Today, the Princess was scheduled to arrive at Regensburg at 9 AM. On the way, our ship traveled through a stretch of the Danube that was both scenic and industrial. Although the Danube and Rhine are blessed with much beautiful scenery, many manufacturing plants are also located along their banks. Most river cruise lines see to it that their ships pass these areas when it is dark out, but this can’t always be arranged. For centuries, the Rhine, in particular, has provided a convenient method of transportation for many commodities, and this continues today. However, river cruising has become so popular in recent years that the cruise ships outnumber barges in certain areas.
The Princess would also go through several locks that day. One thing the Rambler has learned is that the Danube is the 2nd longest river in Europe, as the longest is the Volga. However, most of the Danube’s length is eastward as it flows through the Eastern Europe and ends in the Black Sea, and it has relatively few locks. At this point we were almost at its western end in Bavaria.
The Princess would travel through 67 locks on our 15 day cruise between Vienna and Amsterdam. As we are still on the Danube, most of them are ahead of us on the Main and Rhine Rivers as well as the Rhine Main canal. Although our ship would go through many locks at night, the passengers would become very familiar with the daytime locking procedure on this cruise. The stop and go of locking at night, a rare bump or thump and the extremely bright lights that surround a lock, would sometimes wake the Rambler briefly.
Locking is a stressful time for the Captain and hard work for the crewmen who must tie up and then release the ropes as the ship enters and leaves the lock. Why stressful for the Captain? Because he must carefully pilot the ship into often very narrow channels without bumping into either the lock walls, another ship or even worse, the lock itself. That is why the locks are always brightly lit at night. A month earlier, a ship had damaged the Regensburg lock and ships had to be briefly re-routed. Fortunately the lock was repaired by the time the Princess arrived.
How narrow are the locks? Pretty narrow… The maximum beam of a river boat is capped at 38 ft. or 11.45 meters, because the locks are 12 meters or 40 ft. wide. This is the width of the lock itself, although some locks have a much wider basin that allows multiple ships to wait inside, however they all have to go through one by one. Many locks are only 40 ft. wide overall, and the Captain must keep his boat from banging the lock walls until it is securely tied. This process is often complicated by turbulence as the water goes in or out of the lock. Thus many river cruisers have dents or streaks along their sides from bumping into the lock walls. On our Uniworld cruises, our ships only got scraped a few time, once when a junior captain was at the helm. ( He never got to take the helm during locking on the rest of the cruise!) As soon as they had an opportunity, the crew launched our ship’s small inflatable boat, and motored to the scraped area and quickly repaired and repainted it.
Once in a while, you see an older river cruise boat which seems to be even narrower than the newest river cruisers still only 38.5 wide, if their route takes them through locks. The Ramblers think this is a good thing as their relatively small size is one element that separates river cruising from ocean cruising. Some companies have built longer ships to provide more space for passengers, and one company has a double wide ship, but it is limited to a part of the Danube without locks . The Viking ships are all over 400 ft. long and carry close to 200 passengers and Uniworld has several super ships over 400 ft. However river ships have a length limit as well or they would have trouble maneuvering around tight bends and wouldn’t fit in the smaller locks.
The lock and canal system on the Rhine/Main/Danube completed in 1992, has benefited its economy in several ways. Not only does it provide relatively inexpensive transport of bulk materials including grain, ore, scrap metal, and liquid fuel to name a few. In the last 20 years, river cruising has brought increasing numbers of tourists to the Rhine, Danube, Rhone, Saone and Main Rivers as they are the most suited to cruising. Locks and canals have tamed their currents and provided a minimum depth except in very dry years. The dams connected with many locks also furnish an excellent source of hydroelectric power. One of the few negatives resulting from canal construction has been the entry of invasive species , while some mourn the passing of the “wild rivers” of the past. However, the water is amazingly clear in many areas and there are many campgrounds along the rivers where people boat, fish and even swim, despite a sometimes swift current and passing ships.
