Age
-	Gained Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit)¹	1245
-	City annexed by Bavaria	1486–96
-	City adopted Reformation	1542
-	Made permanent seat     of the Imperial Diet	1663
-	Mediatised to new     Archbishopric2	1803
-	Ceded to Bavaria on     Imperial collapse	1810
Today part of		Germany
1: The Bishopric of Regensburg acquired Imperial immediacy around the same time as the City. Of the three Imperial Abbeys in Regensburg, Niedermünster had already acquired Imperial immediacy in 1002, St. Emmeram's Abbey did in 1295 and Obermünster in 1315. 2: The Bishopric, the Imperial City and all three Imperial Abbeys were mediatised simultaneously.

In 1245 Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade centre before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. At the end of the 15th century in 1486, Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor ten years later. The city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran. From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which became known as the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg. Thus, Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.

Ceremonial arrival at the Imperial Diet, 1711

A minority of the population remained Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholics were denied civil rights ("Bürgerrecht"). But the town of Regensburg must not be confused with the Bishopric of Regensburg. Although the Imperial city had adopted the Reformation, the town remained the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and several abbeys. Three of the latter, St. Emmeram, Niedermünster and Obermünster, were estates of their own within the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that they were granted a seat and a vote at the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). So there was the unique situation that the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in terms of the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three monasteries (mentioned previously). In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region Bavaria (not the state), acted as functional co-capital of the Empire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet, and it was residence of the Emperor's Commissary-Principal to the same diet, who with one very brief exception was a prince himself (longstandingly the Prince Thurn and Taxis, still resident in the town).

Modern history

In 1803 the city lost its status as a free city, following its incorporation into the Principality of Regensburg. It was handed over to the Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire Carl von Dalberg in compensation for Mainz, which had become French under the terms of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. The archbishopric of Mainz was formally transferred to Regensburg. Dalberg united the bishopric, the monasteries, and the town itself, making up the Principality of Regensburg (Fürstentum Regensburg). Dalberg strictly modernized public life. Most importantly, he awarded equal rights to Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. In 1810 Dalberg ceded Regensburg to the Kingdom of Bavaria, he himself being compensated by the award of Fulda and Hanau to him under the title of "Grand Duke of Frankfurt".
Between April 19 and April 23, 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the Battle of Ratisbon between forces commanded by Baron de Coutaud (the 65th Ligne) and retreating Austrian forces. The city was eventually overrun, after supplies and ammunition ran out. The city suffered severe damage during the fight, with about 150 houses being burnt and others being looted.

Nazism and World War II

Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft factory and an oil refinery, which were bombed by the Allies on August 17, 1943, by the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, and on February 5, 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Although both targets were badly damaged, Regensburg itself suffered little damage from the Allied strategic bombing campaign, and the nearly intact medieval city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city's most important cultural loss was that of the Romanesque church of Obermünster, which was destroyed in a March 1945 air raid and was never rebuilt (the belfry survived). Also, Regensburg's slow economic recovery after the war ensured that historic buildings were not torn down, to be replaced by newer ones. When the upswing in restoration reached Regensburg in the late 1960s, the prevailing mindset had turned in favour of preserving the city's heritage.

History after 1945

cancel by the Ukrainian Camp Post at Regensburg DP Camp

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Reference	1155
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2006 (30th Session)

Between 1945 and 1949, Regensburg was the site of the largest Displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany. At its peak in 1946–1947, the workers' district of Ganghofersiedlung housed almost 5,000 Ukrainian and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of U.S. Military Government in the American Allied Occupation Zone, Regensburg and other DP camps organised their own camp postal service. In Regensburg, the camp postal service began operation on December 11, 1946.^[7]
At the beginning of the 1960s, Regensburg invested a lot in technical and social infrastructure to attract industry. Siemens was the first multinational company to come to Regensburg, a milestone in the city's development after WWII. In 1965, Regensburg University was founded, Regensburg University of Applied Sciences was established in 1971. The second multinational company, BMW, came in 1986 to build up a large production plant. Since the 1990s, several well-known hightech companies are located in Regensburg, such as Infineon and OSRAM, contributing to the city's current wealth.
In 1997, Regensburg was awarded the Europe Prize for its outstanding achievements in european integration.^[8]
The World Heritage Committee listed Regensburg's Old Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2006. It is the largest medieval old town north of the Alps and very well preserved, dubbing it "Italy's most northern city". Close to the Stone Bridge, the city of Regensburg established a World Heritage Centre in the historic Salzstadl in 2007, where detailed information on Regensburg's 2000 year old history is given.

Geography

Topography

Regensburg is situated on the northernmost part of the Danube river at the geological crossroads of four distinct landscapes:

• to the north and northeast lies the Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald) with granite and gneiss mountains, wide forests and its national park.
• to the east and south-east is the fertile Danube plain (Gäuboden) which are highly cultivated loess plains
• the south is dominated by the tertiary hill country (Tertiär-Hügelland), a continuation of alpine foothills
• to the West is Franconian Jura (Fränkische Jura)

Climate

The climate in Regensburg is categorized in the Köppen climate classification as Dfb (humid continental). The average temperature of 8.5 °C is slightly above the German average (7.8 °C), the average precipitation of 636 mm per year below the German average (approximately 700 mm). With a total of 1670 sunshine hours per year, Regensburg is roughly 120 hours above German average.^[9]
The warmest month of the year, on average, is July. The coolest month of the year, on average, is January.

Climate data for Regensburg
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	2.6 (36.7)	4.1 (39.4)	10.5 (50.9)	17.3 (63.1)	20.6 (69.1)	24.2 (75.6)	26.3 (79.3)	24.5 (76.1)	20.6 (69.1)	14.4 (57.9)	7.2 (45)	2.9 (37.2)	14.6 (58.3)
Average low °C (°F)	−2.6 (27.3)	−2.8 (27)	0.1 (32.2)	4.4 (39.9)	8.1 (46.6)	11.8 (53.2)	13.6 (56.5)	12.5 (54.5)	9.3 (48.7)	5.1 (41.2)	1.8 (35.2)	−1.7 (28.9)	5.0 (41)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	51 (2.01)	34 (1.34)	37 (1.46)	41 (1.61)	76 (2.99)	77 (3.03)	81 (3.19)	79 (3.11)	43 (1.69)	38 (1.5)	45 (1.77)	56 (2.2)	658 (25.91)
Average relative humidity (%)	88	84	78	72	71	71	70	74	79	84	88	89	79
Mean monthly sunshine hours	44	73	140	194	211	226	240	194	158	105	45	37	1,667
Source #1: World Meteorological Organisation[10]
Source #2: German Weather Service[11]

Main sights

The city

St. Peter's Church - the Regensburg Cathedral

Kohlenmarkt with Town Hall, site of the Perpetual Diet from 1663 to 1806.

St. Emmeram's Abbey, now Schloss Thurn und Taxis, a huge palace

Regensburg owns the largest medieval old town north of the Alps with nearly 1,500 listed buildings and a picturesque cityscape. Its most famous sights are located mainly in the Old Town, such as:

• The Dom (Cathedral) is an example of pure German Gothic and counts as the main work of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, with the exception of the towers, which were finished in 1869. The interior contains numerous interesting monuments, including one of Peter Vischer's masterpieces. Adjoining the cloisters are two chapels of earlier date than the cathedral itself, one of which, known as the old cathedral, goes back perhaps to the 8th century. The official choir for the liturgical music at St Peter's Cathedral are the famous Regensburger Domspatzen.
• The stone bridge, built 1135–1146, is a highlight of medieval bridge building. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusade used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land.
• Remains of the Roman fortress' walls including the Porta Praetoria.
• The Church of St. James, also called Schottenkirche, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th century, derives its name from the monastery of Irish Benedictines (Scoti) to which it was attached; the principal doorway is covered with very singular grotesque carvings. It stands next to the Jakobstor, a medieval city gate named after it.
• The old parish church of St. Ulrich is a good example of the Transition style of the 13th century, and contains a valuable antiquarian collection. It houses the diocesan museum for religious art.
• Examples of the Romanesque basilica style are the church of Obermünster, dating from 1010, and the abbey church of St. Emmeram, built in the 13th century, remarkable as one of the few German churches with a detached bell tower. The beautiful cloisters of the ancient abbey, one of the oldest in Germany, are still in a fair state of preservation. In 1809 the conventual buildings were converted into a palace for the prince of Thurn and Taxis, hereditary postmaster-general of the Holy Roman Empire.
• The Adler-Apotheke, located nearby the Regensburg Cathedral, was founded in 1610 and is one of the oldest Pharmacies in Regensburg. Even today you can take a look at the ancient interior and historical vessels.
• Wealthy patrician families competed against each other to see who would be able to build the highest tower of the city. In 1260, the Goldener Turm (golden tower) was built on Wahlenstraße.
• The Old Town Hall, dating in part from the 14th century, contains the rooms occupied by the Imperial diet from 1663 to 1806.
• A historical interest is also attached to the Gasthof zum Goldenen Kreuz (Golden Cross Inn), where Charles V made the acquaintance of Barbara Blomberg, the mother of Don John of Austria (born 1547).
• Perhaps the most pleasant modern building in the city is the Gothic villa of the king of Bavaria on the bank of the Danube.
• Among the public institutions of the city are the public library, picture gallery, botanical garden, and the institute for the making of stained glass. The city's colleges (apart from the University of Regensburg) include an episcopal clerical seminary, and a school of church music.
• St. Emmeram's Abbey, now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, is a huge castle owned by the powerful Thurn and Taxis family.
• The City Park, the oldest and largest park in Regensburg with a lot of artwork
• The Botanischer Garten der Universität Regensburg is a modern botanical garden located on the University of Regensburg campus.
• Herzogspark also contains several small botanical gardens.

The Stone Bridge, St. Peter's Church and the Old Town of Regensburg

The surrounding

Klenze's Walhalla, built in 1842

Bavarian Forest National Park stamp

Near Regensburg there are two very imposing Classical buildings, erected by Ludwig I of Bavaria as national monuments to German patriotism and greatness:

• The more imposing of the two is the Walhalla, a costly reproduction of the Parthenon, erected as a Teutonic temple of fame on a hill rising from the Danube at Donaustauf, 10 km to the east. The interior, which is as rich as coloured marble, gilding, and sculptures can make it, contains the busts of more than a hundred Germanic worthies
• The second of King Ludwig's buildings is the Befreiungshalle at Kelheim, 25 km above Regensburg, a large circular building which has for its aim the glorification of the heroes of the 1813 War of Liberation

Besides, there is the famous Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg), a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube. The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, on the so-called "Weltenburg Narrows" or the "Danube Gorge". The monastery, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620, is held to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria.
To the east of Regensburg lies the Bavarian Forest with its National Park, one of the most visited protected areas in Germany.

Culture

Museums and Exhibitions

Altogether Regensburg is home to 20 museums. Among the most prominent museums are for instance the Regensburg Museum of History which shows history, culture and arts of Regensburg and Eastern Bavaria from stone age to present. Then there is the Imperial diet museum (Reichstagsmuseum) in the Old Town Hall describing the life during the Holy Roman Empire. Its main attractions are an original torture chamber and the Reichssaal, the rooms occupied by the Imperial diet from 1663 to 1806. The Kepler Memorial House (Keplergedächtnishaus) illustrates the life of the famous astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. The Municipal Art Gallery Leerer Beutel offers art collections, film events and cultural festivals. Over the last years, the city added several outdoor museums to its cultural landscape, the so-called document sites. These give an overview on specific topics such as Roman, Jewish and Bavarian history.
Besides, there are the diocese museums (Bistumsmuseen) of Regensburg and a branch of the Bavarian National Museum located in the St. Emmeram's Abbey, which contains the Princely Treasure Chamber of the family Thurn and Taxis. The Domschatzmuseum where church treasures, monstrances and tapestries are displayed is in St. Peter's Cathedral. Other museums are the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, the Naturkundemuseum Ostbayern, the reptile zoo, the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping (Donau-Schiffahrts-Museum), the Public Observatory Regensburg as well as the watch museum (Uhrenmuseum), the golf museum, the post museum and the Dinoraeum. To celebrate its centenary, the State of Bavaria will open the museum of Bavarian history in Regensburg in mai 2018. Besides, there are guided tours in most of the historical monuments of Regensburg, as well as organized tourist tours through the city available in several languages.

Theaters

Inside Regensburg Theater

The Regensburg Theater at the Bismarckplatz is 200 years old and is the most important theater of the city. Operas, operettas, musicals and ballets are shown. In summer, open-air performances are carried out as well. With the theater at the Bismarckplatz as the oldest and largest one, the Regensburg theater has four other stages with programmes that complement each other:^[12] in the Neuhaussaal of the theater at the Bismarckplatz, concerts by the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg take place. The Velodrom Theater presents musicals and plays. In the Haidplatz Theater mainly literary and modern plays are performed, whereas the Turmtheater at the Goliathplatz shows modern plays as well, but also cabarets, musicals and plays for children.

Music

Regensburg is home to the famous Regensburger Domspatzen. Since 2003 there are the Regensburger Schlossfestspiele in the inner courtyard of the St. Emmeram's Abbey every July, sponsored by the Princely Family of Thurn und Taxis. Meanwhile, those were attracting musicians like Elton John, David Garrett, Tom Jones or Plácido Domingo. Modern music styles, especially Jazz, are presented every summer during the Bavarian Jazz weekend. All over the Old Town, over hundred bands, combos and soloists are performing. In 2015, the House of Music was opened, giving home to skilled musicians and their education.

Film and Cinema

The international short film season is hosted annually in Regensburg. It is a non-profit event and takes place every march, being meanwhile one of the most important of its type in Germany. Aside, there a several cinemas such as CinemaxX, the largest one showing blockbusters and arthouse films, and smaller independent cinemas such as Garbo, Ostentor Kino and Regina Filmtheater. Regensburg has two open air cinemas as well.

Buildings

The Old Town of Regensburg with nearly 1,500 listed buildings offers a huge cultural diversity from Roman to modern times.

Recreation

The Old Town of Regensburg is surrounded completely by a green belt. Numerous inner-city parks like the City Park (Stadtpark), the Herzogspark, the Dörnbergpark, the Villapark or the university's botanical garden are a source for recreation and leisure.

Memorial Sites

The city of Regensburg erected several memorials to combat racism, intolerance towards minorities and all other forms of contempt for human dignity:

• Memorial for the victims of the Holocaust
• Memorial for the victims of euthanasy
• Memorial for concentration camp and war prisoners
• Memorial for violence against women

A specific in Regensburg are the so-called Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks) in honor of deported Jews during Nazism.

Events

Twice a year takes place the Regensburg Dult, the city's Volksfest, which is Bavaria's fourth largest. The Bürgerfest (citizen celebration) in the Old Town is every two years, attracting over 100,000 visitors. Every second weekend in July, knights and other medieval people come together at the Regensburg Spectaculum, a medieval market, on the Stone Bridge. Every December, there are several Christmas markets all over the city.

Nightlife

With over 500 bars, restaurants, clubs and other locations merely in the inner city, Regensburg provides a rich and diverse nightlife due to its young population.

Demographics

Population

In 2013, Regensburg had 140, 276 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in Bavaria. Over the last hundred years, the city has experienced a strong increase in population, surpassing 100,000 inhabitants in 1945 due to German refugees from eastern parts of the Third Reich, especially from the Sudetenland. Today, Regensburg is one of fastest growing cities in Germany and is supposed to reach 150,000 inhabitants in the near future.

