Straubing

Straubing, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, pleasantly situated in a fertile plain, on the right bank of the Danube, here crossed by two bridges, 25 m. S.E. of Regensburg, on the railway to Passau. Pop. (1905), 20,856, nearly all of whom are Roman Catholics. Its oldest and most characteristic building is the tall square tower with its five pointed turrets, dating from 1208. It has eight Roman Catholic churches. among them being the church of St James, a handsome Late Gothic edifice, with some paintings ascribed to Wohlgemuth; the old Carmelite church containing a monument to Duke Albert II. of Bavaria; and that of St Peter with the tomb of Agnes Bernauer. It has also a Gothic town-hall, a castle, now used as barracks, and two fine squares. The numerous educational establishments include a gymnasium, an episcopal seminary for boys and a normal school. The industries of Straubing are tanning and brewing, the manufacture of bricks and cement, and trade in grain and cattle. Straubing is a town of remote origin, believed to be identical with the Roman station of Sorbiodurum. In definite history, however, it is known only as a Bavarian town, and from 1353 to 1425 it was the seat of the ducal line of Bavaria-Straubing. Its chief historical interest attaches to its connexion with the unfortunate Agnes Bernauer (q.v.), who lived at the château here with her husband Duke Albert III.

See Wimmer, Sammelblatter zur Geschichte der Stadt Straubing (Straubing, 1882-1884), and Ortner, Straubing in seiner Vergangenheit and Gegenwart (Straubing, 1902).