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Monday, August 24, 2020

My Trip to Regensburg and Austria

During my holidays I got ten pieces of mail. Five of them were postcards and five were covers. They were sent by five persons and came from three countries. These I will show in the next days, but let's start with the cards I bought during my holidays. Like usual I spent my holidays in Austria and earlier made a two day stop in a city in Bavaria, Regensburg this year. In total I got 35 cards for my collection during that time, of which just four are from Austria.

Regensburg is a city on the Danube river. It is the fourth largest city of Bavaria, the capital of Upper Palatinate, the seat of a Catholic Bishop and home to three institutions of higher education. Thanks to its very well preserved medieval city centre Regensburg is among the most popular tourist destinations in Germany. Since 2006 is the Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Without doubt the most famous views of Regensburg always include the Stone Bridge, a masterpiece of Medieval architecture and said to be the oldest preserved bridge in Germany, just like on these first four cards.



My main reason to visit Regensburg was the House of the Bavarian History. The House of the Bavarian History was founded as an institution already in 1983 and since than it organises the Bavarian state exhibitions in always changing venues. It was however just in June 2019 that the House of the Bavarian History opened its own museum in Regensburg. While the state exhibitions show specific aspects of Bavarian history, the museum only focuses on the time after 1806 when Bavaria became a kingdom, which is divided in different generations plus some aspects that span the whole time.





The Old Town Hall is one of the most important historic places in Regensburg. Between 1663 and 1806 it was the location of the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg, the deliberative body of the Holy Roman Empire which earlier convened in different cities around the Empire. It is possible to see the interior of the town hall with guided tours, but due to Covid-19 they are currently a bit different than usual, as some rooms of the building are too small to be shown with enough distance.



The history of Regensburg dates back to Roman times and in fact it is home to the largest Roman remain in Bavaria, the Porta praetoria, one of just two preserved Roman city gates north of the Alps. While it is already on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Old Town of Regensburg, it is also on the Tentative List as part of the transnational Danubian Limes. More Roman remains are on display in the Historic Museum, but unfortunately for some reason they are currently not allowed to sell postcards. Also a Roman wall can be see in the basement of a car park.

EDIT: As of July 2021 the Porta praetoria is now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Danubian Limes.


Regensburg Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Regensburg and one of the most important Gothic cathedrals in Germany. Built on the location of a Romanesque cathedral that burned down in the late 13th century, the new cathedral with French Gothic architectural themes was completed over the next 200 years, however when it was completed in the 16th century, it did not look like it does today. In the 19th century it underwent a Neo-Gothic renovation and just between 1859 and 1869 the towers were added.




Located next to the Cathedral is the Cathedral Treasure, but I did not visited it and only bought a few cards in the shop. The Cathedral Treasure is just one of three sites of the Diocesan Museums Regensburg.




Another special feature of Regensburg are the Noble Towers. Noble Towers as found in Italian communes are mainly built for the represantation of a noble family, but in Regensburg they additionally were also used in other ways like for example as warehouses. The most famous of these towers in Regensburg is the Golden Tower.


The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen is located near the Stone Bridge. It is presented as oldest continuously open public restaurant in the World.


The Goliathhaus was once owned by one of Regensburg's noble families. It is especially known for the large painting of David and Goliath, which can be easily seen after you cross the Stone Bridge.


The Neupfarrkirche is a testimony of a dark chapter in Regensburg's history. It was built on the remains of the Jewish quarter. Originally the Jews of Regensburg were under the protection of the Emperor, who wanted a large sum of money from the city if they would want to get rid of them, which the city did not have. However when Emperor Maximilian I died in 1519, the city took the chance, expelled the Jews and constructed the Neupfarrkirche on the site to make the act irreversible.


The Thurn and Taxis Palace was the residence of the Princes of Thurn and Taxis and still belongs to the family today. It was originally the Benedictine Saint Emmeram's Abbey.


Last but not least from Regensburg I also got a set of three ad cards. I especially like the one reminding us of social distancing.



Although I spent my time in Austria in Tyrol, I also made a day trip to Salzburg, where I first visited the Hangar-7. Hangar-7 is an interesting architectural building that is shaped like an airfoil. It is owned by Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and houses a collection of historical planes, helicopters and racing cars as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant.



After the Hangar-7 I also visited the Salzburg Museum once again, which is definitely more interesting to me. This year they show a state exhibition of the Salzburg Festival. Unfortunately like usual they do not have cards for the exhibition, so I bought this card of a Roman wall. Although this was already my third visit to this museum, this wall was never on display when I was there.


In Kitzbühel I bought a card of the Farmhouse Museum for my museum collection, although I did not visited the museum itself. The Farmhouse Museum is allegedly the oldest museum of this type in Tyrol.


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