International communities

Nearly 12% of the total population are foreign residents. Most of them come from Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe:^[13]

Nationality	Population (2011)
Turkey	1,735
Romania	884
Serbia (incl. Montenegro)	710
Poland	696
Bulgaria	672

Religion

Regensburg's population is mostly roman catholic. In 2013, about 56,5 % of the city's inhabitants identified with the Roman Catholic Church, 14,0 % were registered Protestants and about 29,5 % identified with other religions or did not have any registered religious affiliation.^[14]

Politics

Government

The Lord Mayor and the City Council are elected for a period of six years. Both elections take place at the same time. The City Council is composed of 51 members and includes the Lord Mayor, two deputy mayors, five counsellors and the other council members.
The municipal elections in Bavaria of 2014 delivered the following results:

Party	votes	change	seats	change	coalition
Social Democratic Party	33,7 %	+12,2	17	+6	X
Christian Social Union	32,8 %	–7,1	16	–4
The Greens	10,5 %	-0,1	5	-	X
Free Voters	6,9 %	-0,2	3	-1	X
Ecological Democratic Party	6,4 %	-0,5	3	-
The Left	3,1 %	-1,5	2	-
Free Democratic Party	3,0 %	-2,4	2	-1	X
Pirate Party	2,3 %	+2,3	1	+1	X
Christian Social Federation	1,5 %	-2,3	1	-1

After 18 years of a City Council with conservative majority, the social-democratic candidate, Joachim Wolbergs, became Lord Mayor in Mai 2014.

Boroughs

Regensburg is subdivided into 18 boroughs (Stadtbezirke). Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which can have historic roots in older municipalities that became urbanized and incorporated into the city.

Sister cities

Regensburg is twinned with:

Tempe, Arizona, United States, since 1976 Aberdeen, Scotland, UK since 1955[15] Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy, since 1969 Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France, since 1969[16]

Plzeň, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic, since 1993 Odessa, Odessa Oblast, Ukraine, since 1980 Qingdao, Shandong, China, since 2009 Budavar (part of Budapest), Hungary, since May 2005

Economy

Regensburg's economy counts among the most dynamic and fastest growing in Germany.^[17] Focus is on manufacturing industries, such as automotive, industrial and electrical engineering.

Companies

There are several multinational corporations located in Regensburg, such as BMW, Continental, E.ON, General Electric, Infineon, Osram, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Telekom and Toshiba as well as hidden champions (Krones, MR).
BMW operates an automobile production plant in Regensburg; the Regensburg BMW plant produces 3-series, 1-series and Z4 vehicles. Continental AG, with the headquarters of its car component business, Osram Opto-Semiconductors and Siemens as well as Infineon, the former Siemens semiconductor branch, provide a high level of innovation and technical development in Regensburg. Other well known international companies, such as AREVA, Schneider Electric and Toshiba, have built plants in or near Regensburg. GE Aviation founded a greenfield site to innovate, develop and produce turbinemachinery components with a new manufacturing casting technology. Amazon.com located its first German customer service centre in Regensburg. The hidden champions Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) and Krones both are headquartered in Regensburg and are among the major employeurs.
Aside from the industrial sector, tourism contributes a lot to Regensburg's economical growth, especially since 2006, when the city gained status as UNESCO World Heritage site. The University of Regensburg, the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and mercantile trade also play major roles in Regensburg's economy. Increasingly, biotech companies were founded in Regensburg over the last two decades and have their headquarters and laboratories in the city's "BioPark". Another focus is on information technology, with the city running a start-up centre for IT firms. One of these former start-ups, CipSoft GmbH, now is a known video game company still based in Regensburg.
OTTI, the Eastern Bavaria Technology Transfer-Institut e.V., is headquartered in Regensburg.^[18]

Tourism

The city recorded 912.238 overnight hotel stays and 531.943 hotel guests in 2012.^[19] Tourism figures have nearly doubled within the last 15 years and Regensburg has become one of the most-visited German cities from 100,000 to 500,000 residents. In 2014, Regensburg was ranked as a Top-30 travel attraction in Germany by international tourists.^[2]

Infrastructure

Transport

Regensburg Hauptbahnhof (central station) is connected to lines to Munich, Nuremberg, Passau, Hof and Ingolstadt and Ulm. It can easily be reached from Munich by train, which takes about 1 hour 30 mins. The city lies also on two motorways, the A3 from Cologne and Frankfurt to Vienna, and the A93 from Munich to Dresden. The city is also connected by "Bundesstraßen", namely the B8, B15, and B16.
The local transport is provided by an intensive bus network run by the RVV (Regensburger Verkehrsverbund)
.

Energy

Regensburg's energy is mainly supplied by the German company E.ON, one of the world's largest electric utility service providers. Its subsidiary Bayernwerk runs the local hydropower station in the Danube River. In 2012, about 9,1 % of the total electricity consumption was generated by renewable energy sources, about 5,1 % of the total heat consumption were generated by renewables.^[20] Both figures show, that Regensburg is behind other Bavarian cities in this context. Therefore the municipal government presented an energy plan in 2014, which should enhance the transformation towards renewable energy sources over the next decade.

Health

Regensburg hosts one of the most modern university hospitals in Europe, the Universitätsklinikum Regensburg. Aside, there are several other renowned hospitals such as the Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder and the St. Josef-Krankenhaus. In the Bezirksklinikum, mental diseases are treated. With 19,4 hospital beds per 1000 residents, Regensburg owns the fourth highest density of beds per residents in Germany.^[21] Concerning medical doctors per residents, Regensburg obtains the third place in Germany (339 per 100,000 residents).^[22]
The city's BioPark, representing Bavaria's second largest biotech cluster, hosts numerous research institutions and biotech companies.

Education

University of Regensburg, Vielberth building, faculty of business

Regensburg University of Applied Sciences, campus

Universities and academia

Regensburg is known for its institutions of higher education. The biggest of those is the University of Regensburg. Founded in 1962, it is one of Germany's youngest institutions and ranked among the Top 400 universities worldwide. Among the prominent thinkers associated with the institution are Pope Benedict XVI, Udo Steiner and Wolfgang Wiegard. The campus is situated in one area together with the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences.
Since 1874 there has been a College of Catholic Music, the Hochschule für Katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik Regensburg.

Research

In addtition to the research centres and institutes of the universities, there are several research institutions situated in the city of Regensburg. Among them are the Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), the Regensburg Centre for Interventional Immunology (RCI), the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM) and the BioPark, the Bavarian biotech cluster.

Schools

Regensburg is home to 18 elementary schools. There are several institutions of secondary education, both public and private, representing all levels of the German school system. There are eight Gymnasiums in Regensburg, five Realschule, six Hauptschule and four vocational schools (the so-called Berufsschule). In addition, there are several folk high schools with different specialisations. Aside, there is the Regensburg International School (RIS) for offering families an international educational infrastructure.^[23]

Sports

Football

SSV Jahn Regensburg is the local football club and attracts a fairly large local following. The team was part of a larger sports club founded in 1889 as Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg which took its name from Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th century. The football department was created in 1907. The footballers and swimmers left their parent club in 1924 to form Sportbund Jahn Regensburg.

Ice Hockey

EV Regensburg is the local ice hockey club, currently playing in the Oberliga Süd, Germany's third highest professional league.

Baseball

Regensburg Legionäre is the baseball and softball club from Regensburg. The team is also known as Buchbinder Legionäre, following a sponsorship of the Buchbinder company. The club is playing in the German Bundesliga and is one of the most famous and most successful baseball clubs in Germany. Several players now playing in the MLB formerly played at the club. Its arena, Armin-Wolf-Arena, was built in 1996 and has a capacity of 10,000 spectators, making it to Germany's largest baseball stadium.

Athletics

The local athletics club, LG TELIS FINANZ Regensburg, offers a wide range of different competitions and is counted among the most successful clubs in Germany.

Notable residents

honorary photo for Pope Benedict XVI. in the Regensburg Cathedral

Johannes Kepler (1610)

• Pope Benedict XVI, professor of theology at the University of Regensburg from 1969 to 1977, who retains the title, honorary professor; he is not a former resident of the city of Regensburg, but his house, less than 1 kilometer from the city, lies in Pentling in the district of Regensburg. He has been an honorary citizen since 2006.
• The Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, a German noble family and one of Europe's largest landowners
• Albrecht Altdorfer (printmaker, painter of landscapes, historical and Biblical subjects of the Renaissance)
• Willie Duncan (Spider Murphy Gang)
• Ulrich Eberl, science and technology journalist
• The Rev. Dr. Franz Xaver Haberl, one of the most important Roman Catholic musicians in history, teacher of Perosi. (See also Cecilian Movement.)
• Johannes Kepler (mathematician and astronomer)
• Konrad of Megenberg, scholar and academic^[24]
• Simone Laudehr (German national team footballer, women's world cup champion 2007)
• Albertus Magnus (13th century polymath)
• Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, a 12th-13th century rabbi and mystic, founder of Chassidei Ashkenaz
• Maximilian Oberst, physician who introduced the Oberst method of block anesthesia
• Petachiah of Ratisbon, a 12th-13th century rabbi, best known for his extensive travels throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East.
• Walter Röhrl (racing driver)
• Saint Emmeram, Christian bishop and a martyr, St. Emmeram's Abbey
• Emanuel Schikaneder (Librettist of The Magic Flute)
• Oskar Schindler (after World War II until his emigration to Argentina)
• Ulrich Schmidl (supposed co-founder of Buenos Aires)
• Anton Vilsmeier, chemist best known for the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, born in Burgweinting, which is now part of Regensburg, and attended the Altes Gymnasium in Regensburg
• Charles von Hügel, army officer, diplomat, botanist, and explorer
• Ulrich of Zell, a Cluniac reformer of Germany, abbot, founder and saint
• Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bishop of Regensburg
• Elisabeth Elli Erl, winner of German Pop Idol 2004 - singer and teacher at a German secondary school in Düsseldorf

Gallery

• 

  The Interior of Regensburg Cathedral
• 

  The Stone Bridge and Regensburg Cathedral by night
• 

  Protestant Church
• 

  The romanic chapel St. George and Afra
• 

  The Danube seen from the Stone Bridge
• 

  The bay window of the Old Town Hall
• 

  Goliath House
• 

  Monument of Don Juan de Austria
• 

  St. Emmeram's Abbey
• 

  Dampfnudel bakery in the Baumburger Turm
• 

  The Stone Bridge
• 

  Little Boy (Bruckmandl) on the Stone Bridge

See also

• Jewish history of Regensburg
• List of mayors of Regensburg
• Regensburg (district)

Notes

1. 
   

"Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). 31 December 2013.

24. "Book of Nature". World Digital Library. 1481-08-20. Retrieved 2013-08-27. Check date values in: |date= (help)

References

• David L. Sheffler, Schools and Schooling in Late Medieval Germany: Regensburg, 1250–1500 (Leiden, Brill, 2008) (Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 33).

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Regensburg". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Regensburg.

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Ratisbon.

• City website (in German with international pages)
• Virtual tour of Regensburg
• Stone Bridge of Regensburg Digital Media Archive (creative commons-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), mainly covering the medieval Stone Bridge but also including surrounding areas, with data from a Christofori und Partner/CyArk research partnership
• Regensburg – Pictures, Sights and more
• Great privilege for Regensburg by King Philip of Swabia for Regensburg from 1207 taken from the collections of the Lichtbildarchiv älterer Originalurkunden at Marburg University

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regensburg&oldid=657080137"

Categories:

• Cities in Bavaria
• Former republics
• Former countries in Europe
• States of the Holy Roman Empire
• City-states
• Imperial free cities
• States and territories established in 1245
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• 1803 disestablishments
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• Populated places on the Danube
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http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-cities-culture/top-100/germany-travel-attractions.html?page=3

"Iron Age Braumeisters of the Teutonic Forests". BeerAdvocate. Retrieved 2006-06-02.

The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. III, Part II (page 623), printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, London, 1844

Tellier, L.N. (2009). Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective. Presses de l'Universite du Quebec. p. 266. ISBN 9782760522091. Retrieved 2014-10-10.

Herald of Destiny by Berel Wein. New York: Shaar Press, 1993, page 144.

Karen Lemiski, Focus on Philately: The stamps of Regensburg, Camp Ganghofersiedlung in The Ukrainian Weekly, February 4, 2001, No. 5, Vol. LXIX

http://www.europeprize.net/

http://www.physik.uni-regensburg.de/forschung/wegscheider/gebhardt_files/skripten/EuropaeischeWetterlagen.Hagner.pdf

"World Weather Information Service – Regensburg". June 2011.

. March 2015 http://www.wetterdienst.de/Deutschlandwetter/Regensburg/Klima/. Missing or empty |title= (help)

http://www.regensburgtravel.com/theater.html

"Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Regensburg" (PDF). Stadt Regensburg - Amt für Stadtentwicklung. Retrieved 2014-07-24.

http://www.statistik.regensburg.de/menue/informationen_u_zahlen.php

"Who is Aberdeen twinned with?". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 2008-03-02.

"National Commission for Decentralised cooperation". Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) (in French). Retrieved 2013-12-26.

http://www.prognos.com/fileadmin/images/publikationen/zukunftsatlas2013/Gesamtranking_Zukunftsatlas_2013_Regionen.pdf

"OTTI - Ostbayerisches Technologie-Transfer-Institut e.V.". otti.de. Retrieved 2014-10-10.

http://www.statistik.regensburg.de/informationen_u_zahlen/beherbergungen/

http://www.regensburg.com/sixcms/media.php/121/113005-energienutzungsplan-teilbericht-c-ist-zustand-erzeugung.pdf

https://www-genesis.destatis.de/gis/genView?GenMLURL=https://www-genesis.destatis.de/regatlas/AI014-1.xml&CONTEXT=REGATLAS01

Wirtschaftswoche, Nr. 49, 2014, Städteranking, p. 28

http://www.ihk-regensburg.de/ihk-r/autoupload/officefiles/RIS_Unternehmen_engl.pdf

...

