A Bridge Built on Sausages

On our honeymoon, we had the best sausages either of us had ever had in our lives. No exaggeration. It was like having sausages for the first time. Tasting sausages at the Historisch Wurstkuchl in Regensburg was like seeing the sunrise for the first time. And the sunset, in the same day. It was like landing on a new, beautiful planet. There was no grease. They had an exquisite combination of spices and high quality pork. My wife never even liked sausages much until this day, and she liked these. This reminded me of the first time I genuinely liked beer; it was at the Munich Oktoberfest 3 years prior. They were simple and delicious and deliciously simple. 

These sausages are tied to the bridge. Not literally tied to the bridge, but tied to the bridge historically. Tying sausages to a bridge would be a strange way to cook them, I don't know why you were thinking that.

By the way, Germans have multiple expressions involving the word sausage ("Wurst" in German). That should give you an idea of how important sausages are to them. For Example "Die beleidigte wurst spielen" is "to play the offended liver sausage."  It means to go off in sulk. The expression is documented back to the Middle Ages, when the liver was thought to be the seat of emotions. If you have ever seen anyone acting like an insulted liver sausage, you know what I am talking about. Once your liver sausage gets insulted, it becomes pretty unreasonable.

The official Historische Wurstkuchl story is that they have been around for 500 years, but from all I have read, sausage cooking on that site has actually been going on much longer than that. Regardless, I don’t know how 500 year old sausages can taste that good.  They tasted brand new to me. Unless it was the mustard; Elsa Schrick's mustard recipe remains unchanged since the early 1800s. The restaurant is still owned by the Schrick, and has been for over 200 years. I tried to get an interview with her, but they would not arrange it for me. I guess I was just being an "Extra Wurst."  An "extra sausage" is a primadonna… someone who is always demanding special treatment, always expects the extra sausage. The Historisch Wurstkuchl experience sent me on a sausage quest when I got home, which is still unrequited. I am likely to find the Holy Grail before I find a German-quality sausage in the USA. I'd even relent to let Monty Python help me with this, regardless of the flight velocity of a sparrow.  I shall have to elaborate on that quest.

The Wurstkuchl is the oldest sausage kitchen in the world. And quite likely the oldest operating restaurant in the world. And it started with the bridge. The Steinerne Brücke in Regensburg, Germany, is a 12th-century bridge across the Danube linking the Old Town Regensburg with Stadtamhof (a small village on an island in the Danube). It was built over the course of 11 years, from 1135 to 1146. For more than 800 years, until the 1930s, it was the city's only bridge across the river.

In 1135 a building was erected as the construction office for the Regensburg stone bridge. When the bridge was finished in 1146 AD, the building became a restaurant named "Garkueche auf dem Kranchen" (cookshop near the crane).  It quickly became a favorite eatery for dock workers, sailors, and travelers. As the city continue to grow, and the St. Peter Cathedral was built several times (due to fires) over the next few centuries, construction workers would find their way to the sausage kitchen. They serve about 6,000 sausages per day. Indoor seating is only 28 seats, outdoor about 100.

View from the bridge

I still have not figured out why the Wurstkuchl officially states they have been there for 500 years, when there has been a sausage restaurant there since 1135. I can understand rounding off a few decades when you are talking in magnitudes of centuries, but this is not consistent. When I was there, they were super busy, and I am not enough of an Extra Sausage that I was willing to interrupt management in my mediocre German to ask. I have spent many hours trying to figure out this inconsistency, to no avail.  I know what you are thinking now.  You are thinking  "Du armes wursctne." Which means "You poor little sausage." Which is said in cases of insincere and condescending pity.

