Shivering in Regensburg
The 28 degree morning gave me shivers as I walked down the corridor to the lounge for breakfast--the censors opening the outside doors automatically as I passed. So we knew we had to dress warmly for our Regensburg visit. Since we couldn't sail to Regensburg (we'd bypassed it yesterday and today bussed there), I decided on layering--a shirt, then a cardigan, then a wind shirt, then my boiled wool jacket and THEN my light down coat. I'm so glad I have a hat and gloves, both which I'd tossed in at the last minute.Regensburg has a wonderful cathedral and we loved the medieval city which was never touched by WWI or WWII. We parked, then walked across the ancient stone bridge and could see where the Danube was startlingly low. No wonder our boat couldn't navigate there.
The Romans had built a huge fortress in Regensburg and the all that remains today is a bit of a tower. When the Romans left, the townspeople grabbed most of the fortress's stone for their own homes.
What indicated one's wealth and prestige is how high a tower they could build onto their homes. We saw several that had old family towers 6-8 stories high, but the openings in the upper 4-5 stories never had actual glass in the windows, since those areas were never occupied--just built as a showcase of wealth.
The Christians were mandated by the pope not to deal with money (charge interest, etc.) so that fell to the Jews in town. Eventually so many owed so much to them that the best way to solve that issue was to eliminate the Jewish quarter--send the Jews out of town and thus eliminating their debt. The Christians did exactly that--they gave the Jews four days notice and then burned the Jewish quarter to the ground. But the destruction didn't end there. The Jewish cemetery was dug up, the headstones eventually used to build homes for the Christians.
More recently, to remember the disasterous events of the past, an Israeli designed and erected a meeting place or square on the site of the destroyed Jewish synagogue. It sits next to another church, probably protestant.