Battle of Ratisbon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Ratisbon
Marshal Lannes leads the storming of the citadel at the Battle of Ratisbon, as painted by Charles Thévenin.
Date 23 April 1809 Location Regensburg, Principality of Regensburg Result French victory
Belligerents
Austrian Empire	First French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Archduke Charles	Emperor Napoleon I Jean Lannes
Strength
26,000	37,000
Casualties and losses
6,000+[1]	1,500-2,000[1]

The Battle of Ratisbon, also called the Battle of Regensburg, of the Napoleonic Wars was fought on the 23 April 1809 between the army of the First French Empire, led by Napoleon I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archduke Charles. Scene of the last engagement of the Bavaria phase of the campaign of 1809, the brief defense of the city and installation of a pontoon bridge to the east enabled the retreating Austrian army to escape into Bohemia. During the assault, Marshal Jean Lannes led his troops up ladders onto the walls, and Napoleon was wounded in his ankle by a small artillery round. The shot had been fired at great distance and did not severely hurt the Emperor, but caused a contusion.^[2]

Contents

• 1 Prelude
• 2 The battle
• 3 Consequences
• 4 In literature
• 5 References

Prelude

Following his victory at Eckmühl on 22 April Napoleon summoned his first ever council of war, which decided to halt the army about 18 kilometers south of the city of Ratisbon (which the Austrians had captured two days earlier). That night, the main Austrian army (I–IV Korps and I Reserve Korps) began moving its heavy equipment over the city’s vital stone bridge over the Danube, while a pontoon bridge was thrown 2 kilometers downstream to the east for the troops. Five battalions from II Korps defended the city, while 6,000 cavalry and some infantry battalions held the hilly ground outside.^[2]

The battle

At dawn on 23 April the French advance continued in a pincer movement toward Ratisbon, with General Louis-Pierre Montbrun coming from the southwest and Napoleon moving up from the south. Around 9:00 A.M. 10,000 French cavalry, led by General Étienne Nansouty’s two cuirassier divisions, began to engage the Austrian cavalry, who despite poorly coordinated charges were able to hold them for almost three hours to facilitate the army’s escape, before they slipped away. Only then did the French discover the pontoon bridge, but its last defenders were able to hold on and cut the securing ropes to prevent the French from using it.^[2]

Napoleon wrongly depicted as being injured in his right foot

By noon the French infantry had arrived and formed up around the city’s medieval defenses. Lannes was given charge of its capture and opened up an artillery bombardment, while light infantry engaged the Austrian troops in the suburbs. Two infantry assaults on the main gates had already failed with heavy losses, when at 3:00 P.M. General Henri Gatien Bertrand, head of the engineers, smashed a breach in the wall with heavy artillery near the Straubing gate. Walking to observe the gap, Napoleon was struck by a small canister round in the left foot but was able to mount his horse and ride around, reassuring his anxious troops. Three small parties with siege ladders failed to scale the damaged wall.^[2] Lannes' men could not bring themselves to advance into the maelstrom a fourth time and so, exasperated, Lannes grabbed a scaling ladder and renewed his appeal. Then, amid an embarrassed silence, he angrily shouted: "I will let you see that I was a grenadier before I was a marshal and still am one." He took the ladder and moved forwards, but was physically restrained by his aides. His troops, shamed into action by the despair of their leader, rushed forward. The fourth assault party carried the walls and within minutes French troops were pouring into the now-doomed Ratisbon.^[1]
A street-by-street battle raged for several hours until the French could secure and begin looting the southern part of the city. The bridge was determinedly defended by the 1st battalion of Infanterie Regiment 15 from the northern gatehouse until around 9:00 P.M., when they abandoned their positions and the French could reach the northern suburb of Stadt-am-Hof. The last 300 defenders surrendered soon after.^[2]

Consequences

French casualties, including a wounded-in-the-ankle Bonaparte, were between 1,500 and 2,000 while the Austrians lost at least 6,000 men killed, injured or captured. Sending Marshal Louis Davout to guard the north bank across the Danube, Bonaparte was now free to move on Vienna.^[1]

In literature

Robert Browning's poem "Incident of the French Camp" describes a probably fictional incident during the battle.^[3]

References

1. 
   

"Ratisbon". Napoleonic Guide. Retrieved 2009-03-10.

3. Browning, Robert (1895). Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. "A Victorian Anthology 1837-1895". Cambridge: Riverside Press. |chapter= ignored (help)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ratisbon&oldid=617999511"

Categories:

• Conflicts in 1809
• Battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition
• Battles involving Austria
• Battles involving France
• 1809 in Austria
• 1809 in France
• Regensburg

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• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Hollins, David (2006). "Ratisbon, Storming of (23 April 1809)". In Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Ltd. pp. 808–809. ISBN 9781851096466.

Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission
Part of Operation Pointblank
1st Bomb Wing B-17's over Schweinfurt, Germany
Date August 17, 1943 Location Schweinfurt and Regensburg, Germany Result Allied Pyrrhic victory
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Curtis LeMay Robert B. Williams	Adolf Galland
Units involved
Eighth Air Force RAF Fighter Command	Luftwaffe
Strength
376 B-17 bombers 268 P-47 sorties 191 Spitfire sorties	Approx. 400 Bf 109, Bf 110, Fw 190 and other fighters
Casualties and losses
60 bombers, 3 P-47s, and 2 Spitfires lost 58-95 bombers heavily damaged[note][1][2][3][4] 7 KIA, 21 WIA, 557 MIA or POW	25–27 fighters[1][2][3] 203 civilians killed

The Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission was an air combat battle in World War II. A strategic bombing attack flown by B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 17, 1943, it was conceived as an ambitious plan to cripple the German aircraft industry. The mission was also known as the "double-strike mission" because it entailed two large forces of bombers attacking separate targets in order to disperse fighter reaction by the Luftwaffe, and was the first "shuttle" mission, in which all or part of a mission landed at a different field and later bombed another target returning to its base.
After being postponed several times by unfavorable weather, the operation, known within the Eighth Air Force as "Mission No. 84", was flown on the anniversary of the first daylight raid by the Eighth Air Force.
Mission No. 84 was a strike by 376 bombers of sixteen bomb groups against German heavy industry well beyond the range of escorting fighters. The mission inflicted heavy damage on the Regensburg target, but at catastrophic loss to the force, with 60 bombers lost and many more damaged beyond economical repair. As a result, the Eighth Air Force was unable to follow up immediately with a second attack that might have seriously crippled German industry. When Schweinfurt was finally attacked again two months later, the lack of long-range fighter escort had still not been addressed and losses were even higher. As a consequence, deep penetration strategic bombing was curtailed for five months.

“	As soon as the reconnaissance photographs were received on the evening of the 17th, Generals Eaker and Anderson knew that the Schweinfurt raid had been a failure. The excellent results at Regensburg were small consolation for the loss of 60 B-17s. The results of the bombing were exaggerated, and the high losses were well disguised in after-mission reports. Everyone who flew the mission stressed the importance of the escorts in reducing losses; the planners grasped only that Schweinfurt would have to be bombed again, soon, in another deep-penetration, unescorted mission[5]	”
—Donald Caldwell

Contents

• 1 The mission plan
• 2 Weather delays
• 3 Regensburg strike force
• 4 Schweinfurt strike force
• 5 Results and losses
• 6 Notes
• 7 External links
• 8 Sources

The mission plan

Boeing B-17F-27-BO Flying Fortress 41-24639 nicknamed "The Careful Virgin" (OR-W) of the 323rd Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, 1st BW, 8th AF, based @ RAF Bassingbourn over the UK in late '43 (later used as a flying bomb on 4 Aug 44).

Because of diversions of groups to the invasion of North Africa, the bomber force in England had been limited in size to four groups of B-17s and two of B-24s until May 1943. At that time, and in conjunction with the Pointblank Directive to destroy the Luftwaffe in preparation for Operation Overlord, the B-17 force had expanded fourfold and was organized into the 1st and 4th Bombardment Wings (which due to their large size would soon be re-designated Bomb Divisions). The 1st Bombardment Wing, which included all of the original B-17 groups, was based in the English Midlands while the 4th Bombardment Wing stations were located in East Anglia.
Pointblank operations in April and July 1943 had concentrated solely on the production of the Fw 190 at factories in Bremen, Kassel, and Oschersleben, and although serious losses to the bomber forces had occurred, the attacks had been successful enough to warrant attacking those manufacturing Messerschmitt Bf 109s.
The production of Bf 109s (and almost half of all German fighters) was located in Regensburg and in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. To attack these in sufficient force, "Operation Juggler" was conceived,^[6] in which the fighter production plants in Wiener Neustadt were targeted for attack by B-24 Liberators of the Ninth Air Force based in Libya, and Regensburg by B-17s of the Eighth Air Force. The original mission date of August 7 could not be met because of bad weather, and the B-24s flew Operation Juggler on August 13 without participation by the Eighth Air Force, which was still hampered by unacceptable weather conditions.

"LeMay's force was expected to take the brunt of the German counteroffensive, allowing the Schweinfurt armada to proceed to the target with only light resistance. With LeMay escaping over the Alps, the Schweinfurt force would be left to face the full fury of the Luftwaffe on its return to England. The plan was brutally simple: LeMay would fight his way in and Williams would fight his way out."

Donald L. Miller–Masters of the Air^[7]

To successfully complete its portion of the attack, the Eighth Air Force decided to attack a target in central Germany as well as Regensburg to divide and confuse German air defenses.^[8] The 4th Bombardment Wing, using B-17s equipped with "Tokyo (fuel) tanks" for longer range, would attack the Messerschmitt Bf 109 plants in Regensburg and then fly on to bases in Bône, Berteaux and Telergma (French Algeria).^[9] The 1st Bombardment Wing, following it, would turn northeast and bomb the ball-bearing factories of Schweinfurt (where almost the entire production of bearings was centralized) and by doing so catch German fighter aircraft on the ground re-arming and refueling. Because of limited range thanks to (inexplicably) not employing drop tanks,^[10] escorting P-47 Thunderbolt fighters would be able to protect the bombers only as far as Eupen, Belgium, which was roughly an hour's flying time from both of the targets.^[11]
Two supporting attacks were also made a part of the overall mission plan. The first, a diversionary attack, involved the bombing of three locations along the French and Dutch coast: the German airfields at Bryas-Sud and Marck by American B-26 Marauder and Royal Air Force Mitchell medium bombers, and the marshalling yards at Dunkirk by other Mitchells, all timed to coincide with the Regensburg strike.^[12]
The second was a series of attacks on Luftwaffe fighter fields at Poix, Lille-Vendeville, and Woensdrecht by Hawker Typhoons of the RAF simultaneous with the diversionary attack, and Poix by two groups of B-26s in the afternoon as the Schweinfurt force was returning.

Weather delays

Eighth Air Force bomber operations were calculated with one to two hours of climb and assembly into formations factored into mission lengths. In addition the mission length for the Regensburg force was anticipated to be of eleven hours' duration, so that commanders had only a 90-minute "window" in which to launch the mission and still allow the 4th Bombardment Wing B-17s to reach North Africa in daylight. Mission 84 planning indicated a takeoff window from dawn (approximately 06:30 British Double Summer Time) to approximately 08:00 without cancelling the mission.
At dawn of August 17, after airmen had gone to their airplanes, England was covered in fog. The mission takeoff was delayed until 08:00, when the fog had cleared sufficiently over East Anglia to allow the 4th Bombardment Wing to take off using instruments, a technique they had practiced. Although attacking both targets simultaneously was deemed critical to success of the mission without prohibitive loss, the Regensburg force was ordered to take off, even though the 1st Bombardment Wing remained grounded at its bases by the adverse weather. By the time the fog had sufficiently cleared over the Midlands, the Regensburg force had already reached the coast of the Netherlands, which indicated that reacting German fighters would have sufficient time to land, replenish, and attack the second task force. Consequently the launch of the Schweinfurt force was further delayed to allow U.S. escort fighters sufficient time to return to base to rearm for a second escort mission. In all the 1st Wing was delayed more than three hours behind the 4th Wing.

Regensburg strike force

The Regensburg task force was led by the 4th Bombardment Wing commander, Colonel Curtis E. LeMay. It consisted of seven B-17 Groups totalling 146 aircraft, each group but one flying a 21-aircraft combat box tactical formation. The groups were organized into three larger formations termed "provisional combat wings", three groups in a Vee formation wing box leading the procession, followed in trail by two wing boxes of two groups each in echelon formation with one group leading and the second trailing at lower altitude.

Regensburg Task Force organization
Prov. Wing	Group	UK Base	Sent	Losses
403d PCBW	96th Bomb Group	Snetterton Heath	21	0
	388th Bomb Group	Knettishall	21	1
	390th Bomb Group	Framlingham	20	6
401st PCBW	94th Bomb Group	Bury St. Edmunds	21	1
	385th Bomb Group	Great Ashfield	21	3
402nd PCBW	95th Bomb Group	Horham	21	4
	100th Bomb Group	Thorpe Abbotts	21	9
Fighter escort support
Times	Group	Leg	Sent	Claims
1005—1020	353rd Fighter Group	Haamstede to Diest	37 P-47	1
1030—1045	56th Fighter Group	Herentals to Eupen	50 P-47	0

SOURCE: Decision Over Schweinfurt, Mighty Eighth War Diary

Approximately fifteen minutes after it crossed the coast at 10:00, the Regensburg force encountered the first German fighter interception, which continued with growing intensity nearly all the way to the target area. Several factors weighed against the Regensburg force in this air battle. The arrangement of two groups instead of three in the two following provisional wings meant a third fewer guns available to each for their mutual defense and made them more likely targets. The overall length of the task force was too great for effective fighter support. The last wing formation of bombers was fifteen miles behind the first and nearly out of visual range. Of the two groups of P-47s (87 aircraft) tasked to escort the force to the German border, only one arrived at the rendezvous point on time, covering only the lead wing, and the second arrived fifteen minutes late. Finally, both P-47 groups were forced to turn back to base after only fifteen minutes of escort duty, without engaging any German interceptors. The last provisional wing in the task force was left without any fighter protection at all.
After ninety minutes of combat the German fighter force broke off the engagement, low on fuel and ammunition. By then at least 15 bombers had been shot down or fatally damaged, 13 from the trailing formation. However anti-aircraft fire ("flak") was light over Regensburg and visibility clear, and of the remaining 131 bombers, 126 dropped 298.75 tons of bombs on the fighter aircraft factories with a high degree of accuracy at 11:43 British time.
The Regensburg force then turned south to cross the Alps, confronted by only a few twin-engined fighters soon forced to disengage by lack of range. The German force had not been prepared for this contingency, but they were also in the process of re-arming to meet the Schweinfurt force, then forming over East Anglia. Even so, two damaged B-17s turned away from the Regensburg task force and landed in neutral Switzerland, where their crews were interned and the bombers confiscated. Another crash-landed in Italy and five more were forced down by lack of fuel into the Mediterranean Sea. In all 24 bombers were lost and more than 60 of the 122 survivors landing in Tunisia had suffered battle damage.

Schweinfurt strike force

The 1st Bombardment Wing, commanded by Brigadier General Robert B. Williams, was made up of nine B-17 groups. Previously, because of this large number of groups, "provisional combat bomb wings" had been formed in April to control the groups tactically during large missions. To achieve a "maximum effort" against Schweinfurt, the 1st Bomb Wing, with sufficient aircraft and crews to employ four wing-sized boxes, formed provisional groups as well as wings, accomplished by eight groups providing a squadron or spare aircraft to form the "composite groups" needed to form a fourth combat wing. The Schweinfurt force in all had 230 bombers comprising 12 groups divided into two task forces, each with two wings, each wing composed of a three group formation, and was more than twenty miles in length. Williams personally led the mission, flying as co-pilot in an aircraft of the lead formation, as wingman to the commander of the 91st Bomb Group.^[13]

Schweinfurt mission organization
Prov. Wing	Group	UK Base	Sent	Losses
(first task force)
201st PCBW	91st Bomb Group	Bassingbourn	18	7
	101st Composite Group[14]		19	6
	381st Bomb Group	Ridgewell	20	9
202d PCBW	351st Bomb Group	Polebrook	21	1
	306th Composite Group		20	0
	384th Bomb Group	Grafton Underwood	18	5
(second task force)
203d PCBW	306th Bomb Group	Thurleigh	21	0
	305th Bomb Group	Chelveston	20	2
	92nd Bomb Group	Alconbury	20	2
204th PCBW	379th Bomb Group	Kimbolton	18	0
	103rd Composite Group		17	4
	303rd Bomb Group	Molesworth	18	0

SOURCE: Decision Over Schweinfurt

United States Army Air Forces strategic bombing raid on the ball bearing works at Schweinfurt, Germany.