Stadtamhof is an incredibly cute town, with shops, churches, restaurants and homes. Like the old town of Regensburg, it is a perfectly preserved and still fully functional medieval city. It was also the site of an old medieval hospital, St. Katherina's Charity Hospital. A church was built in the middle of the hospital, was common back then. There is a brewery on site now, "Spital" brewery. Spital is German for Hospital. However, I like the German word "Krankenhaus" better, which also means hospital. "Krank" means "sick." So obviously, a Krankenhaus is a sick house. A Krankschwester… a "sick sister" is a nurse. German is a fun language. I think it is fun and amusing, anyway; but you might be saying "Es ist mir alles wurst" which means "its all sausage to me," in other words "I couldn't care less."

Stadtamhof

Stadtamhof

Church in the center of the courtyard of St. Katherine's Hospital

When I got home, I started my quest for German quality sausages. Actually, I loved Germany and hated to come home. But all things must come to an end. Or as they say in Germany, Everything has and end but a sausage has two. Yes that somehow means everything comes to an end. In German its "Alles hat ein ende nur eine wurst hat zwei."

I took my picture of the  Historisch Wurstkuchl's sausages with me to local butchers. I emailed sausage companies. I googled every permutation I could think of. One of the local butchers immediately told me the name of the sausage to go look for. I spent days hunting it down, and it turned out to basically be beef jerky. Not even close. The internet led me to German Delis…. None of them close. Google Maps decided I lived in London for two days as a result of it. I don't know why, but it did. Have you ever tried to drive to Kentucky from the other side of the Atlantic? It does not work.

The sausage obsession and endless fruitless searches raged on and I was running out of time. It was getting to the point where it was all or nothing. Buy a case of variety meats from the Wisconsin German butcher, or give up. Or as they say in German, "Es geht um die wurst," which literally translates "its about the sausage: and means "Its all or nothing."

I discovered that there are four types of Wurst; Fresh, Raw, Cooked and Brat. Sounds easy. Then I discover that each of these has hundreds of subtypes. There are over 800 different kinds of sausages, according to Germans. I guess it's like Eskimos having 50 words for snow. The naming of sausage depends on if it is cooked before or after processing, ingredients, and many other characteristics. And to top it off, almost every German city has a subtype named after it, each with its own subtypes. Think about that next time you order a frankfurter. The idea may be just so overwhelming that you order a hamburger instead.

So we bought sausages from the Bavaria Sausage Company and they were very good. Actually, they were the best American Sausages we had tried yet. Closest so far to what we experienced in Germany. Their product was fantastic and prices were great, and they ship quickly. However… they were still not exactly what we had at the Wurstkuchl, so the search for the Holy Grail of sausages continues. In the meantime, in my research for this article, I watched a YouTube video that called these sausages "Nurnburger" style. I have an order waiting from the Bavaria Sausage Company, I will let you know if they are close to the same.

Regensburg is one of my favorite places in the world. The Wurstkuchl sausage kitchen, the bridge, and Stadtamhof, all definite highlights. I cannot wait to go back again.

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Update:

11/11/2016

I made a German dinner for the family tonight, including Nurnburger style sausages from the Bavaria Sausage Company. Congratulations to this Wisconsin meat company! These taste just like the sausages in Germany. I spent over 40 hours looking for an American company that could match what I experienced in Germany, and so far, this is the only one.

Regensburg; Modern Fun in a Medieval Town

I've visited 5 different countries in Europe and a couple dozen cities. So far, Regensburg is my favorite. Regensburg is confident, beautiful and peaceful. It is organic in the sense that is real and not contrived. It is simultaneously ancient and vibrantly new. It has the world's oldest sausage shop, a 400-year-old candy store, and an 800 year old bridge that was once considered one of the wonders of the world.  But more impressive to me than the historical depth, is that we could be out at all hours at the night and feel totally safe. Midnight, walking hand in hand, surrounded by lovers laughing in German, business people, small groups of people enjoying the night. Two in the morning, catching Pokémon.  In fact, even the Pokémon are friendlier in Germany. I met many of them and had great conversations. I have a great Pikachu as a Facebook friend now, but that’s another story.

