Regensburg

The Romans founded Castra Regina here on the Danube, and the old town grew up inside and around the walls of that legion camp. The Porta Praetoria, a Roman gate, still stands in the old town, and the remains of the camp's north gate are built into the walls of the bishop's palace next to the cathedral. In 2021 UNESCO added the Roman Danube frontier to the city's heritage, a second listing after the old town itself.

In the Middle Ages Regensburg lived from long-distance trade along the river. The Stone Bridge, begun in 1135 and about 300 metres long, was the only bridge across the Danube here for nearly 800 years, until 1935. The city tourism office says the old town has more than 1,000 individual monuments and calls Regensburg the best-preserved medieval large city in Germany. The Imperial Diet later sat here permanently, in the Old Town Hall.

None of this is a museum. The old town is where students live, eat and go out, and the cathedral's boys' choir, the Domspatzen, is described by the tourism office as the oldest boys' choir in the world.

Three rivers meet at Regensburg, the Danube, the Naab and the Regen, and the University of Regensburg itself lists the water as one of its six reasons to study here: boating on the Naab or sitting on the bank of the Regen is a few minutes from campus. A green belt of tree-lined avenues and small parks runs around most of the old town.

Beyond the city, the tourism office points to river trips by ship. Downstream there is the Walhalla, a classicist temple built for King Ludwig I on a hill above the Danube. Upstream a boat goes to Kelheim, where the Befreiungshalle stands, and on through the Danube gorge to Weltenburg Abbey.

On campus, the university's botanical garden was founded in 1977, holds about 5,000 plant species and is free to enter during opening hours.

The old town is compact and the University of Regensburg says buses and bikes reach most places quickly. Students ride on the RVV semester ticket, which is part of the semester contribution: at OTH Regensburg the 208 EUR contribution covers the ticket and the Studierendenwerk fee. OTH also notes that the ticket lets you commute from surrounding villages at no extra cost, which matters because rooms near campus are limited.

By rail, Regensburg Hauptbahnhof is a regional hub. Trains run between Regensburg and Munich via Landshut, and since December 2018 there has been a direct connection to Munich Airport. The consulates and embassies named on this page are in Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin.

Regensburg's economy is built on manufacturing, especially automotive, mechanical and electrical engineering and microelectronics. Among large German cities only Frankfurt has more jobs per inhabitant, according to the figures quoted on the city's Wikipedia article. The BMW Group plant in Regensburg is a visible local employer and sponsors the city's Interkulturelle Wochen, the intercultural weeks run by the Integrationsbeirat.

For students, the main bridges to employers are OTH's own Jobbörse for part-time jobs and CONNECTA, one of the oldest company contact fairs in Bavaria, held every year on the OTH campus since 1996 and organised by students. OTH's English-language Regensburger Modell bachelor's programmes are designed with the regional economy and the city administration in mind, and the University of Regensburg runs a Campus2Company initiative to help international students into the labour market. None of this promises a job; it is where to start looking.

The University of Regensburg is a true campus university: all faculties apart from the newest one, the libraries, canteens and leisure facilities are on one site, so distances between lecture, library and Mensa are short. The student card, the UR-Karte, is also your library card and bus ticket and works as a payment card on campus, and it has to be validated every semester. Students log in to the SPUR campus portal, and use GRIPS for course material.

OTH Regensburg is spread over several locations (its postal address is Seybothstraße 2, and it has a campus at Galgenbergstraße 30). Its programmes are practice-oriented, in eight faculties, with partner companies and more than 120 laboratories.

Both institutions have a lot going on outside lectures. The University of Regensburg lists more than 15 student theatre groups, a stage called Theater an der Uni, orchestras, choirs and big bands with seven to twelve concerts a term, and a long list of accredited student initiatives from a debating club to a law students' association.

Rooms are the hardest part of studying here. OTH says the housing market is tight, recommends starting at least two months ahead, especially for the winter semester, and says international students get no priority in dormitories, where places go by waiting list. OTH has no dormitories of its own.

The largest provider is the Studierendenwerk Niederbayern/Oberpfalz with twelve residences in Regensburg. You can and should apply before you have a place on a degree programme: the application itself creates no obligation. The Studierendenwerk's own pages list rents such as 239-311 EUR at Vitusstraße (single apartments and shared flats, depending on the type), 294-346 EUR at Plato-Wild-Straße, 265-436 EUR at the Goldener Turm, a medieval tower converted for students, and 367-556 EUR at the renovated Fort-Skelly-Straße barracks next to the two universities. It states that an average apartment is about 220-400 EUR including heating and water. You pay a deposit before moving in.

The Studierendenwerk also runs a room exchange that lists private rooms, and the University of Regensburg has a link to its own Zimmerbörse. If you cannot find a room near campus, the semester ticket lets you live in a village and commute.

The University Mensa is at Albertus-Magnus-Straße 2 and serves lunch on weekdays; an evening Mensa was introduced in Regensburg from 30 June 2025. OTH quotes 3-7 EUR for a Mensa main course.

The University of Regensburg says the full Hochschulsport programme costs 20 EUR per semester. For free, the old town and the Danube banks are where students meet. The university describes the pub density as one of the highest in Germany, and OTH counts about 350 bars, clubs and restaurants in the old town alone. In summer there is something on most weekends, from city festivals to open-air concerts.

Students from EU countries may work up to 20 hours a week during the semester and full-time in the holidays. Students from outside the EU may normally work 140 full days or 280 half days a year, and your residence permit must allow the work. A day of up to 4 hours counts as a half day; more than 4 hours counts as a full day. Work as a student assistant at a university, and compulsory internships, are handled differently: ask the Ausländerbehörde before starting.

OTH's job board (Jobbörse) lists part-time jobs for its students. In a city with this many bars and restaurants, word of mouth also works, as OTH says itself.