The Schweinfurt task forces followed the same route as the Regensburg force. Because of the delayed start of the mission, eight squadrons of RAF Spitfire fighters (96 aircraft) from 11 Group and 83 Group had been added to escort the Schweinfurt force as far as Antwerp, where P-47s would take over and escort it to Eupen. The field order for the mission specified that the B-17s would fly at altitudes between 23,000 and 26,500 feet (7,000-8,000 m), but approaching the coast of the Netherlands at 13:30, it was confronted with developing cloud masses not present earlier in the day. The commander of the first task force estimated that the bombers would not be able to climb over the clouds and elected to fly under them at 17,000 feet (5,000 m), increasing the vulnerability of the bombers to fighter attacks.
The first German attacks began almost immediately and employed different tactics from the morning mission. The lead wing was attacked continuously in head-on attacks by both Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters, and although the RAF escorts claimed eight victories they were forced to return to base early in the engagement. The two groups of P-47s (88 aircraft) arrived five and eight minutes late, and despite some individual combats, they too were forced to break off virtually as soon as they arrived.
Inside German airspace, the Bf 109 G-6 fighters of 5 Staffel / JG 11, which had pioneered the fitment of the Werfer-Granate 21 unguided air-to-air rocket weapon system to the Luftwaffe's single engine day fighter force the previous day, as well as the similarly armed rocket-launching twin-engined Bf 110 Zerstörer heavy fighters, including night fighters, joined the battle as more than 300 fighters from 24 bases opposed the raid. At 14:36 the force diverged from the morning's route at Worms, Germany, alerting the German defenders that the target was Schweinfurt. Losses among the 57 B-17's of the lead wing were so severe that many among its airmen considered the possibility that the wing might be annihilated before reaching the target. However fifteen miles from Schweinfurt the opposing fighters, after shooting down 22 bombers, disengaged and landed to refuel and re-arm in order to attack the force on its way out. Five miles from Schweinfurt German anti-aircraft guns began firing an effective flak barrage into the path of the bomber force.^[15]
At 14:57 approximately 40 B-17s remained of the lead wing when it dropped its bombs on the target area containing five factories and 30,000 workers, followed over a 24-minute span by the remainder of the force. Each wing found increasingly heavy smoke from preceding bomb explosions a hindrance to accuracy. 183 bombers dropped 424.3 tons of bombs, including 125 tons of incendiary bombs.^[16]
Three B-17s were shot down by flak over Schweinfurt. Fifteen minutes after leaving the target each task force circled over the town of Meiningen to reassemble its formations, then continued west toward Brussels. At approximately 15:30 German fighters renewed their attacks, concentrating now on damaged bombers. Between 16:20 and 17:00 a covering force of 93 P-47s and 95 Spitfires^[17] arrived to provide withdrawal support, claiming 21 fighters shot down, but eight more bombers were lost before the force reached the North Sea, where three more crash-landed. The Schweinfurt force lost a total of 36 bombers.^[18]

Schweinfurt fighter escort support
Times	Group	Leg	Sent	Claims	Losses
Penetration support
1336—1355	11 Group RAF	Walcheren to Antwerp	72 Spitfire	8	0
1336—1355	83 Group RAF	Walcheren to Antwerp	24 Spitfire	0	0
1353—1410	78th Fighter Group	Antwerp to Eupen	40 P-47	2	0
1355—1409	4th Fighter Group	Diest to Eupen	48 P-47	0	0
Withdrawal support
1621—1651	56th Fighter Group	Nideggen to Sint-Niklaas	51 P-47	16	3
1641—1700	353rd Fighter Group	Mechelen to Sint-Niklaas	42 P-47	0	0
1647—1715	11 Group RAF	Sint-Niklaas to England	72 Spitfire	3	0
1720—1740	83 Group RAF	Sint-Niklaas to England	23 Spitfire	2	2

SOURCE: Decision Over Schweinfurt, Mighty Eighth War Diary

Results and losses

55 bombers with 552 crewmen were listed as missing as a result of the August 17 double-target mission. Approximately half of those became prisoners-of-war, and twenty were interned. 60 aircraft were lost over German-controlled territory, in Switzerland, or ditched at sea, with five crews rescued. Seven aircrew were killed aboard bombers safely returning to base, and 21 wounded.
The 60 aircraft lost on a single mission more than doubled the highest previous loss at that time. There were also 55-95 additional aircraft badly damaged. Of those damaged, many were stranded in and never repaired.^[1][2][4] Three P-47 Thunderbolts of the 56th Fighter Group and two RAF Spitfires were shot down attempting to protect the Schweinfurt force.
Spitfire pilots claimed 13 German fighters shot down and P-47 pilots claimed 19.^[19][20] Gunners on the bombers claimed 288 fighters shot down,^[21][22] but Luftwaffe records showed only 25-27 were lost.^[1][2][3]
In Regensburg all six main workshops of the Messerschmitt factory were destroyed or severely damaged, as were many supporting structures including the final assembly shop. In Schweinfurt the destruction was less severe but still extensive. The two largest factories, Kugelfischer & Company and Vereinigte Kugellager Fabrik I, suffered 80 direct hits.^[23] 35,000 m² (380,000 square feet) of buildings in the five factories were destroyed, and more than 100,000 m² (1,000,000 square feet) suffered fire damage.^[24] All the factories except Kugelfischer had extensive fire damage to machinery when incendiaries ignited the machine oil used in the manufacturing process.^[25]
Albert Speer reported an immediate 34 per cent loss of production,^[26] but both the production shortfall and the actual loss of bearings were made up for by extensive surpluses found throughout Germany in the aftermath of the raid. The industry's infrastructure, while vulnerable to a sustained campaign, was not vulnerable to destruction by a single raid. Speer indicated that the two major flaws made by the USAAF in the August strike were first in dividing their force instead of all striking the ball-bearing plants, and second, failing to follow up the first strike with repeated attacks.^[27][28][29]
203 civilians were also killed in the strike.^[30]
The Schweinfurt mission in particular foretold the failure of deep penetration raids of Germany without adequate long-range escort. The 1st Bomb Wing was over German-occupied territory for three hours and thirty minutes, of which two hours and ten minutes, including all of the time spent over Germany itself, saw no fighter support whatsoever. When the second attack on Schweinfurt came on October 14, the loss of more than 20% of the attacking force (60 out of 291 B-17s) resulted in the suspension of deep raids for five months.
This mission was enshrined in fiction as the 'Hambrucken raid' in Beirne Lay and Sy Bartlett's novel, Twelve O'Clock High. It provides a reasonably accurate view of the thinking behind the planners' intention and the decisions that led to the abandonment of the goal of launching a double strike in such a way that the second strike would meet no aerial opposition; and of the action in the air itself. The Schweinfurt portion of the mission also formed the framework for the novel The War Lover, by John Hersey. In the early 1990s, the raid was depicted for the first time in a video game, as a playable mission in Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.

Notes

^a The number of the damaged aircraft varies in the sources. Most of the damaged aircraft were stranded in French Algeria and some of them were never returned to service, due the poor repair facilities there.

1. 
   

Price (2005), p. 129

30. Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.54, citing 70 men, 77 women, 48 children, and 8 foreign workers. Miller rounded the figure at 200. (Masters of the Air p.200),

External links

• Maj.Gen. Haywood S. Hansell, Jr., "Balaklava Redeemed", Air University Review, 1974, a detailed analysis of the concept and leaders by a World War II strategic bombing planner
• "Bombing of Schweinfurt," from the Third Reich in Ruins webpage by Geoff Walden - then-and-now photos of the bombing of Schweinfurt.
• "Reality... Remembering Scheinfurt" by Wally Hoffman - a first hand account of the bombing raids over Schweinfurt by a member of the 8th Air Force.

Sources

• Bishop, Cliff T.(1986). Fortresses of the Big Triangle First, ISBN 1-869987-00-4
• Bowman, Martin W.; Boiten, Theo (2001). Battles With The Luftwaffe: The Bomber Campaign Against Germany 1942-45. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-711363-3.
• Caldwell, Donald & Muller, Richard (2007). The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1-85367-712-0
• Coffey, Thomas M.(1977). Decision Over Schweinfurt. David McKay Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-679-50763-5
• Freeman, Roger A. (1993). The Mighty Eighth. ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2
• Freeman, Roger A. (1990). The Mighty Eighth War Diary. ISBN 978-0-87938-495-1
• Jablonski, Edward (1974). Double strike: the epic air raids on Regensburg-Schweinfurt, August 17. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-07540-5
• Miller, Donald L. (2006), Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany. Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7432-3544-4
• Overy, Richard. (1995) Why the Allies won. W.W Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-31619-3
• "Combat Claims & Casualties", transcriptions of RAF and VIII Fighter Command summaries by Tony Woods
• Price, Alfred (2005). Battle over the Reich - The strategic air offensive over Germany. Hersham, Surrey: Classic Publications. ISBN 1-903223-47-4.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schweinfurt–Regensburg_mission&oldid=660921335"

Categories:

• Aerial operations and battles of World War II
• World War II strategic bombing
• 1943 in Germany
• Conflicts in 1943
• History of Bavaria
• Rolling-element bearings
• 20th century in Bavaria
• Regensburg
• Schweinfurt

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• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Bowman & Boiten (2001), p. 64

Jablonski (1974), p. 186

Miller (2006), p. 201

Caldwell & Muller 2007, p. 114.

Ramsey, John F. Air Force Historical Study No. 110 The War Against the Luftwaffe: AAF Counter-Air Operations April 1943 - June 1944, Air Force Historical Research Agency

Miller, Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, p.195.

Freeman, The Mighty Eighth, p.67; Miller, Masters of the Air, p.195; Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.3.

Bombardiers lourds de la dernière guerre : B-17, forteresse volante, Avro Lancaster, B-24 Liberator. Editions Atlas. 1980. ISBN 2731200316.

Terdoslavich, William. "Raids on Ploesti and Schweinfurt: August 1943 and October 1943", in Fawcett, Bill, ed. How To Lose WWII (New York: Harper, 2010), p.147.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, pp. 7, 19, 56, and 59.

Woods, "Combat Claims and Casualties", 17 August 43, "Ramrod 206 Part III" and "Ramrod 206 Part IV", p.111-112.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.22, 40.

The 101 CG was made up of B-17s from the 381st (7), 351st (6), and 91st (6) BG. The 306 CG had 9 each from the 306th and 305th BG, and 2 from the 92d. The 103 CG had 11 from the 303d and 6 from the 379 BG.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.49.

Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Diary, pp. 89-90.

RAF fighter squadrons participating were: No.129, 222, 303, 316, 331, 332, 403, and 421.

Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Diary, p.90; Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.234.

Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Diary, p. 90; Woods, VIII Fighter Command transcription of 17 August 43, pp.110 and 111; Air Force Historical Study 85, p.229, actual credits awarded. All break down the claims as 16 for the 56th FG, 2 for the 78th FG, and one for the 353rd FG.

Caldwell & Muller 2007, p. 113, state 16 claims.

Miller, Masters of the Air, p.200 and 202.

Freeman, The Mighty Eighth, p.69. Freeman states that the gunners' claims were later reduced to 148, and that actual German loss was "only 27 fighters".

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.235.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.54.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.74. as reported by Speer to Hitler.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, p.72; Miller (Masters of the Air, p.200) put the loss at 38%.

Coffey, Decision Over Schweinfurt, pp.74-75.

Miller, Masters of the Air, P.201.

Hansell, Haywood S. Jr. "Balaklava Redeemed". Air University Review. Retrieved 21 August 2008.

Stone Bridge (Regensburg)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regensburg Stone Bridge Steinerne Brücke
The bridge seen from the south bank of the Danube
Coordinates	49°1′22″N 12°5′50″ECoordinates: 49°1′22″N 12°5′50″E
Carries	Road (closed to traffic)
Crosses	Danube
Characteristics
Material	Stone
Total length	308.7 metres (1,013 ft)
Number of spans	16
History
Construction end	12th-century, probably in 1135–46
Replaces	Wooden bridge

The Stone Bridge (Steinerne Brücke) in Regensburg, Germany, is a 12th-century bridge across the Danube linking the Old Town with Stadtamhof. For more than 800 years, until the 1930s, it was the city's only bridge across the river. It is a masterwork of medieval construction and an emblem of the city.

Contents

• 1 Location
• 2 History
  • 2.1 Construction and modifications
  • 2.2 Current use and restoration
• 3 Legend
• 4 References
• 5 Sources
• 6 External links

Location

The south end of the bridge may have been the location of an ancient city gate.^[1] The early 16th-century Amberg Salt Store (German: Salzstadel) and the early 17th-century Regensburg Salt Store were built against it.^[2] The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen east of the Salt Store was built against the city wall in the 14th century; an earlier building on the same site probably served as a canteen for the workers building the bridge.^[3] Further east is the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping.
The bridge has historically caused problems for traffic on the Danube,^[4][5] as was observed by Napoleon in 1809.^[6] It causes strong currents which required upstream shipping with insufficient power to be towed past it until 1916, when an electric system was installed to draw ships under the bridge. This was removed in 1964. Since modern barge traffic requires more clearance than the arches of the bridge provide, this stretch of the river is now only used by recreational and excursion shipping. Larger watercraft bypass it to the north by means of the Regensburg Regen-Danube Canal, which was built on the flood plain called the Protzenweiher which had been used for a cattle market and public amusements^[7][8][9] and forms part of the European Water Route between Rotterdam at the mouth of the Rhine and Constance on the Black Sea. (Demolition of the bridge to remove the obstruction was proposed as early as 1904.^[10])

History

Charlemagne had a wooden bridge built at Regensburg, approximately 100 metres (330 ft) east of the present bridge, but it was inadequate for the traffic and vulnerable to floods, so it was decided to replace it with a stone bridge.^[2]
The Stone Bridge was built in only eleven years, probably in 1135–46.^[11][12] Louis VII of France and his army used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Second Crusade. It served as a model for other stone bridges built in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries: the Elbe bridge in Dresden, London Bridge across the Thames, the Pont d'Avignon across the Rhône and the Judith Bridge (predecessor of the Charles Bridge) across the Vltava in Prague. It remained the only bridge across the Danube at Regensburg for about 800 years,^[11] until the construction of the Nibelungen Bridge. For centuries it was the only bridge over the river between Ulm and Vienna, making Regensburg into a major centre of trade and government.^[13]
The bridge originally had its own administration, using a seal depicting it, the oldest example of which dates to 1307; tolls were used for its upkeep.^[14]

Construction and modifications

The Stone Bridge is an arch bridge with 16 arches. At the south end, the first arch and first pier were incorporated into the Regensburg Salt Store when it was built in 1616–20, but remain in place under the approach road to the bridge. An archaeological investigation was performed in 2009, and revealed fire damage during the Middle Ages.^[1] The bridge was originally 336 metres (1,102 ft) long; the building in of the first pier reduced it to 308.7 metres (1,013 ft).^[15] The southern, Old Town end of the bridge is half a metre lower than the northern, Stadtamhof end, and the bridge bends slightly because of the course of the river at that point.^[5][15]
Construction of the bridge was made easier by an unusually hot, dry summer in 1135, which caused very low water levels in the Danube.^[2][16] Some of the bridge piers are on the two islands in the Danube within the city, the Upper and Lower Wöhrd. The others rest on foundations of oak logs on the riverbed,^[15] which were constructed inside cofferdams of oak planking. To protect them from being undermined by the river, they are surrounded by pillar-shaped artificial islands or abutments; these were enlarged in 1687. The bridge abutments are a substantial impediment to the flow of water, with as little as 4 metres between them, creating strong whirling currents under the bridge and downstream,^[5] which are referred to as the "Regensburg Danube Strudel". Five of them were reduced in size in 1848 as part of construction of the Ludwig Canal, and they were all reduced and strengthened with concrete and stone during renovation work in 1951–62.^[15] The construction using abutments is a modification of the technique used by the Romans for the bridge over the Mosel at Trier, where the piers rest directly on the riverbed.^[15][16]
Watermills were built at the south end of the bridge, making use of the currents it created; the revenues contributed to the upkeep of the bridge. The Bavarians had them burnt in 1633 during the Thirty Years' War; some were rebuilt in 1655 but in 1784 an ice dam on the river destroyed them. One was rebuilt at the foot of the Salt Store for a few more years.^[17]

The remaining tower at the south end of the bridge, with tramway arch to the right, and Salt Store; Regensburg Cathedral in the background.

