Beauty and grandeur, scale and proportion, glass and light - medieval builders combined and framed all of this in a mighty mountain of stone. Above all, however, they expressed their faith in God in a form that was modern and contemporary for the time: a church in the style of the cathedral type created in France in the 13th century.
St. Peter's Cathedral is the spiritual heart of the diocese. It is faith turned to stone, which has shaped people's lives for centuries. It is the visible center of the city of Regensburg and an outstanding testimony to Gothic architecture in Bavaria. Regensburg Cathedral is above all a place of prayer. This is where the Bishop of Regensburg and the cathedral chapter celebrate services in communion with the faithful. The cathedral is also the burial place of the Regensburg bishops. However, it is also the place where the Regensburg cathedral sparrows have performed their liturgical service in the musical arrangement of church services for centuries.
Regensburg Cathedral Organ
Like every organ, the Regensburg Cathedral organ, completed in 2009 by Rieger Orgelbau, serves first and foremost to celebrate the liturgy, which is intended to be exemplary in the cathedral. But of course, the first large organ in Regensburg Cathedral for over 700 years also enables the adequate realization of the great organ works that were created for the important cathedrals in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organist has 80 timbres with 5871 pipes of the organ, which weighs around 37 tons, at his disposal, and the cathedral organ is played by cathedral organist Professor Franz Josef Stoiber during church services on Sundays and public holidays at 10 a.m. and 12 noon. In addition, Regensburg organists help to organize the lunchtime meditations (Mon-Fri at 12 noon) from the Tuesday after Easter until October 31. Organ concerts with international performers take place in June and July on Wednesday evenings at 8 pm.
Art in DOMPLATZ 5
Art and culture: this is not a peripheral area of church activities and certainly not an appendage in the diverse social and pastoral efforts of the churches in Germany. Rather, it is an essential area in the overall life of the church. That is why DOMPLATZ 5, in cooperation with the artists' pastoral care of the diocese of Regensburg, repeatedly shows selected works of art and thus creates encounters between people, art and the church. Because "art is not a luxury, but a necessity." (Lyonel Feininger) and: "The church needs art. It needs it to convey its message." (John Paul II to publicists and artists, 1980)
Regensburg cathedral sparrows
In 1976, the Domspatzen celebrated their 1000th anniversary, as Bishop Wolfgang separated the diocese from St. Emmeram's Abbey in 975 and moved into the "Old Bishop's Court" with the scholars. Since this time, there has been a cathedral school, which soon developed into a highly respected educational institution. One of the most important tasks of its pupils was the liturgical organization of services in the cathedral church. Today's "nest" of the Regensburg Cathedral Spatzen is the legacy of Dr. Theobald Schrems, who worked as Regensburg Cathedral choirmaster from 1924 to 1963. Georg Ratzinger took over the direction of the choir in 1964. During his 30-year tenure, he was able to consolidate and expand the Domspatzen's international reputation. From 1994 to 2019, Roland Büchner was director of the Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows and cathedral conductor.
Christian Heiß has been the cathedral conductor since September 1, 2019 and is therefore not only the director of the Regensburg Cathedral Choir ("Regensburger Domspatzen"), but also responsible for Regensburg Cathedral Music.
As Regensburg's singing ambassadors, the Domspatzen are an indispensable asset to Regensburg's cultural life. Thanks to the applause and recognition they regularly receive at their performances, the singing boys have long since become one of Regensburg's best-known sights and sounds.
As a rule, the Domspatzen perform every Sunday (with the exception of school vacations) at 10 a.m. at the Chapter Office in St. Peter's Cathedral and sing at high church festivals.
