Thurn und Taxis Schloss

Schloss St. Emmeram in Regensburg is the residence of the Thurn und Taxis family and a historic complex incorporating the former Benedictine abbey of St. Emmeram. The family received the secularised monastery in 1812 as compensation connected with the nationalisation of its postal service. Successive rebuilding campaigns transformed the abbey into a palace while retaining medieval elements, including parts dating from the twelfth century. Visitors can see the cloister, state rooms, treasury and former stables. The palace courtyard, measuring approximately 3,200 square metres, also serves as a setting for concerts and summer celebrations, linking the residence’s architectural heritage with public cultural activity. In 1812 the secularised Benedictine abbey of St Emmeram in Regensburg passed to the princely house of Thurn und Taxis, who made cloister and outbuildings into a residence of 517 rooms — the largest private house in Germany, and still the family's home. The great courtyard has become a summer theatre. For several weeks each year the Schlossfestspiele fill it with opera, orchestral concerts and popular acts, the stage built against walls that have stood since the Middle Ages.