In the Thirty Years' War, during the Swedish attack on the city in 1633, the fourth bridge span (the third now visible) was blown up. The gap was filled by a wooden drawbridge and only repaired in 1790/91 after it became apparent that the missing section was weakening the bridge.^[11][18]
The bridge originally had three towers, of which only the south tower, a gate tower to the Old City, survives. The original south tower was built around 1300; beside it stood a chapel of St Margaret. In the mid-16th century this was converted into a debtors' prison and the tower became known as the Debt Tower (Schuldturm).^[19] The middle tower was built around 1200.^[20] Both the south and the middle towers were destroyed by fire in the Thirty Years' War, when the city was under occupation by the Swedes.^[18] They were rebuilt in 1648, the clock being added to the south tower at that time,^[19] but the middle tower was demolished in 1784 after being almost destroyed by the ice dam.^[20] The north tower (the Black Tower), was probably built in the second half of the 12th century, in association with the bridge itself.^[21] It was heavily fortified between 1383 and 1429, including a drawbridge.^[21] This tower was damaged in 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars when the French and Bavarians retook the city from the Austrians, and had to be demolished the next year.^[11] In 1824/25 the site where it had stood was widened to accommodate a bazaar.^[21]

Bruckmandl at the highest point of the bridge

The chapel was removed and replaced by a tollhouse in 1829. In the early 20th century, when the tramway was built, all buildings between the remaining tower and the Amberg Salt Store were removed, widening the street approaching the bridge, and a wide arch was built over it beside the tower.^[19] Late in the Second World War, on 23 April 1945, German troops dynamited the second pier of the bridge immediately in front of that point, and also the eleventh, to slow the advance of American troops. The Americans installed temporary planking the following winter,^[18] but the damage was not fully repaired until 1967.^[15]
The bridge originally had thick stone balustrades, with very narrow pedestrian gangways beside them.^[5] The balustrades were replaced in 1732 with thinner slabs of sandstone, widening the roadway.^[22] In 1877 these were in turn replaced with granite from Flossenbürg, and the wooden ramp which had connected the bridge to the Upper Wöhrd since 1499 was replaced with an iron one at the same time. Finally, in 1950, the bridge was given concrete balustrades.
The north end of the bridge was formerly the border between the Duchy (later Electorate) of Bavaria and the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. At the highest point of the bridge is a stone carving called the Bruckmandl or Brückenmännchen (bridge mannikin), a largely naked young man shielding his eyes with one hand and with an inscription reading "Schuck wie heiß" (likely a reference to the hot summer when the bridge was begun^[22]). He has been said to symbolise the city's freedoms and its emancipation from the control of the Bishop. He has also been said to represent the bridge builder, and another figure on the cathedral to represent the cathedral builder.^[23] He was originally seated on the roof of a mill, and now sits on the bridge itself on the roof of a miniature toll-house.^[22] The current version is the third. The original was replaced in 1579; the current statue was erected on 23 April 1854.^[24] The 1579 statue, which lost its legs and arms in the fighting in 1809, is in the Regensburg Museum of History.^[24] There was formerly a crucifix on the bridge; it was removed in 1694.^[22]
The bridge also has a number of other sculptures: full statues of Emperor Friedrich II (standing on a masked head with ram's horns, and originally on the now demolished north tower; the current statue is a 1930 replica),^[25] Philip of Swabia and his consort Queen Irene (both enthroned and originally on the middle tower; Philip's sculpture is a replica)^[26][27] and reliefs including various arms (including both the city and the bridge itself),^[14] heads that may be those of the original builder and the rebuilders later in the Middle Ages,^[28] a lizard,^[29] a basilisk,^[30] a weasel,^[31] a lion (replaced with a replica in 1966),^[32] two roosters fighting^[33] and a reclining dog.^[34] There were also originally an apotropaic mask and a Roman sculpture of a winged lion on the middle tower.^[20] The roosters and the dog have been related to the legend about the building of the bridge;^[23] alternatively the Bruckmandl, the basilisk, the dog, the three heads and a now lost "small stone within a large stone" which was in the floor of the watchman's hut next to the middle tower^[20] have all been interpreted as Christian symbolism indicating that the bridge was the work of a school of clerical architects.^[35]

Current use and restoration

North end of the bridge under repair in March 2010

The bridge and the cathedral are the two major emblems of the city.^[36] However, the bridge has been seriously damaged by heavy traffic in recent decades and by water and salt damage from poor drainage and lack of sealing of the masonry.^[37] For over a decade, the bridge was closed to private vehicles, and beginning in 2005 it was remotely monitored 24 hours a day from Nuremberg for signs of impending collapse.^[36] On the evening of 1 August 2008 it was also closed to buses and taxis and became a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. This was because of a report that the balustrades would be insufficient to stop a bus.^[38]
The bridge has been under restoration since 2010; completion was originally expected in 2014 but is now expected in 2017 at the earliest.^[11][39][40] Temporary bridges are being used to enable the over 120,000 annual users of the bridge to bypass the section being rebuilt.^[39] The State of Bavaria conducted a thorough search taking two years and costing 100,000 € to find appropriate stone to use in restoration, similar in colour and structure to the original material of the bridge and sufficiently tough and resistant to weathering. A satisfactory kind of sandstone was eventually found in an abandoned quarry near Ihrlerstein.^[41] The bridge is to remain closed to motor vehicles after the renovation.

Legend

There is a legend that the bridge builder and the cathedral builder (who were apprentice and master) had a bet as to who would finish first. When the building of the cathedral progressed faster than that of the bridge, the bridge builder made a pact with the Devil: the Devil would aid him in exchange for the first three souls (or the first eight feet) to cross the bridge. The Devil helped as requested, and the bridge was finished first. But the bridge builder sent a rooster, a hen and a dog across the bridge first.^[42] A statue of a falling man on the cathedral is said to represent the master throwing himself off in reaction.^[23] Enraged, the Devil attempted to destroy the bridge, but failed, but that is why it is bent. In fact the bridge was already complete when construction began on the cathedral in 1273.

References

1. 
   

Archäologische Grabungen: Die aktuellen Grabungsergebnisse (Stand 18.9.2009), Aktuelles, Steinerne Brücke, Tourismus, Stadt Regensburg (German)

42. For variants of this trope, see "Devil's Bridge".

Sources

• Edith Feistner, ed. Die Steinerne Brücke in Regensburg. Forum Mittelalter 1. Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2005. ISBN 978-3-7954-1699-7 (German)
• Helmut-Eberhard Paulus. Steinerne Brücke mit Regensburger und Amberger Salzstadel und einem Ausflug zur Historischen Wurstküche. Regensburger Taschenbücher 2. Regensburg: Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 1993. ISBN 978-3-927529-61-8 (German)
• Hans-Jürgen Becker. "Opus pontis—Stadt und Brücke im Mittelalter: Rechtshistorische Aspekte am Beispiel der Steinernen Brücke zu Regensburg". Zeitschrift für bayerische Landesgeschichte 73 (2010) 355–70 (German)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stone Bridge (Regensburg).

• Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg, Geschichte, University of Regensburg: Class project of Albert Schweizer Realschule with Barbara Aumann, Jasmin Preißer, Barbara Schiller, Barbara Unterbauer and Christina Weber (German)
• J. Schönsteiner. Beschreibung der Donaubrücke Regensburg—Steinerne Brücke. From Bundesministerium für Verkehr. Steinbrücken in Deutschland. Düsseldorf: Beton, 1988. ISBN 978-3-7640-0240-4. At Baufachinformation.de (German)
• The "Steinerne Brücke" in Regensburg Germany modelled in 3 dimensions using Google SketchUp
• Instandsetzung: Sanierung eines Kulturdenkmals von europäischem Rang, Tourismus, Stadt Regensburg (German)
• Virtual tour (German)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stone_Bridge_(Regensburg)&oldid=658570234"

Categories:

• Stone bridges
• Buildings and structures completed in 1346
• 12th-century bridges
• In Regensburg
• Pedestrian bridges in Germany
• Bridges over the Danube
• Former toll bridges

• This page was last modified on 22 April 2015, at 17:43.
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Lageplan der Steinernen Brücke, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg, Geschichte, University of Regensburg (German)

Historische Wurstkuchl, Tourismus, Stadt Regensburg (German)

Oskar Teubert, Die Binnenschiffahrt: ein Handbuch für alle Beteiligten volume 1 Leipzig: Engelmann, 1912 OCLC 769831513, 143 (German): "Bei Regensburg selbst bietet die altere steinerne Brücke mit ihren kleinen Öffnungen und dicken Pfeilern das größte Hindernis für eine durchgehende Schiffahrt."

Franz Ržiha, "Die Steinerne Brücke bei Regensburg", Allgemeine Bauzeitung mit Abbildungen 43 (1878) 35–40, 45–49, p. 36 (German)

"Votre grand pont est très désavantageusement construit pour la navigation", quoted in Jörg Traeger, "Die Spur Napoleons in der Kunst—Bilder aus Bayern" in Eva Dewes and Sandra Duhem, eds., Kulturelles Gedächtnis und interkulturelle Rezeption im europäischen Kontext, Vice versa 1, Berlin: Akademie, 2008, ISBN 978-3-05-004132-2, pp. 501–32, p. 529 (German)

Kurt Wilhelm Kippels, Der völkerrechtliche Status des zukünftigen Europakanals und seine Auswirkungen auf das Rhein- und Donauregime, Schriften zum Völkerrecht 62, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1978, ISBN 978-3-428-04256-2, p. 95 (German)

Richard Strobel, Hubert Bauch, et al., Regensburg, die Altstadt als Denkmal: Altstadtsanierung, Stadtgestaltung, Denkmalpflege, Munich: Moos, 1978, ISBN 978-3-7879-0133-3, tzenweiher&dq=Protzenweiher&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yFcoT4iaCYPYiQKYhqywAQ&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBQ p. 159 (German)

Helmut Halter, Stadt unterm Hakenkreuz: Kommunalpolitik in Regensburg während der NS-Zeit, Regensburger Studien und Quellen zur Kulturgeschichte 1, Regensburg: Universitätsverlag Regensburg, 1994, ISBN 978-3-9803470-6-8, p. 466 (German)

"Die Wiederherstellung der Schiffbarkeit der oberen Donau", Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung 23 January 1904, pp. 40–42, p. 41 (German)

The Stone Bridge: 850 Years in Regensburg, Enduring Time and Man, Regensburg.de

John Dornberg, "Where the Middle Ages Live", The New York Times 18 January 1987.

"Steinerne Brücke—Nadelöhr für den Fernhandel", "13. Jahrhundert: Regensburg", Das bayerische Jahrtausend Episode 3, Bayerisches Fernsehen, Bayerischer Rundfunk, 3 April 2011, updated 9 January 2012 (video) (German)

Das Stadt- und Brückenwappen, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Technische Daten, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Ržiha, p. 37.

Die ehemaligen Mühlen, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Krieg und Zerstörung im Umkreis der Steinernen Brücke, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Das Brücktor, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Der ehemalige Mittelturm, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Der Schwarze Turm, Architektur und Baugeschichte, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Ržiha, p. 40.

Zwei Regensburger Wahrzeichen oder "Des Baumeisters Bund mit dem Teufel", Sagen über Dom und Brückenbau, Sagen und Zeitgeschichte: Rund um die Steinerne Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Das Brückmännchen, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Kaiser Friedrich II, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Sitzfigur des Philipp von Schwaben, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Sitzfigur der Königin Irene, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Skulpturen männlicher Köpfe an der steinernen Brüche, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Stein und Eidechse, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Der Basilisk an der Steinernen Brücke, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Die Reliefskulptur eines Wiesels, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Der Löwe an der Steinernen Brücke, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Die kämpfenden Hähne an der Steinernen Brücke, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Die Plastik eines liegenden Hundes, Denkmäler an der Steinernen Brücke, Projekt Steinerne Brücke zu Regensburg (German)

Ržiha, pp. 48–49.

Ulf Vogler, "Steinerne Brücke in Regensburg:Rettung für Wahrzeichen" n-tv 17 February 2007 (German)

Warum ist eine Instandsetzung so dringend notwendig?, Instandsetzung, Tourismus, Stadt Regensburg (German)

"Steinerne gesperrt: Was steckt dahinter?", Regensburg-digital 3 August 2008 (German)

Ablauf der Instandsetzung, Instandsetzung, Tourismus, Stadt Regensburg (German)

Mathias Wagner, "Auf der Brücke geht’s endlich weiter", Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 19 August 2013 (German)

"Steinerne Brücke: Regensburger Haltung ärgert Ihrlersteiner Unternehmer", Mittelbayerische Zeitung 22 February 2010 (German)

Theater Regensburg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Inside view of the Theater am Bismarckplatz

Outside view of the Theater am Bismarckplatz

Velodrom

Theater Regensburg (also known as the Stadttheater Regensburg, theatre of the city of Regensburg) is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Regensburg, Germany. The organization operates several performance venues throughout the city.

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Premieres
• 3 Literature in German
• 4 References
• 5 External links

History

Theater Regensburg was established in 1804 with the opening of the Stadttheater Regensburg at Bismarckplatz 7.^[1] That theatre was designed by Emanuel Herigoyen and destroyed by a fire in 1849. The theatre was rebuilt under a new design, also by Herigoyen, and opened in 1852 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Die Hugenotten. The theatre was modernized in 1898 and again greatly renovated in the 1990s. That theatre, now known as the Theater am Bismarckplatz, remains Regensburg's principal venue for operas and operettas. It is also occasionally used for ballets, musicals, plays, and orchestral concerts; however, the Velodrome (originally built in 1897 as a Radsporthalle, now room for 620 spectators) is the main stage for those kinds of productions. The Theater am Haidplatz with 138 seats has been used for literary and modern theater. More experimental works are often presented at the Turmtheater, a smaller venue with 88 seats.^[2] Ernö Weil has been Intendant since 2002.^[1]

Premieres

• Georg Britting / Erwin Weill (1885–1943[?]): An der Schwelle (cycle of one act works, lost), 27 March 1913 (Theater am Bismarckplatz)

• Madame (Weill / Britting)
• Potiphar (Britting)
• Der törichte Jüngling (Britting)

• Richard Billinger: Die Hexe von Passau, 1935 (Theater am Bismarckplatz)
• Ernst Wiechert: Der armen Kinder Weihnachten, 1946 (also in Stuttgart)
• Michael Ende (libretto) / Wilfried Hiller (music): Der Lindwurm und der Schmetterling, 11. Januar 1981 (Theater am Bismarckplatz)
• Jürg Amann: Nachgerufen, 1984 (Theater am Haidplatz?)
• Harald Grill: Dem Hans sei Ganshaut oder wo die Liebe hinfällt, 5. Oktober 1985 (Theater am Haidplatz)
• Harald Grill: Jorinde und Joringel im Wackersdorfer Wald, 6. November 1987 (Theater am Haidplatz)
• Harald Grill: Vater unser, 1997(?)
• Paula Köhler (libretto) / Thomas Bartel (music): Der Patient, 15. April 2005 (Theater am Haidplatz)
• Luisella Sala: La porta aperta, 5. Dezember 2007 (Turmtheater)
• Franz Csiky (libretto) / József Sári (music): Der Hutmacher, 29. März 2008 (Velodrom)
• Eva Demski: Die blaue Donau, 11. April 2008 (Theater am Bismarckplatz)
• Sandra Hummel (libretto) / Franz Hummel (music): Zarathustra, opera in 12 scenes, 24. April 2010 (Theater am Bismarckplatz)

Literature in German

• Helmut Pigge: Theater in Regensburg, MZ-Buchverlag, Regensburg 1998. ISBN 3-931904-40-7
• Magnus Gaul: Musiktheater in Regensburg in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Studien zum Repertoire und zur Bearbeitungspraxis (= Regensburger Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte 3), Schneider-Verlag, Tutzing 2004.
• Christoph Meixner: Musiktheater in Regensburg im Zeitalter des Immerwährenden Reichstages (= Musik und Theater 3), Studio-Verlag, Sinzig 2008.

