Ratisbon

Ratisbon (Ger. REGENSBURG), a town of Bavaria, stands on the right bank of the Danube, 82 miles by rail NNE. of Munich. Formerly a free city of the empire and seat of the Diet, Ratisbon presents a strongly marked mediæval character, with narrow crooked streets, and high, many-cornered, gabled houses. Among its churches the most remarkable is the noble Gothic cathedral, begun in 1275, but not completed till 1534, and restored in the 19th century. The Church of St James, formerly belonging to the Irish (Scoti) Benedictines, dates from the 12th century, and is built in the pure Byzantine style. The old town-hall was used for a century and a half (1645-1806) as the place of meeting for the imperial diet. At the Golden Cross Inn Charles V. met the mother of his son Don John of Austria. There are numerous interesting private dwellings, as the Thurn and Taxis Palace, with library (40,000 vols.), picture-gallery, &c., the royal villa, and others. A stone bridge (1135-46), 1024 feet long, connects Ratisbon with the busy trading suburb of Stadt am Hof. The manufactures include porcelain and stoneware, brass and steel wares, leather, tobacco, lead-pencils, chemicals, &c.; and there is an active trade, especially in corn and salt. Pop. (1875) 31,487; (1890) 37,365. Originally a Celtic town, Radasbona (whence Ratisbon), this place was made by the Romans a frontier fortress. Later it was the capital of the Dukes of Bavaria. Frederick II. declared it (1245) a free imperial city. During the 14th century it was the chief seat of the Indo-Levantine trade, and was one of the most populous cities of southern Germany. Here were signed the Ratisbon Interim (q.v.) in 1541 and the armistice between France and Austria in 1684. The city was stormed by Duke Bernhard of Weimar in 1633, and by both the Austrians and the French in 1809. It was ceded to Bavaria in 1810. See works by Weininger (7th ed. 1884) and Janner (3 vols. 1883-86).