Danube's best-preserved medieval city — Roman walls, sausage grills, and no WWII bomb damage
Regensburg is Germany's best-preserved medieval city — a UNESCO World Heritage centre of 1,500 listed buildings where 2,000-year-old Roman walls stand beside Gothic merchant towers and 12th-century stone bridges, the whole ensemble untouched by World War II bombing. The Historic Wurstkuchl (historic sausage kitchen), open since 1135, claims to be Germany's oldest restaurant and still grills its skinny sausages beside the Stone Bridge over the Danube.
Regensburg began as the Roman legionary fortress Castra Regina in 179 AD, built by Emperor Marcus Aurelius — fragments of the Roman gate still stand in the city centre. It became the capital of Bavaria's Agilolfing dukes, then the seat of the Carolingian empire, and was the most important city in the Holy Roman Empire during the medieval period, hosting the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) more than any other city. Its decline began when Nuremberg replaced it as the economic hub; paradoxically, this poverty preserved its medieval character intact.