References

1. 
   

"Theater Regensburg". Bayerischer Rundfunk. 6 February 2010.

2. "Regensburg: UNESCO world heritage since 2006"
   . Newspaper Grafenwoehr. 17 June 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stadttheater Regensburg.

• Official website (German)
• Theater Regensburg on the Regensburg website (German)

Coordinates: 49°01′09″N 12°05′23″E

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theater_Regensburg&oldid=593057725"

Categories:

• Commercial buildings completed in 1804
• Commercial buildings completed in 1852
• 1804 establishments
• German opera companies
• Theatre companies in Germany
• Ballet venues
• Theatres in Bavaria
• Culture in Regensburg

• This page was last modified on 30 January 2014, at 03:03.
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Regensburg Cathedral

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Peter's Cathedral
Regensburger Dom
Regensburg Cathedral, in the foreground the Danube.
Saint Peter's Cathedral
49°01′10″N 12°05′53″E
Location	Regensburg
Country	Germany
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	Website
Architecture
Status	Active
Functional status	Cathedral
Completed	1520
Specifications
Length	85.40 m (280 ft 2 in)
Width	34.80 m (114 ft 2 in)
Height	31.85 m (104 ft 6 in)
Number of spires	2
Spire height	105 m (344 ft 6 in)
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Regensburg
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Rudolf Voderholzer

Cathedral of St. Peter, south facade (before the towers were cleaned in 2005).

The Regensburg Cathedral (German: Dom St. Peter or Regensburger Dom), dedicated to St Peter, is the most important church and landmark of the city of Regensburg, Germany. It is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg. The church is the prime example of Gothic architecture in Bavaria.

Contents

• 1 Dimensions
• 2 History
• 3 The building
• 4 Significance
• 5 References
• 6 Bibliography
• 7 External links

Dimensions

Overall length (interior)	85.40 m
Width (interior)	34.94 m
Height (nave)	31.85 m
Height (bell towers)	105 m

^[1]

History

A first bishop's church was built around 700, at the site of the present-day cathedral parish church Niedermünster (St. Erhard's tomb). Around 739, St. Boniface chose the area of the Porta Praetoria (North Gate of the old Roman fort) for the bishop's seat, and the site of the cathedral has remained there since. The Cathedral was rebuilt in Carolingian times and expanded in the early 11th century, with an approximately 15-meter-wide transept, two towers and an atrium.
In 1156-1172 the edifice burnt twice, and was also rebuilt starting from 1273 in High Gothic style. The three choirs of the new cathedral were ready for use in 1320, while the old cathedral was demolished at the same time. In 1385-1415 the elaborate main entrance to the west was completed, with the most of the new edifice being finished around 1520; the cloister was constructed in 1514-1538.
The cupola at the transept crossing and other sectors were renovated in Baroque style in the 17th century. In 1828-1841 the cathedral underwent a neo/Gothic restoration commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The Baroque frescoes were relocated and the cupola demolished, being replaced by a quadripartite rib vault. The towers and their spires were built in 1859-1869. Three years later the cathedral was finally finished, with the completion of the transept gable and the spire (at the crossing), after some 600 years of construction.
The state-run Dombauhütte (Cathedral building workshop) was founded in 1923, for the ongoing oversight, maintenance, and restoration of the cathedral. In the 1980s construction of the crypt mausoleum and archeological exploration of the center nave (partial exposure of a former southern arcade entrance to the atrium of a precursor Roman structure) were carried on.
The cathedral was restored during the 2000s.

The building

Groundplan of the stained glass windows by Josef Oberberger

An unusual feature of Regensburg Cathedral is its separation from the structure of the older cloister. This separation came about when the church was rebuilt and displaced to the southwest of the earlier Romanesque cathedral.
In testimony of that Romanesque precursor, the Eselsturm tower still stands on the north side of the cathedral; it was used in the past and is still used to transport construction materials to the upper levels. A pulley remains in the west loft, and with it materials were lifted through an opening in the ceiling near the west portal. To the east of the cathedral is the state-run Dombauhütte (cathedral building workshop) which is responsible for the preservation of the structure. In contrast with many cathedral building works, neither modern machines nor exclusively old tools are used. Rather, tools are manufactured in the workshop itself.
The Erminold Maria is one element of an Annunciation group in the Regensburg Cathedral. It goes back to the so-called Erminoldmeister, who carved and colorfully painted the figure of Mary and the famous laughing figure of the angel Gabriel about 1280. The figures are juxtaposed to one another on the two western pillars at the crossing of the nave. Mary's right hand is slightly raised toward the angel in greeting. In her left hand she holds a book, into which she is pointing with her index finger.
On the eastern pillars at the crossing are stone figures of Saints Peter and Paul, which were installed in 1320 and 1360-1370 respectively.
On the exterior there is a Judensau (Jews' sow) in the form of a sow and three Jews hanging onto its teats. The Judensau faces in the direction of the former Jewish quarter at the Neupfarrplatz. In 2005 there was a controversy about the posting of an informational sign.

The Judensau (June 2004).

The All Saints' Chapel in the cathedral cloister was built in 1164 as a burial chapel for Bishop Hartwig II by master builders from Como, in northern Italy. Its interior consists of a more finely articulated triconchos with frescoes from the time of its construction.
Most of the valuable stained glass windows were installed between 1220-1230 and 1320-1370. The windows of the west facade were only completed in the 19th century. In 1967-1968 came the windows of the left chancel, from the hand of the artist Professor Oberberger. He also produced the Pentecost window in the west of the north transept and the clerestory windows in Gothic style.
The silver high altar stems from Augsburg artists and was built in the period between 1695 and 1785. A particular feature is the five Gothic altars of reservation. In the south choir a new altar of celebration was built in 2004, the work of Helmut Langhammer.
St. Peter Canisius preached from the stone pulpit in the central nave in 1556-1557.

Significance

The Regensburg Cathedral is the bishop's church and the principal church of the Regensburg diocese. It is also the home of the Regensburger Domspatzen ("cathedral sparrows"), a choir rich in tradition. The structure is considered the most significant Gothic work in southern Germany.
The Cathedral is also the burial place of important bishops, including Johann Michael von Sailer (1829-1832, memorial built by Konrad Eberhard in the south chancel), Georg Michael Wittmann (1832-1833, memorial also by Konrad Eberhard in the north chancel), and Archbishop Michael Buchberger (1927-1961, likewise in the north chancel). In the western part of the central nave stands a bronze memorial for the Prince-Bishop Cardinal Philipp Wilhelm (d. 1598), the brother of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria.

References

1. 
   

1. Hubel, Achim (2010). Regensburg: St Peter's Cathedral. Schnell, Art Guide (4th ed.). Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner. p. 12. ISBN 978-3-7954-6162-1.

Bibliography

• Peter Morsbach, Die Erbauer des Domes. Die Geschichte der Regensburger Dommeisterfamilie Roriczer-Engel (Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner 2009).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Regensburg Cathedral.

• Diocese of Regensburg: Cathedral (German)
• Virtual tour (German)
• Diocese: Cathedral Museum (German)
• for St. Peter's cathedral at the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Monuments

Coordinates: 49°01′10″N 12°05′53″E

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regensburg_Cathedral&oldid=649727861"

Categories:

• Religious buildings completed in 1320
• Religious buildings completed in 1538
• Buildings and structures in Regensburg
• Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria
• Roman Catholic cathedrals in Germany
• Cathedrals in Germany
• Gothic architecture in Germany
• Churches in Bavaria

• This page was last modified on 3 March 2015, at 19:23.
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Battle of Abensberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Abensberg
Part of the War of the Fifth Coalition
Napoleon addressing Bavarian troops
Date 20 April 1809 Location Abensberg, Bavaria, Germany Result French victory
Belligerents
Austrian Empire	First French Empire Kingdom of Bavaria Württemberg
Commanders and leaders
Archduke Charles Johann von Hiller Archduke Louis Michael Kienmayer	Napoleon I Jean Lannes François Lefebvre Karl von Wrede D. Vandamme
Strength
42,000[1]	55,000[1]
Casualties and losses
6,711, 12 guns[2]	1,107[2]

The Battle of Abensberg took place on 20 April 1809, between a Franco-German force under the command of Emperor Napoleon I of France and a reinforced Austrian corps led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Louis of Austria. As the day wore on, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hiller arrived with reinforcements to take command of the three corps that formed the Austrian left wing. The action ended in a complete Franco-German victory. The battlefield was southeast of Abensberg and included clashes at Offenstetten, Biburg-Siegenburg, Rohr in Niederbayern, and Rottenburg an der Laaber. On the same day, the French garrison of Regensburg capitulated.
After Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout's hard-fought victory at Battle of Teugen-Hausen the previous day, Napoleon determined to break through the Austrian defenses behind the Abens River. The emperor assembled a provisional corps consisting of part of Davout's corps plus cavalry and gave Marshal Jean Lannes command over it. Napoleon directed his German allies from the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Kingdom of Württemberg to attack across the Abens from the west, while Lannes thrust from the north toward Rohr.
While the Austrians initially held the river line, Lannes' strike force crashed through Louis' defenses farther east. On the left, the Austrians managed to conduct a capable rear guard action, but during the day the French smashed their opponents' right flank and captured thousands of soldiers. The day ended with the Austrians barely holding onto a line behind the Große Laber River. The next day, Hiller withdrew to Landshut, separating the left wing from the main army under Generalissimo Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen near Regensburg (Ratisbon).
The French surrender of Regensburg on 20 April allowed Charles' army a retreat route to the north bank of the Danube. The Battle of Landshut was fought on 21 April.

Contents

• 1 Background
  • 1.1 Operations
  • 1.2 Austrian deployment
  • 1.3 French deployment
• 2 Battle
  • 2.1 Abensberg
  • 2.2 Regensburg
• 3 Aftermath
• 4 Order of battle
  • 4.1 Austrian forces
  • 4.2 French-Allied forces
• 5 See also
• 6 Notes
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Background

Operations

Archduke Charles stole a march on Napoleon when his army invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria on 10 April 1809. Even though the Austrian army took six days to slowly march from the Inn River at the frontier to the Isar River, the move placed the army of France and their German allies in grave danger.^[3] Napoleon's deputy commander, Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier mismanaged the Grande Armée's concentration, leaving its units scattered across a broad front in a confused state.^[4]

Archduke Charles

The central mass of Archduke Charles' 209,600-man host^[5] crossed the Isar at Landshut on 16 April, but the next day Emperor Napoleon arrived at the front from Paris. Desperately trying to wrest the initiative back from the archduke, Napoleon consolidated his forces and ordered Marshal André Masséna's IV Corps and General of Division Nicolas Oudinot's II Corps on the right flank to march on Landshut to cut the Austrian line of communications. He planned for Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre's Bavarian VII Corps to hold in the center at Abensberg while Davout's left flank III Corps withdrew west to escape being trapped between Charles' main body and the Danube.^[6]
On 19 April, Charles realized he had an opportunity to destroy Davout. He launched 65,000 troops in three powerful columns northwest as Davout attempted a flank march across his front. Luckily for the French, General of Cavalry Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein's 20,000 troops found no opposition on the Austrian right.^[7] In the center, General of Division Louis-Pierre Montbrun's 3,800 cavalry and infantry skilfully held off Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini's much stronger IV Armeekorps for most of the day.^[8]
On the left flank, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen's III Armeekorps crashed into General of Division Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire's division and a terrific fight blazed up. Both sides fed in reinforcements as the infantry battled over a pair of parallel ridges in the Battle of Teugen-Hausen. Ultimately, Davout brought superior forces to bear in the late afternoon and pushed back the Austrians a short ways. That night, Charles ordered Hohenzollern to withdraw a little to the east, closer to his main body.^[9]
On the morning of 19 April, Archduke Charles requested that Hohenzollern provide a link between the III and V Armeekorps. Accordingly, the III Armeekorps commander detached General-Major Ludwig Thierry's 6,000-man infantry brigade to his left. As an additional link between Thierry and III Armeekorps, Hohenzollern detached General-Major Joseph Freiherr von Pfanzelter with a Grenz infantry battalion and two squadrons of hussars, about 1,000 men.^[10] While the Battle of Teugen-Hausen raged, Thierry clashed with Bavarian troops near Arnhofen and fell back to Offenstetten.^[11]

Austrian deployment

Johann Kollowrat

On 20 April, Archduke Charles' main body consisted of the III, IV, and I Reserve Armeekorps. These were arrayed near Dünzling and Eckmühl.^[12] Feldzeugmeister Johann Kollowrat's II Armeekorps spent 19 April attacking Regensburg from north of the Danube. While successfully defending the city, Colonel Louis Coutard's 2,000-man 65th Line Infantry Regiment ran dangerously low on small-arms ammunition.^[13] General of Cavalry Count Heinrich von Bellegarde's I Armeekorps also remained north of the Danube.^[14]
Archduke Louis spread out his V Armeekorps behind the Abens River, facing west.^[15] Having detached Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Friedrich von Lindenau's division to Liechtenstein,^[16] only the divisions of Feldmarschall-Leutnants Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen and Vincenz Freiherr von Schustekh-Herve remained under Louis' command.^[17] Feldmarschall-Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer's II Reserve Armeekorps, nominally 7,975-strong, waited in support at Ludmannsdorf.^[15][18] Kienmayer's cuirassier brigade under General-Major Andreas von Schneller was serving with Liechtenstein^[19] and four dragoon squadrons were attached to Thierry's brigade. On the evening of the 19th, the bulk of Hiller's VI Armeekorps reached Mainburg to the south.^[15] Like V and II Reserve Armeekorps, the VI suffered from detachments. At the beginning of the war, Charles sent the division of Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Jellacic to hold Munich, the Bavarian capital, where it remained.^[20] Hiller also posted General-Major Armand von Nordmann with a small force at Moosburg an der Isar to watch his south flank.^[12] The official returns of Hiller's three corps totalled 75,880 troops,^[18] but after detachments, the left wing numbered only 42,000.^[1]

French deployment

Siegenburg from a c. 1700 woodcut

When Lannes arrived at the front, Napoleon immediately placed him in command of a provisional corps. This ad hoc formation consisted largely of III Corps units that escaped Archduke Charles' trap the day before, namely General of Division Charles Antoine Morand's 1st Division, General of Division Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière's 3rd Division, General of Division Raymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice's 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division, and General of Brigade Charles Claude Jacquinot's light cavalry brigade of Montbrun's division. Also added was General of Division Etienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty's 1st Heavy Cavalry Division from the cavalry reserve.^[21] One of Saint-Sulpice's brigades was detailed to guard Saal an der Donau, a defile between Lannes and Davout.^[22]
On the morning of 20 April, Napoleon mistakenly assumed that the bulk of Archduke Charles' army lay in front of him. Accordingly, he gave orders for a drive southeast in the direction of Landshut. Lannes' mission was to turn the Austrian right flank by pushing south toward Rohr. General of Division Dominique Vandamme would attack Siegenburg with his small Kingdom of Württemberg corps. Lefebvre's other VII Corps divisions, together with General of Division Joseph Laurent Demont's Reserve Division of the III Corps, would link Lannes and Vandamme. Napoleon ordered Masséna's IV Corps to capture Landshut and the Isar River crossings, cutting the Austrian line of communications.^[23]

