Synagogue in Straubing

Metten Abbey is one of the oldest in Bavaria, having been founded in 766. For centuries, under the protection of the Bavarian rulers, the abbey trained renowned philosophers and theologians. In 1803, the abbey was secularised and the monks were expelled. Bought by Johann von Pronath, Lord of Offenberg, he persuaded King Ludwig to open a school in the Benedictine tradition. After years of hardship, Metten was re-established as an abbey in 1840. The abbey library in the east wing is a jewel of Baroque architecture and contains more than 200,000 books and manuscripts. Built between 1720 and 1722, its stuccoes are the work of Franz Josef Holzinger and the murals of Innozenz Anton Warathy.

Regensburg Cathedral was built from 1275 on a former Romanesque cathedral building which burned down twice in 1272 and 1273. The new cathedral is a masterpiece of the Gothic style, comparable to Cologne Cathedral. Moreover, like the latter, the cathedral was redecorated in the neo-Gothic style in the 19th century.

Regensburg's new parish church was built between 1519 and 1540 on the remains of a former synagogue in Regensburg's Jewish quarter. The expulsion of the Jews from Regensburg in 1519 made it possible to erect the new church, which was intended to be the centre of a Marian pilgrimage. In 1542, however, Regensburg converted to the Protestant-Lutheran denomination and the city council made the church the first Protestant parish church in the city.