Because the Ramblers visited Regensburg several years ago, this blog takes a different look at this part of the Danube. And now, a look at Regensburg and the surrounding area. First off, Regensburg is much more than the historic district; it is the 4th largest city in Bavaria. It has been an important destination since Roman times, and was both a political and intellectual center during the Middle Ages and the capital of Bavaria for four centuries.
Today it is a cosmopolitan university center with outstanding programs in music education and polytechnic studies. However, Regensburg also employs more than 100,000 people in light engineering, electronics and vehicle industries. International firms including Siemens, Toshiba and BMW have factories in Regensburg and today our cruisers would have an opportunity to tour the BMW plant.
On the way to Regensburg we cruised past a beautiful Greek temple, a copy of the original Pantheon, built high on a hill above the Danube. Although we didn’t stop there, the Rambler learned that this imposing edifice was Walhalla, built in the 19th century between 1830 and 1842 by Ludwig of Bavaria to honor famous Germans and those who spoke a Germanic tongue. It holds over 65 plaques and 180 busts covering over 2,000 years of Germanic history. Busts are still being added to this pantheon, a mix of scientists, writers and clerics, both men and women.
The complex, and it a quite a large one with extensive grounds, has received many 5 star reviews and is highly recommended And the entry fee is modest, only 4.50 Eu plus 2.50 for parking.
The last time we visited Regensburg, our ship docked on the other side of the river near the old stone bridge which dates from the 12th century. At that time, the bridge was in the process of renovation, and we had to zigzag our way across it to the historic district, however we were then right in front of the alstadt. Today we docked on the historic district side, although quite a distance from its entrance, but no bridge crossing necessary.
One of the highlights of the Regensburg stop, is a visit to the BMW factory, a huge series of buildings a short bus ride away from the historic district. Last time we went right from the historic district to the plant, missing lunch. There were no snacks, not even water, available inside the plant until the end of the tour which lasted over 2 hours. The Ramblers along with the rest of our tour group, were tired, thirsty and hungry when we got back to our ship. The Ramblers had a sandwich in the bar onboard but others stayed in town for lunch. Fortunately, this year, passengers had a choice of the historic district tour OR the BMW factory visit, much more sensible to chose one rather than do both back to back
The senior Rambler didn’t want to tour this cloudy, chilly morning and just as the city tour group was assembling, it started to hail. An amazing amount of hail hit the ground and the gangplank, and this was followed by rain. The Rambler decided she wouldn’t join the tour group but would take a stroll when the rain ended which it was supposed to do shortly. So, I sat by the exit door and had fun watching the crew take the clean laundry on board. The sheets and pillowcases were wrapped in tidy plastic bundles and the housekeeping staff set up a chain of available people to catch the laundry bundles, making a game of what could have been boring work. Even the Captain got involved for a little bit.
Sheets on board, the rain stopped and the Rambler set out for the historic district, at least a half mile away, passing a long string of docked river cruisers.
On the way she noticed two old ships docked near the historic district. They were part of the Danube ship museum which looked interesting but was not open at the time. She learned later that these two boats, the Ruthof/Ersekosanad and the Freudenau made up a museum complex founded in 1979 and opened in 1983. Today the museum is maintained by volunteers and contains a variety of exhibits relating to the maritime history of the Danube. The Ersekosanad, a steam tug, has quite a checkered history; built in 1923, it actually spent a dozen years underwater until it was raised and restored. The newer Freudenau is diesel powered and can sometimes be found motoring along the Danube on short trips.
Slowly the Rambler got ever closer to her goal, the Wurstkuchl, “sausage kitchen) which lays claim to being the oldest fast food restaurant in the world.
Regensburger sausages are famous, but the Ramblers had to pass by the sausage kitchen the last time as they were headed to the BMW plant. This time, the Rambler was on her own and had plenty of time to try their famous bratwurst. How would it compare to others she had tasted? Alas when she reached her goal, the gloomy skies foretold more rain and even more telling, the senior Rambler was not available to kibitz. Sadly, she only took a photo of the restaurant, admired the restored Stone Bridge, and trudged back to the ship. Surely she would find another place in Bavaria to enjoy bratwurst, but today was not the day.