Battle

Abensberg

Archduke Charles sent orders to his brother Archduke Louis at 7:30 AM on 20 April. He instructed Louis to fall back to Rottenburg and defend behind the Große Laber. Charles intended Hiller to take position on Louis' left at Pfeffenhausen. Charles erred in sending the orders so late and in not informing Louis of Hohenzollern's withdrawal to the east. The latter move left the V Armeekorps' right flank exposed.^[14]
Pfanzelter held Bachl on the extreme right flank. To the west of Bachl, Thierry held Offenstetten with three and one-third battalions. His other two and two-thirds battalions had become separated the previous day and joined General-Major Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza who had six battalions near Biburg. Louis posted Schustekh with four squadrons of hussars and one and one-third battalions at Rohr.^[24] Schustekh's infantry had just rejoined V Armeekorps after marching from Mainburg with General-Major Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny's detachment.^[25]

Battle of Abensberg map showing Lannes breakthrough at Bachl and Rohr

In one account, Lannes' advance guard approached Bachl in the late morning of 20 April, forcing Pfanzelter’s small detachment from the Austrian III Armeekorps eastward. The 1st Bavarian Division under Lieutenant General Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and the 3rd Bavarian Division led by Lieutenant General Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy, together with Demont’s III Corps Division advanced on Offenstetten. Around 10:00 AM, they defeated Thierry’s brigade, forcing him back on Bachl as Lannes approached from the north. Thierry hastily withdrew to Rohr, which he reached at 2:00 PM.^[26]
Historian James R. Arnold offers a different narrative. He writes that Pfanzelter's command was withdrawn on the III Armeekorps commander Hohenzollern's orders, leaving the north-south road through Bachl wide open. Meanwhile, Thierry's attached dragoons discovered that Abensberg and its nearby roads were alive with moving columns of enemy troops. Around 8:00 AM, Thierry fell back on Bachl and found to his dismay that French cavalry already occupied the village. Having become separated from his supporting dragoons, Thierry's men were chased into the woods by Jacquinot's horsemen. From there the Austrians hiked cross-country toward Rohr.^[21]
Author Francis Loraine Petre states that Gudin encountered Pfanzelter north of Bachl and brushed him aside about 9:00 AM. The 1st Bavarian division and General-Major Hügel's Württemberg brigade drove Thierry from Offenstetten around 10:00 AM. When the Austrians reached Bachl they stumbled upon Jacquinot who attacked and they "scattered through the woods".^[27] Pfanzelter marched east to Langquaid where he rejoined Hohenzollern's corps.
Because he feared that the woods to his left might contain Austrians, Lannes slowed his march so he could scout the terrain to the east. Even so, his column arrived at Rohr before Thierry's infantry. Without Pfanzelter's detachment to warn him, the arrival of Lannes' column surprised Schustekh. The Austrian commander gamely threw four squadrons of hussars at Jacquinot's advance guard. Eventually, Jacquinot got his entire brigade into action and pressed the Austrian hussars back on the supporting battalion and one-third of Grenz infantry south of Rohr. At this time, Thierry's winded infantry appeared on the scene. With the help of Gudin's 17th Light Infantry and a battery of artillery, Jacquinot's chasseurs broke Thierry's foot soldiers and hounded them into the woods again.^[28]

French Cuirassier in 1809

To take the pressure off the infantry, Schustekh charged again, just as Thierry's lost dragoons showed up. At first, the attack went well, but then the Austrian horsemen came up against a mass of cuirassiers. The result was a rout of the Habsburg cavalry, who rode through the ranks of their own foot soldiers. The French chasseurs and cuirassiers rode roughshod over the troops of Thierry and Mesko, cutting down the fugitives. Over 3,000 Austrians became prisoners, including Thierry, and four cannon were lost.^[29]
The previous evening, Hiller's VI Armeekorps bivouacked at Mainburg. Though a road ran directly from Mainburg to Louis' left flank at Siegenburg, a distance of only 13 kilometers, Hiller elected to join his colleague by a roundabout march via Pfeffenhausen. Once he arrived, Hiller was authorized to take command of all three left wing corps.^[30] Hiller personally arrived in Siegenburg to confer with Archduke Louis around midday. Hearing troubling reports from the right flank, he sent Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Vincent toward Rottenburg with the line brigades of Generals-Major Josef Hoffmeister and Nikolaus Weissenwolf, plus four squadrons of the Rosenberg Chevauxlegers Regiment # 6.^[31][32]
Archduke Louis posted Prince Reuss and General-Major Joseph Radetzky von Radetz with four battalions and 12 cavalry squadrons at Siegenburg. Bianchi held the east bank of the Abens opposite Biburg. Lieutenant-General Karl Philipp von Wrede probed at Siegenburg but his 2nd Bavarian Division was easily fended off by Radetzky and a battery of 12-pdr cannon. At this time, Louis heard that the French attacked Thierry, so he ordered Radetzky to send two battalions to the right flank and called up Kienmayer's command from Ludmannsdorf.^[33]

Austrian line infantry platoon in 1809 uniforms including crested helmets

Wrede moved north to Biburg, where he tried to get across the Abens again. At first he was not successful, but Bianchi withdrew to Kirchdorf, allowing the 2nd Bavarian Division to cross to the east bank of the stream. Meanwhile, General of Division Dominique Vandamme's Württemberg contingent (later known as the VIII Corps) replaced Wrede in front of Siegenburg. Vandamme soon realized that crossing at Siegenburg was futile, so he too marched north, crossed the river at Abensberg and moved south to Kirchdorf. Here the Bavarians and Württembergers found Bianchi with his reinforced brigade and a cavalry squadron.^[34] Reuss soon arrived with Radetzky's two battalions.^[35] Around 2:00 PM a sharp combat took place after which the Austrians retreated to the southeast.^[36] According to one account, General of Division Jean Victor Tharreau's cavalry of the II Corps also became involved at Kirchdorf.^[37]
Pressed by Wrede's 7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, plus two of Hügel's Württemberg battalions,^[35] Radetzky conducted an orderly retreat on the Siegenburg road, covered by the grenzers and Kienmayer's grenadiers under General-Major Konstantin Ghilian Karl d'Aspré. He managed to shepherd the V Armeekorps trains safely through Pfeffenhausen before the Bavarians cut him off. Wrede pursued aggressively and scooped up many prisoners but failed to capture the bridge, which the Austrians burned.^[38] Even so, the Bavarians kept up the pressure, crossing the shallow Große Laber at 11:00 PM to attack. Radetzky fell back to a hill called the Hornbach where his rear guard skirmished with the Bavarians into the early morning hours.^[39]
When Vincent's column neared Rottenburg, he found the road jammed with the III Armeekorps trains. A charge by the Rosenberg Chevauxlegers halted the French cuirassiers long enough for his infantry to gain solid positions on the east side of the Große Laber. Hiller arrived at Rottenburg in the late afternoon and ordered a counterattack at 7:00 PM. Vincent swung his left brigade forward and quickly overran a Bavarian unit, capturing 300 troops. Soon after, the Deutschmeister Infantry Regiment # 4 got into a vicious firefight with Bavarian and French infantry. In the twilight, the Austrians were forced back by superior numbers with 600 casualties, but they had finally stopped their enemies.^[40]

Regensburg

Prince Liechtenstein

On 20 April, the Austrian II Armeekorps continued attacking Colonel Louis Coutard's 65th Line Infantry Regiment at Regensburg. A French convoy sent to replenish the critically low ammunition supply was ambushed by Austrian cavalry at 8:00 AM.^[41] The French troops finally ran out of ammunition and Coutard asked Kollowrat for a 24-hour truce after which he promised to surrender if not relieved. The Austrian commander foolishly agreed to the terms.^[42]
However, Liechtenstein's column soon appeared from the south. Liechtenstein pointed out that the existing truce did not apply to him and demanded an immediate surrender. Coutard thereupon capitulated at 5:00 PM.^[42] The French sappers had found it impossible to demolish the sturdily-built Regensburg bridge. The intact bridge later played a key factor in the escape of Charles' army.^[43] In two days of fighting, the French lost 11 officers and about 200 soldiers killed and wounded, plus 1,988 captured. Austrian losses were 73 dead, 220 wounded, and 85 missing for a total of 378 casualties. During the struggle the French captured 75 troops and one color, all of which were recovered.^[44]
When Kollowrat finally reported the II Armeekorps available for duty that evening, the headquarters ordered his troops to make an overnight march west to Hemau on the north bank of the Danube. In the morning, the tired troops were recalled to Regensburg from their pointless ramble.^[45]

Aftermath

Arnold lists 1,107 Allied casualties, including 746 Bavarians. He gives Austrian losses as 492 killed, 2,219 wounded, and nearly 4,000 captured, or a total of 6,711. The French also captured eight colors and 12 cannons.^[2] Digby Smith notes Allied casualties as 34 dead and 438 wounded, but this seems to count only the German allied troops. Austrian total losses are given as 6,872, including 3,000 to 4,000 captured. The 2nd battalion of the Broder Grenz (Mesko's brigade) was annihilated, with 18 officers and 1,040 rank and file counted as lost.^[46] Petre lists 2,710 Austrians killed and wounded, plus about 4,000 captured. Altogether, the 42,000 troops of Hiller's three-corps left wing faced 55,000 French and their German allies. Only about 25,000 Austrians and an equal number of Allies were engaged in action.^[1]

Davout was not disturbed on 20 April.

That evening, as the extent of Thierry and Schustekh's disaster became known, Hiller resolved to pull his three corps behind the Isar at Landshut. In this decision, he was also influenced by Masséna's move against his left rear and unfavorable reports from Archduke Louis. This crucial decision meant that the Austrian left wing would in the near future operate independently from Archduke Charles' main body. Hiller would only reunite with his army commander on 15 May north of Vienna.^[47]
While Napoleon savaged his left wing, Archduke Charles remained amazingly inert.^[48] At 6:00 AM, the archduke was with Prince Rosenberg and at 7:30 AM he sent orders to Archduke Louis and then wrote a letter to Emperor Francis I of Austria. But from 11:00 AM until 6:30 PM, the Austrian generalissimo failed to issue any orders. He either became obsessed with capturing Regensburg or he had an epileptic seizure during which he is supposed to have locked himself in his quarters.^[49] The epileptic attack is probable, but there is a possibility it may be a cover story for Charles' failure to exercise command.^[50] What is known is that the Austrian III, IV, and I Reserve Armeekorps did not disturb Davout's remaining three divisions under Generals of Division Louis Friant, Saint-Hilaire, and Montbrun on 20 April.^[48]
Despite being outnumbered, Napoleon's 113,000 troops split the 161,000 strung-out Austrians into two forces. Charles five corps, including 48,000 additional troops of the I and II Armeekorps north of Regensburg, lay to the north while Hiller's three corps fell back to Landshut. (Massena and Oudinot's 57,000 soldiers are not counted in Napoleon's total.)^[51] Both Austrian forces had to fight a second major battle each. Hiller fought the Battle of Landshut on 21 April, while Charles engaged in the Battle of Eckmühl on the 22nd.^[52]

Order of battle

The following is an abbreviated order of battle. Complete orders of battle are found in the Abensberg 1809 Order of Battle.

Austrian forces

Johann von Hiller

Left Wing: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hiller

• VI Armeekorps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hiller (35,639)^[53][54]
  • Reserve Artillery: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Rouvroy (24 guns)
  • Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich Kottulinsky
    • Brigade: General-Major Otto Hohenfeld (6 battalions, 8 guns)
    • Brigade: General-Major Nikolaus Weissenwolf (6 battalions, 8 guns)
    • Divisional Artillery: (6 guns)
  • Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Jellacic (Jellacic detached at Munich)
    • Brigade: General-Major Konstantin Ettingshausen (6 battalions, 8 guns) (Detached at Munich)
    • Brigade: General-Major Karl Dollmayer von Provenchères (5 battalions, 8 squadrons, 14 guns) (Detached at Munich)^[55]
    • Divisional Artillery: (6 guns)
  • Light Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Vincent
    • Brigade: General-Major Josef Hoffmeister (6 battalions, 8 guns)^[55]
    • Brigade: General-Major Armand von Nordmann (2 battalions, 16 squadrons, 14 guns) (Detached at Moosburg)

Archduke Louis

• V Armeekorps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Louis (32,266)^[53][56]
  • Reserve Artillery: Major Adam Pfefferkorn (18 guns)
  • Brigade: General-Major Ludwig Thierry (6 battalions, 8 guns) (Attached from III Armeekorps)
  • Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Friedrich von Lindenau (Detached to I Reserve Armeekorps)
    • Brigade: General-Major Anton Mayer von Heldensfeld (6 battalions, 8 guns)
    • Brigade: General-Major Ignaz Buol von Berenburg (6 battalions, 8 guns)
    • Divisional Artillery: (6 guns)
  • Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
    • Brigade: General-Major Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza (6 battalions, 8 guns)
    • Brigade: General-Major Franz Johann Schulz von Rothacker (6 battalions)
    • Divisional Artillery: (6 guns)
  • Light Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Emmanuel von Schustekh-Herve
    • Brigade: General-Major Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny (2 battalions, 8 squadrons, 8 guns)
    • Brigade: General-Major Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (2 battalions, 8 squadrons, 6 guns)

• II Reserve Armeekorps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer (7,975)^[53][57]
  • Brigade: General-Major Konstantin Ghilian Karl d'Aspré (5 grenadier battalions, 8 guns)
  • Brigade: General-Major Andreas von Schneller (12 squadrons, 6 guns) (Detached to I Reserve Armeekorps)
  • Brigade: General-Major Josef von Clary (12 squadrons, 6 guns) (4 squadrons attached to Thierry)

French-Allied forces

Grande Armée: Napoleon I of France

Jean Lannes

• Provisional Corps: Marshal Jean Lannes^[58]
  • Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Charles Claude Jacquinot (9 squadrons) (Attached from Montbrun)
  • 1st Division: General of Division Charles Antoine Morand (11,065) (Attached from III Corps)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Nicolas Bernard Guiot de Lacour (9 battalions)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade François l'Huillier de Hoff
      • 61st Line Infantry Regiment (3 battalions)
      • 65th Line Infantry Regiment (3 battalions) (Regiment detached at Regensburg)
    • Divisional Artillery: (12 guns)
  • 3rd Division: General of Division Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière (11,440) (Attached from III Corps)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Claude Petit (3 battalions)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre Boyer (6 battalions)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean Duppelin (6 battalions)
    • Divisional Artillery: (12 guns)
  • 1st Heavy Cavalry Division: General of Division Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty (5,337) (Attached from Reserve)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-Marie Defrance (8 squadrons)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-Pierre Doumerc (8 squadrons)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain (8 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery: (12 guns)
  • 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division: General of Division Raymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice (3,411) (Attached from III Corps)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade François Marie Clément de la Roncière (8 squadrons) (One brigade guarding Saal)^[59]
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Marie Adrien François Guiton (8 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery: (6 guns)

François Lefebvre

• VII (Bavarian) Corps: Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre^[60]
  • Artillery Reserve: Colonel Calonge (18 guns)
  • 1st Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria
    • Brigade: General-Major Rechberg (5 battalions)
    • Brigade: General-Major Stengel (4 battalions)
    • Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Zandt (6 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery: (18 guns)
  • 2nd Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Karl Philipp von Wrede
    • Brigade: General-Major Minuzzi (5 battalions)
    • Brigade: General-Major Beckers (4 battalions)
    • Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Preysing (8 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery: (18 guns)
  • 3rd Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy (Not engaged)
    • Brigade: General-Major Siebein (5 battalions)
    • Brigade: General-Major Vincenti (5 battalions)
    • Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Seydewitz (8 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery: (18 guns)

Vandamme

• Württemberg (later VIII) Corps: General of Division Dominique Vandamme^[61]
  • Reserve Artillery: Colonel Schnadow (22 guns)
  • Württemberg Division: Lieutenant General Neubronn
    • Brigade: General-Major Franquemont (5 battalions)
    • Brigade: General-Major Scharfenstein (5 battalions)
    • Light Brigade: General-Major Hügel (3 battalions)
  • Württemberg Cavalry Division: Lieutenant General Wöllwarth
    • Brigade: General-Major Roeder (8 squadrons)
    • Brigade: General-Major Stettner (8 squadrons)

See also

• Battle of Teugen-Hausen, 19 April 1809
• Battle of Landshut, 21 April 1809
• Battle of Eckmühl, 21–22 April 1809
• Battle of Ratisbon, 23 April 1809
• Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit, 24 April 1809

Notes

1. 
   

