The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg

In the previous blog, I mentioned that my reason for traveling to Munich was a trip to Regensburg or, more specifically, a visit to the Immerwährender Reichstag.

Imperial Diets (Reichstage) were how the Holy Roman Empire was governed in the Middle Ages. The German emperor met with his secular and spiritual princes in various towns of the Reich on a yearly basis, so in Freiburg in 1498.

Regensburg's train station is located somewhat outside the city. On my way to the Donau River, I walked through a beautiful park.

At the start, a modern obelisk caught my eye. Thurn und Taxis was engraved on its back, a name that means everything in Regensburg.

This noble family held the German Postregal (regal postal service) for centuries. The monument stands on the property of Fürstin (Princess) in power, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis. The dynasty lives downtown in the monastery St. Emmeran which they transformed into a castle. Nowadays, the building is a museum displaying the rich heritage of the former postmasters of the Empire.

Beautiful photo of the old stone bridge and the cathedral (©Doktent/Wikipedia)

On my way to the river, I visited the Gothic cathedral.

At the side entrance, the typical antisemitic sculpture of the Middle Ages. Read more.

The choir and the high altar are in a pure classical Gothic style.

One of my favorite saints is Albertus Magnus.

Eventually, I arrived at the river but at the height of the modern bridge where the Museum of Bavarian History is located.

A quick lunch at the museum's restaurant, King Ludwig's dark beer, sharpened my eyesight and opened my brain to Bavaria's history.

In fact, the entrance hall to the museum is dominated by the Bavarian lion holding a Maß Bier (one liter of beer). Here are some highlights of the exhibition.

Bavaria became a kingdom by Napoleon's grace.

Slim and pale Maximilian, born in Munich in 1811, had to pick up the pieces his father Ludwig had left behind in the revolutionary year 1848 when he abdicated frustrated. His 36-year-old son Maximilian soon lamented, "The crown has brought me nothing but thorns, and since I have worn it, I have not been happy with my life." Having studied in Göttingen, Berlin, and Munich, he would have preferred to become a professor.

But then Maximilian started to reform his Bavarian kingdom with his motto: I want peace with my people and the chambers (of the Bavarian parliament).

The most interesting object on display is the Kaiserbrief.

The Bavarian king played the central role in the foundation of the Second German Empire in 1871, for he was the primus inter pares of the German princes. For the unity of the German tribes, Ludwig II had always advocated a Greater German solution, including Austria. Besides, after the war of 1866, Bavaria had fought and lost on Austria's side; the kingdom had to pay Prussia reparations of 60 million gold guilders.

So everything depended on winning Ludwig for German unification under Prussian leadership. The "Kini" had disrupted the Bavarian state finances and privately tried to obtain money from all possible sources, such as a loan of 20 million guilders from the Prince of Thurn und Taxis. It was also said that he had asked the Austrian emperor, the kings of Belgium and Sweden, and even the (Turkish) Sultan and the Shah of Persia for money.

Model of Neuschwanstein on display at the exhibition.
The fairy-tale castle was built from "Prussian" money.

Bismarck knew well how to lure Ludwig II into the boat, with money, with lots of money that the privately highly indebted fairy-tale king could spend on his castles and opera houses without control by the Bavarian parliament.

Eventually, the chancellor sent ambassador Holnstein to Munich with a letter he had drafted, asking Ludwig to take over the text and sign it. In fact, blinded by 6 million private gold guilders, the "Kini" copied Bismarck's draft like a pupil with small insignificant changes. The Kaiserbrief reads in the final part:

I have therefore turned to the German Princes with the proposal that they should join me in suggesting to His dignified Majesty that the exercise of the presidential rights of the Federation should be combined with the title of the German emperor. As soon as His dignified Majesty and the Allied Princes have communicated their will to me, I will instruct my government to take further steps to achieve the corresponding agreements.

With the assurance of the highest esteem and friendship,

Your Royal Majesty
friendly cousin, brother
and nephew
Ludwig

Hohenschwangau,
d. November 30, 1870

The Andechser Romadour cheese is even more famous than the beer.

Bavarian history is incomplete without its cultural jewels always combined with beer brewing.

The end of the Second World War saw the American Forces as occupants of Munich in ruins.

It is a BMW ... of 1955

Even BMW had to start from scratch with small gear after the war.

On my way to the premises of the Perpetual Diet in the Altes Rathaus (old town hall), I passed the Old Stone Bridge with its Brückenturm (bridge gate).

The area was crowded, and people enjoyed boating on the Donau River.

Disappointing Spartan interior of the meeting room

After the Thirty Years' War, the first Reichstag was convened in Regensburg in 1648. At this Reichstag, details of the peace treaty provisions were discussed and passed. A further convocation of the Diet was decided for 1663. It met on January 20 to discuss the danger posed by the Turks on the eastern border of the Empire (again!). This Imperial Diet was not finished in the same year but turned into an everlasting Diet, although it had not been planned as such in advance.

The adjacent council chambers where committees met were somewhat better equipped.

Following the transformation of the Reichstag into a Perpetual Imperial Diet, the princes were hardly present themselves but were represented by so-called Komitialgesandte (committee ambassadors). Thus, the Diet became a Congress of Envoys. The emperor himself was represented by Imperial Principal Commissioners, who, from 1748 onwards, belonged to the Thurn und Taxis family.

The council chamber for the spiritual princes with seats for the secretaries taking notes
 has an enormous stove for winter times. 

When on July 12, 1806, the Electorate of Mainz, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Kleve-Berg, and other principalities founded the Confederation of the Rhine signed the treaty with Napoleon in Paris, they declared their withdrawal from the Empire on August 1. On August 6, Emperor Josef II announced his renunciation of the imperial crown. The First German Reich had ceased to exist, and the Perpetual Diet became history.

Here is a replica of the imperial crown on display at the exhibition connected to the Perpetual Diet.
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