The Trip That Keeps Growing: Danube River Christmas Market Cruise

12-13 December Regensburg and Rhine-Main-Danube Canal

We left Passau at 6 PM on our way to Regensburg. We had to leave earlier than expected as Germany is having difficulties in hiring enough lock workers, therefore, the locks are closed from 1- 5 AM. That meant we had to stop and wait to get through the last of the locks, but the Captain did manage to pass through the majority of the locks on this section of the Danube so we were only about 2 hours delayed in getting to Regensburg. We docked about 9:30 this morning.

Regensburg used to be the capital of Bavaria before it was moved to Munich. It is considered one of Germany’s most beautiful and well-preserved medieval cities, with architecture dating back to the 13^th-16^th centuries. The city has one of the largest groupings of 13th- and 14th-century church spires, towers and patrician houses. Amazingly it escaped damage and destruction in WWII.

This morning after breakfast, the chef gave a demonstration on stollen baking. This is a very popular German yeast sweet bread with lots of nuts and dried fruits. According to Bill it was edible, but not very tasty.

After lunch, we had a walking tour of the Old Town with Benjamin, a local guide. He was very knowledgeable and passionate about Regensburg. Our first stop was at the Porta Praetoria, one of the two remaining Roman gates north of the Alps (the other one is the Porta Nigra in Trier). Built in 179 AD it is Germany’s most ancient stone building and its arch is the tallest Roman structure in Bavaria. It used to be the north entrance of the wall that surrounded Castra Regina, the Roman settlement and military camp.

We then walked to the Stone Bridge, Germany’s oldest bridge constructed during the 12^th century. The bridge has 16 graceful arches. Today, as a result of the damage down by heavy vehicular traffic and water and salt damage caused by poor drainage and a lack of sealant on the stonework, the bridge is only open to pedestrians and bicycles. Also, the river around the bridge is restricted to recreational boats – commercial and river cruise boats cannot pass under the bridge as its arches are too narrow. They must now bypass it by sailing to the north on the Regensburg Regen-Danube Canal.

Benjamin loved to tell stories about some of Regensburg’s legends, and this bridge was one of his favorites. According to legend, a bet was made between the cathedral builder (the master) and the bridge builder (his apprentice) as to which one would finish first. When the bridge builder realized that the cathedral was progressing faster than his bridge, he made a pact with the Devil. In exchange for the souls of the first three to cross the bridge, the Devil agreed to help the bridge builder, which he did and the bridge was finished first. However, when the bridge builder realized that he along with the mayor and another ranking citizen of the city would be the first three to cross over the bridge, he decided to trick the Devil by sending a rooster, a hen, and a dog across the bridge first. This so enraged the Devil that he tried to destroy the bridge, but failed, and that is why today there is a bend or kink in one the pylons that the bridge sits on (in the photo of the at the end of this blog, it is the pylon closest to the dock). And on the cathedral, there is a statue of a falling man that is said to be the master throwing himself off the building when he realized that he had lost. In truth, the bridge had already been completed when construction on the cathedral began in 1273.

As we walked up the streets toward the Dom St. Peter, Regensburg’s Cathedral, we stopped by a large building known as the Goliathause (Goliath House). Built in 1260 as a patrician city castle, the house was located on the southern base of the old roman fort. On the side of the building is a large mural of David and Goliath painted in 1573. While no one knows the actual origin of the painting or what it symbolizes, Benjamin pointed out several theories or legends. Perhaps the most acuate is that the house was named for visiting theology students who were called Goliards as their guardian angel was known as Golias. The painting thus reflects the name and is not at all related to the biblical story. As this house is in an area where merchants lived, another theory is that the painting symbolizes a haughty merchant (Goliath) who is defeated by an honest merchant (David). And the last legend is that it reflects the fight the citizens waged with the Duchy of Bavaria to keep Regensburg a free city. Whatever the meaning of the painting is, it is a wonderful mural. If you look closely, you can see Goliath’s arm resting on the edge of a window.

We then walked up the streets to the Dom St. Peter, Regensburg’s cathedral. With its two twin spires, it is said to be the best gothic church in Germany. The gothic style uses tall windows and height to symbolize reaching for the heavens.

Walking from the Cathedral, Benjamin pointed out a tower (Gold Tower) that was built between two lower buildings. He said that it was not part of the ancient fortifications of Regensburg, but merely a tower build by a rich man just to show off his wealth. Oh, to be that wealthy!

There we saw the Altes Rathaus (Town Hall), once the seat of the Reichstag from 1663-1806. Dating from the 13^th century, the Town Hall consists of 3 buildings – the Imperial Hall with its bay window, the portal building with a staircase and gateway, and the oldest building (in the style of a patrician house) that includes the Town Hall Tower. On the corner of the portal building, Benjamin showed us a bronze device that was once a unit of measurement used by medieval merchants.

Near the Altes Rathaus is a statue of Don Juan de Austria, a Spanish admiral and governor who had ties to Regensburg. It was here that Benjamin finished a story about Don Juan de Austria’s mother which he had started earlier in the walk. Don Juan’s mother was Barbara Blomberg, a commoner who had an affair with Emperor Charles V, the Archduke of Austria and King of Spain. After his mother married another man and moved to Brussels, Charles had the boy, then called Jeromin, taken to Spain to live with his chief of household, Don Luis de Quijade and his wife, Dona Magdalena, at their castle. While Charles never openly acknowledge Jeromin as his son, his older son, Philip II, who became King of Spain following his father’s death, welcomed him as his brother and renamed him Juan de Austria. Juan then made a name for himself for his military prowess in quelling a revolt in Granada and later as the supreme commander who helped turn the tide of the Ottoman Empire’s invasion by defeating the Turks in a 1571 naval battle.

The tour ended, where else but the Regensburg Christmas Market in Neupfarrplatz. We walked through the market enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells, and of course, the hot glühwein.

This evening after dinner the ugly sweater contest was held. Bill and I both had bought Christmas sweaters in the Vienna Christmas market. Mine was just cute with a cat inside a wreath. But Bill’s was more on the ugly or inappropriate side – you can all form your own opinions. But he took 2^nd place in the contest. The winners were 2 couples that were completely decked out in Christmas wear, to include one sweater that played “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.”

We overnighted in Regensburg and before we left the next morning, we had a demonstration from a glassblower. As he lived three hours from Regensburg, he may have been the same glassblower that we had on the Rhine River Christmas Market Cruise. He told us a little about himself and how he moved from being an industrial glassblower (test tubes, etc.) to a decorative glassblower making candle holders and glass ornaments. He does beautiful work. It was a fascinating show, but you have to wonder about all the propane and fire that was in our lounge area. The good thing was we were still docked by the shore.

After he left the ship, we departed for our last port of call – Nuremberg. We will be sailing all day and most of the night, traveling though 16 locks on the Danube-Main Canal. The Canal runs from Bamberg on the Main River (a tributary of the Rhine River) to Kelheim, just 13 miles southwest of Regensburg. Completed in 1992, this allows river traffic to travel between the North Sea and the Black Sea, 2200 miles of waterway that runs through 15 countries.