Petre, p 139

61. Bowden & Tarbox, p 62

References

• Arnold, James. Crisis on the Danube: Napoleon’s Austrian Campaign of 1809. London: Arms and Armour, 1990. (New York: Paragon House, 1990) ISBN 1-55778-137-0
• Bowden, Scott and Tarbox, Charles (1989). Armies On The Danube 1809. The Emperor's Press. ISBN 0-913037-08-7.
• Castle, Ian. Eggmühl 1809: Storm over Bavaria. Oxford: Osprey, 1998.
• Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. New York: Macmillan, 1979. ISBN 0-02-523670-9
• Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
• Eggenberger, David. An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, 1985. ISBN 0-486-24913-1
• Epstein, Robert M. Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
• Petre, F. Loraine. Napoleon and the Archduke Charles. New York: Hippocrene Books, (1909) 1976.
• Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9

External links

• The following two websites are excellent sources for the full names of French and Austrian generals.
• French Wikipedia, Liste des généraux de la Révolution et du Premier Empire
• napoleon-series.org Austrian Generals: 1792-1815 by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna

Coordinates: 48°48′N 11°51′E

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Abensberg&oldid=611641014"

Categories:

• Conflicts in 1809
• Battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition
• Battles of the Napoleonic Wars
• Battles involving Austria
• Battles involving France
• Battles involving Bavaria
• Battles involving Württemberg
• 1809 in Bavaria

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Arnold, p 120

Chandler Campaigns, p 677

Chandler Campaigns, p 678-679

Bowden & Tarbox, p 73

Chandler Campaigns, pp 682-683

Arnold, pp 83-84

Arnold, p 90

Arnold, pp 85-93

Arnold, p 84

Smith, p 289

Arnold, p 105 map

Arnold, p 101

Arnold p 104

Arnold, p 107

Arnold, p 74 map

Bowden & Tarbox, p 69-70

Arnold, p 235

Arnold, p 175

Arnold, p 78

Arnold, p 110

Petre, p 133n

Arnold, pp 104-105

Petre, p 134

Petre, p 136

Castle, p 41

Petre, pp 134-135

Arnold, pp 110-111

Arnold, pp 111-112

Arnold, p 108

Arnold, p 112

Petre, p 137. Petre names the two line infantry brigade commanders.

Arnold, pp 107-108

Arnold, pp 114-115

Petre, p 138

Arnold, p 115

Castle, p 46

Arnold, p 116

Arnold, p 137

Arnold, pp 113-114

Arnold, pp 119-120

Arnold, p 119

Arnold, p 100

Smith, pp 288-289

Arnold, p 125

Smith, p 290. Smith gives killed, wounded, captured, and missing, but the numbers only add up to 5,824 so they are not listed.

Arnold, pp 116-117

Arnold, p 118

Petre, pp 143-144

Arnold, p 213

Chandler Campaigns, p 685 map

Smith, pp 290-291

Arnold, p 235. Strength only.

Bowden & Tarbox, pp 70-71. Order of battle.

Arnold, p 260. Hoffmeister's brigade belonged to Jellacic, but it was exchanged for Dollmayer von Provenchères' brigade of the Light Division at the beginning of the conflict.

Bowden & Tarbox, pp 69-70

Bowden & Tarbox, p 72. Order of battle.

Bowden & Tarbox, pp 57-59

Petre, p 133. It is not known which brigade was detached.

Bowden & Tarbox, pp 61-62

.

Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maximilian Karl
Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Head of the House of Thurn and Taxis
Period	15 July 1827 – 10 November 1871
Predecessor	Karl Alexander
Successor	Maximilian Maria
Spouse	Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg
Issue	Prince Karl Wilhelm Princess Therese Mathilde Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis Prince Egon Prince Theodor Prince Otto Prince Georg Prince Paul Princess Amalie Prince Hugo Prince Gustav Prince Wilhelm Prince Adolf Prince Franz Prince Nikolaus Prince Alfred Princess Marie Georgine
Full name German: Maximilian Karl
House	House of Thurn and Taxis
Father	Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Mother	Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Born	3 November 1802 Regensburg, Electorate of Bavaria
Died	10 November 1871 (aged 69) Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria
Burial	Gruftkapelle, Saint Emmeram's Abbey, Regensburg
Religion	Roman Catholic

Maximilian Karl, Prince of Thurn and Taxis,^[1][2] full German name: Maximilian Karl Fürst von Thurn und Taxis^[1][2] (3 November 1802, Regensburg, Electorate of Bavaria^[1][2] – 10 November 1871, Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria^[1][2]) was the sixth Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post, and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 15 July 1827 until his death on 10 November 1871.^[1]

Contents

• 1 Early life, education, and military career
• 2 Marriage and family
• 3 Postal career
• 4 Titles, styles, honours and arms
  • 4.1 Titles and styles
  • 4.2 Honours
• 5 Ancestry
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Early life, education, and military career

Maximilian Karl was the fourth child of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Queen Louise of Prussia. He was born on 3 November 1802 in the so-called Inner Palace of St. Emmeram's Abbey. At the age of nine, Maximilian Karl became Under Lieutenant in Bayer's Fourth Bayerrischen Cheveaulegers-Regiment König. After four years of education at Bildungsinstitut Hofwyl, a Swiss educational institution, he joined the Bavarian army on 25 August 1822. After the death of his father in 1827, Maximilian Karl asked for his dismissal from the army. Afterwards, he continued with his new role as head of the House of Thurn and Taxis, with the advisement and support of his mother.^[3]

Marriage and family

Maximilian Karl married Baroness Wilhelmine of Dörnberg, daughter of Ernst, Baron of Dörnberg and his wife Baroness Wilhelmine Henriette Maximiliane of Glauburg, on 24 August 1828 in Regensburg.^[1][2] Maximilian Karl and Wilhelmine had five children:^[1][2]

• Prince Karl Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (14 April 1829 – 21 July 1829)^[1][2]
• Princess Therese Mathilde of Thurn and Taxis (31 August 1830 – 10 September 1883)^[1][2]
• Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (28 September 1831 – 26 June 1867)^[1][2]
• Prince Egon of Thurn and Taxis (17 November 1832 – 8 February 1892)^[1][2]
• Prince Theodor of Thurn and Taxis (9 February 1834 – 1 March 1876)^[1][2]

Maximilian Karl and Mathilde Sophie with their family at the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary on 24 January 1864.

In their seventh year of marriage, Wilhelmine died at the age of 32. Maximilian Karl mourned her death greatly and constructed the Neo-Gothic mausoleum at St. Emmeram's Abbey for her. Maximilian Karl married secondly to Princess Mathilde Sophie of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg, daughter of Johannes Aloysius III, Prince of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg and his wife Princess Amalie Auguste of Wrede, on 24 January 1839 in Oettingen in Bayern.^[1][2] Maximilian Karl and Mathilde Sophie had twelve children:^[1][2]

• Prince Otto of Thurn and Taxis (28 May 1840 – 6 July 1876)^[1][2]
• Prince Georg of Thurn and Taxis (11 July 1841 – 22 December 1874)^[1][2]
• Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis (27 May 1843 – 10 March 1879)^[1][2]
• Princess Amalie of Thurn and Taxis (12 May 1844 – 12 February 1867)^[1][2]
• Prince Hugo of Thurn and Taxis (24 November 1845 – 15 May 1873)^[1][2]
• Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis (23 February 1848 – 9 July 1914)^[1][2]
• Prince Wilhelm of Thurn and Taxis (20 February 1849 – 11 December 1849)^[1][2]
• Prince Adolf of Thurn and Taxis (26 May 1850 – 3 January 1890)^[1][2]
• Prince Franz of Thurn and Taxis (2 March 1852 – 4 May 1897)^[1][2]
• Prince Nikolaus of Thurn and Taxis (2 August 1853 – 26 May 1874)^[1][2]
• Prince Alfred of Thurn and Taxis (11 June 1856 – 9 February 1886)^[1][2]
• Princess Marie Georgine of Thurn and Taxis (25 December 1857 – 13 February 1909)^[1][2]

In 1843, Maximilian Karl and his family moved to the newly constructed princely castle of the Thurn and Taxis family in Donaustauf, which was completed in the same year as the nearby Walhalla. The castle Donaustauf was completely destroyed during a blaze on 4 March 1880.

Postal career

In 1827, Maximilian Karl was his father's successor as head of the private Thurn-und-Taxis-Post which had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. With the annexation of the Free City of Frankfurt by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 and the forced sale of Thurn-und-Taxis-Post for three million Thalers ended the era of the Thurn and Taxis family's postal monopoly. The handover took place on 1 July 1867.^[4]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Styles of Maximilian Karl, Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Reference style	His Serene Highness
Spoken style	Your Serene Highness
Alternative style	Sir

Titles and styles

• 3 November 1802 – 13 November 1805: His Serene Highness Prince Maximilian Karl of Thurn and Taxis
• 13 November 1805 – 15 July 1827: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis
• 15 July 1827 – 10 November 1871: His Serene Highness The Prince of Thurn and Taxis

Honours

• Grand Master of the Order of Parfaite Amitié
• Knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece
• Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle

Ancestry

References

1. 
   

Darryl Lundy (16 Dec 2008). "Maximilian Karl 6th Fürst von Thurn und Taxis". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 2009-06-21.

4. "Stamp-Collecting-World: German States Stamps from Thurn and Taxis - A Brief History". Retrieved 2011-08-20.

• Martin Dallmeier / Martha Schad: The Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, Germany 1996 ISBN 3-7917-1492-9.

External links

Media related to Maximilian Karl, Prince of Thurn and Taxis at Wikimedia Commons

Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis House of Thurn and Taxis Cadet branch of the House of Tassis Born: 3 November 1802 Died: 10 November 1871
German nobility
Preceded by Karl Alexander	Prince of Thurn and Taxis 15 July 1827 – 10 November 1871	Succeeded by Maximilian Maria
Postal offices
Preceded by Karl Alexander	Postmaster General of the Thurn-und-Taxis-Post 15 July 1827–1867	Succeeded by Thurn-und-Taxis-Post cedes control of its postal system to the Kingdom of Prussia

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maximilian_Karl,_6th_Prince_of_Thurn_and_Taxis&oldid=659580203"

Categories:

• 1802 births
• 1871 deaths
• People from Regensburg
• House of Thurn and Taxis
• Hereditary Princes of Thurn and Taxis
• Princes of Thurn and Taxis
• German Roman Catholics
• Members of the Bavarian Reichsrat
• Members of the Prussian House of Lords
• Knights of the Golden Fleece
• Grand Masters of the Order of Parfaite Amitié
• Recipients of the Order of the Black Eagle
• Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Lords
• Burials at the Gruftkapelle, St. Emmeram's Abbey
• Military personnel of Bavaria
• Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Württemberg)

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• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Paul Theroff. "THURN und TAXIS". Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 2009-06-21.

Dallmeier, Schad, S. 96.

..

Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (1794–1874)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis
Princess Esterházy of Galántha
Princess Maria Theresia and her family around 1850
Princess Esterházy of Galántha
Reign	25 November 1833 – 21 May 1866
Predecessor	Princess Maria Josepha of Liechtenstein
Successor	Princess Eugénie of Croÿ
Spouse	Paul III Anthony, 8th Prince Esterházy of Galántha
Issue	Princess Maria Theresia Princess Theresia Rosa Nicholas III, 9th Prince Esterházy of Galántha
Full name German: Maria Theresia
House	House of Thurn and Taxis House of Esterházy
Father	Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis
Mother	Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Born	6 July 1794 Regensburg, Free Imperial City of Regensburg, Holy Roman Empire
Died	18 August 1874 (aged 80) Hütteldorf, Penzing, Vienna, Austria–Hungary
Religion	Roman Catholic

Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis,^[1][2] full German name: Maria Theresia, Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis^[1][2] (born 6 July 1794 in Regensburg, Free Imperial City of Regensburg, Holy Roman Empire;^[1][2] died 18 August 1874 in Hütteldorf, Penzing, Vienna, Austria–Hungary^[1][2]) was a member of the House of Thurn and Taxis and a Princess of Thurn and Taxis by birth and a member of the House of Esterházy and Princess Esterházy of Galántha from 25 November 1833 to 21 May 1866 through her marriage to Paul III Anthony, 8th Prince Esterházy of Galántha.^[1][2]

Contents

• 1 Family
• 2 Marriage and issue
• 3 Titles, styles, honours and arms
  • 3.1 Titles and styles
• 4 Ancestry
• 5 References

Family

Maria Theresia was the third child and second daughter^[1][2] of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his wife Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.^[1][2] She was an elder sister of Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis.^[1][2]

Marriage and issue

Maria Theresia married Prince Paul Anthony Esterházy of Galántha, eldest child and son of Nicholas II, 7th Prince Esterházy of Galántha and his wife Princess Maria Josepha of Liechtenstein, on 18 June 1812 in Regensburg, Kingdom of Bavaria.^[1][2] Maria Theresia and Paul Anthony had three children:^[1]

• Princess Maria Theresia Esterházy of Galántha (27 May 1813 – 14 May 1894)^[1]
• Princess Theresia Rosa Esterházy of Galántha (12 July 1815 – 28 February 1894)^[1]
• Nicholas III, 9th Prince Esterházy of Galántha (25 June 1817 – 28 January 1894)^[1]

Esterházy was a popular diplomat and Maria Theresia became admired by his contemporaries, especially during the Congress of Vienna.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 6 July 1794 – 18 June 1812: Her Serene Highness Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis
• 18 June 1812 – 25 November 1833: Her Serene Highness The Hereditary Princess Esterházy of Galántha, Princess of Thurn and Taxis
• 25 November 1833 – 21 May 1866: Her Serene Highness The Princess Esterházy of Galántha, Princess of Thurn and Taxis
• 21 May 1866 – 18 August 1874: Her Serene Highness The Dowager Princess Esterházy of Galántha, Princess of Thurn and Taxis

Ancestry

References

1. 
   

Darryl Lundy (29 Dec 2008). "Maria Theresia Prinzessin von Thurn und Taxis". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 2009-12-26.

2. Paul Theroff. "THURN und TAXIS". Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 2009-12-26.

Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxis (1794–1874) House of Thurn and Taxis Cadet branch of the House of Tassis Born: 6 July 1794 Died: 18 August 1874
Hungarian nobility
Preceded by Princess Maria Josepha of Liechtenstein	Princess Esterházy of Galántha 25 November 1833 – 21 May 1866	Succeeded by Princess Eugénie of Croÿ

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Princess_Maria_Theresia_of_Thurn_and_Taxis_(1794–1874)&oldid=629076609"

Categories:

• 1794 births
• 1874 deaths
• People from Regensburg
• House of Thurn and Taxis
• Princesses of Thurn and Taxis
• House of Esterházy
• German Roman Catholics
• Princesses Esterházy of Galántha

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