RATISBON (Regensburg), the capital of the Upper Palatinate. iu Bavaria, is one of the most ancient towns in Germany, been built by the Romans, by whom it was called Reginum, CastraRegia, and subsequently Augusta Tiberii. In the 2nd century it was already a place of trade. The Romans threw up a line of fortifications between Ratisbou and Cologne. Before the time of Charlemagne, and long subsequently, it was the chief town in Bavaria, and governed by counts of its own under the immediate protection of the Germau emperors. From 1663 to the dissolution of the German empire iu 1506, it was the seat of the Imperial Diet.
Ratisbon is situated in 49° N. lat., 12° 22' E. long., iu an extensive and fertile valley, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite to its confluence with the Regen. The Danube here forms two small islands, called Oberworth and Niederworth, which are connected with each other and with the banks of the Danube by a remarkable stone bridge, 1100 feet in length and 23 feet wide, which was built in the years 1135 to 1140, and connects Ratisbon with its suburb Stadt-am-Hof, on the left bank. The town is surrounded with ramparts, pierced with six gates; but the ditches have been filled up. Most of the houses are built of stone; they are very old-fashioned, and their great height adds to the gloominess of the streets, which are narrow and crooked, but clean and well paved. The most remarkable buildings are the ancient rath-house, in which the German Diet held its sittings; the gothic cathedral, one of the finest in Germany, within the large pre cincts of which are two older cathedrals, one now called tho Baptistery and dating from the 10th century, the other in the form of a basilica and dating from Roman times; the Scotch Benedictine church of St. James, founded in 1165; tho vast abbey of St.-Emmeran, which
now forms the palace of the Prince of Thurn-und-Taxis; and the churches of the ancient abbeys of Niedermunster and Obermauster. There are in all one cathedral and 27 other churches and chapels. Besides the library in the town-house, there are some other consider able libraries and collections of works of art ; also a botanical gardau, a Catholic) gymnasium, an ecclesiastical seminary, a school for the blind, and a school of design. There are extensive bleach-grounds and breweries, and manufactories of leather, tobacco, wax-caudles, soap, cutlery, earthenware, porcelain, and carriages. The inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in salt, timber, corn, and their own manufactures, and transact extensive business on com mission. The population is about 22,000, exclusive of the military. Steamers ply regularly to Ulm and Vienna. In an alley near the city is a monumeut, erected in 1817, in honour of Kepler, who died hero in November 1630, and was buried in St. Peter's churchyard. On a rock above the Danube, six miles below Ratisbon, stands the Walhalla, a marble temple of the Dorio order, erected on the plau of the Par thenon of Athens, by the ex-king Ludwig of Bavaria, in honour of the great men of Germany. There were severe engagements between the French and Austrians near Ratisbon in 1809. Electro-telegraphic wires connect Ratisbon with Munich and Vienna.