Porta Praetoria

The bridge, sausage shop, history, and the candy…all warrant separate posts, so I will use this post to tell more about history, as well as the modern ambience in the city. The city began as a roman outpost.  In 179 A.D., Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius ordered a fort to be built on the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers.  (Thus the name of Regensburg). The Fort was the beginning of Regensburg. One of the towers and gates of that fort still stands today, and is incorporated into an active building. It is called the Porta Praetoria. Anything this old and historically significant certainly deserves a unique name. I mean, when I was a teenager, I named my first car because it was 15 years old, and here we have structures going back two millennia. That's way older than all of the cars I've owned combined.  Other still-used buildings were built at the base of the fort.

The city began a period of great prosperity in the 12th century that lasted well into the 18th century. During this time, it became the main seat of the Holy Roman Empire. The "Holy Roman Empire" was neither Roman nor Holy. It arose three centuries after the demise of the actual and real Roman Empire, and was not really an empire, but an affiliation of kingdoms. It was a sort of a medieval U.N. with very little power. It's as accurate as "Buffalo Wings."  I've seen live buffalo, and they don't have wings. Regardless of the questionable power of the "Holy Roman Empire," it none the less it brought commerce and influence to Regensburg for centuries. 

Three Views of the Golden Tower

During the 13th century, the wealthy began erecting towers. They lived in these towers. The height of the tower was monument to family wealth. One such tower built in 1259 still stands. My wife and I stood next to it and touched it. It is called the "Golden Tower" and is still very much in use. To this American, such antiquity leaves me in awe. And by the way, I could not find any gold in it. While I am half German in my heritage, I am also half Irish, and look more like a leprechaun than most Germans. I was hoping to find a pot of gold next to myself in the tower basement, but no luck. 

The Goliath house was built in 1260 at the base of the old Roman Fort. It was a theology school.

The students were called "Goliards" because their guardian angel was named Golias. Due to the close pronunciation and more well known story of Goliath, the name of the house evolved. The painting of David and Goliath was completed by Melchior Bocksberger in 1573. The painting is 200 years older than my country, and has weathered much better.

A "Ratskeller" is a pub next to a Rathaus. A Rathaus is a town hall, or municipal building.  A "Platz" is a main square. The Rathausplatz is one of the many surreally beautiful old areas of town. (I love the fact that the place politicians work in is a rat house). Down the street is a statue of Don Juan de Austria. He was born here in 1547, the bastard son of Charles V, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In spite of being a bastard Don Juan was wealthy, influential and well educated. (Bastards, politicians and rats are often the same). There are some rumors that he was a womanizer. The first fictional story about a womanizer named Don Juan was written in Spain in 1630.  While Don Juan of Austria was born in Regensburg, he was actually raised in Spain and lived much of his life there. Is this a coincidence or stories of horny German expatriates?

Rathausplatz

Ratzkeller

Rathaus

Don Juan of Austria

Amidst all of this ancient and intriguing history, as you walk the streets of Regensburg, you cannot help but to be keenly aware of the vibrancy of the city. It is young, energetic and alive. There is nightlife all over the city, into the wee hours of the morning. We were out until 2 a.m. several times. We felt totally safe at all times. There were always people out; groups of business professionals, young adults, lovers walking hand in hand. People walking, eating, chatting, drinking a beer as they walked through town. Yes, drinking beer. It is totally legal and completely acceptable to walk through German cities with a beer. In fact, its commonplace We did not see anyone who was drunk or obnoxious.

The people of Regensburg are super friendly. I have found this to be true of every German city I have visited. I have spent time in five German cities now, and I am impressed by the warm hearted friendliness of Germans all over Bavaria. Please note I said I have "Spent time," not "doing time."  Not even for trespassing in the Golden Tower. My experience with Germans is that they are universally warm-hearted, friendly, polite and professional.

The contrast of the modern city with wifi, ATMs, Google Maps on my iPhone against the centuries and centuries of rich history made the whole experience all the more surreal.