The Portland daily press., 1896-10-24
THE GOLDEN CROSS.
Eur0pe's Oldest Ina Is Located In the
Town Of Regensburg.

Town OF RegenSburg.
The Building, Which Is Still a Perfect
Bit of the Middle Ages, Has sheItere
Many of the Old Worlds Potentates Dur.
ing the Past Three Hundred Years.
The old imperial town of Regensburg-
Ratisbon, as we call it's in these days
comparatively little visited by the tourist.
For one Anglo-American visitor who stops
at Regensburg 80 make p5int of seeing
Nuremberg. Yet Nuremberg has of late
become busy and smoky manufacturing
town, hotbed of socialism and the home
of labor disputes, while Regensburg, a
couple of hours farther down the line, still
retains it's medieval character, it's ancient
customs and its old world hospitality This
fine south German city On the Danube, in
days gone by the seat of the imperial diet,
the political capital of that historic empire
which Voltaire declared to be "neither holy
nor Roman" is the possessor of the Oldest
inn In Europe Those who have to lodge
beneath the roof which has sheltered royal
ty will find in the Golden Cross at Regens-
burg resting place after their own hearts.
No other "guesthouse' in Europe, for the
Golden Cross scorns the modern title to
hotel, can boast of such royal clientele,
and no other inn possesses records Of such
great antiquity.
1t was in one Of the upper chambers Of
the Golden Gross that Kaiser Karl V, on
whose empire the sun never set, rested
from cares of politics and theology In 1916,
and 1t was here, too, that the future victor
of Lepanto, Don John of Austria, was
born a year later, the offspring of the way
ward kaiser and the bewitching barmafd
Of the Golden Cross, Barbara Blombergh
A medallion Of Don John now adorns the
wall of his birthplace and choice inscrip-
ton by local antiquary tells how Kaiser
Karl "kissed a maiden's lips" and how
his son grew up to be "the comfort and
the safeguard Of Christendom" xsom the
Turkish hosts which threatened It. But
even before Don ohm was born or thought
Of the Golden Cross had made name for
itself in the world. King Ferdinand
halted at its gates on his way to his coro-
patton at Frankfurt in 1881, and the
archives of Regensburg have much to tell
of the splendors of his retinue and the fes-
tivities which greeted him.
During the present century the record of
royal guests Is most remarkable. The
visitors books, which date from 1919, con-
tain the names of more than 500 imperial,
royal and princely personages, and some
pages read like extracts from the first part
of the "Almanach de Gotha.' The late
cook of the Golden Cross used to say that
during 10 years service she had tickled
almost every royal palate in Europe.
Among the guests we're King Frederick
William " Prussia, and his queen; the
old Kaiser Wilhelm, who was frequently
here; the emperor and empress of Austria,
the latter of whom stops at the Golden
Cross whenever she comes to see her sister;
the Princess of Thurn and Taxis, the en-
press of Brazil, the late Emperor Frederick
and his consort, the king and queen of
Saxony, the ex-king of Hanover, the late
king of Greece, the king of Wurttemberg,
the Czarina Alexandria of Russia, the late
Emperor Napoleon III, who came here as
boy with his father in 1898, and again
In 1924, on his way from Corsica, and ev-
cry member of the Bavarian royal family
for three generations back
They showed us with pride the room
where in 1865 Prince Bismarck, at that
time Prussian premier, slept when he came
with his sovereign and retinue of officials
to hold the well known conference Of
Ministers which was the last attempt to
prevent the fratricidal war between Aus
tria and Prussia. The negotiations were
held in the small hall of the Inn, under
the presidency of King William of Prussia.
The room is now adorned with portraits
of the six most distinguished guests of the
establishment, but the Bismarck bedroom
has been preserved just as it was 80 years
ago Equally proud is our host of the au-
tographs of Schiller and other men of let
tiers which he possesses.
The author Of William Tell'' wrote the
words "Und cine heinlath list es'' ct is in
deed honey in memory of his stay at the
inn, and Nc landlord could wish for bet
ter advertisement. The last great rejoicing
which took place at the Golden Cross was
In August, 1880, when the prince regent
Of Bavaria and the whole Bavarian royal
family celebrated there the birthday of the
first king, Ludwig of Bavaria, who found
ed the Walhalla, near Regensburg, in
memory Of Germany's mighty dead. In
honor OF this day the host affixed fine re-
lief of King Ludwig to his walls, where it
now divides with the older medallion of
Don John the attention of every stranger
as he passes by. Fortunately the Golden
Cross has preserved it's quaint old architec-
ture and its sweet simplicity in spite of the
distinguished patronage which it has en-
jcyed for so many centuries. More won
derful still, it has retained its former mod
crate scale of charges, This resting place
of emperors and princes" is no parvenu-
pothouse yesterday, palace today. 1t
affects surprise whenever, as once happen
ed, sovereign prince arrives in Regens-
burg and is SO misguided as to choose some
other hotel as his night quarters But it
does not despise the humble middle class
traveller because 1t has numbered the courts
of Europe among its customers. The build
ing Isl perfect bit ofzhe middle ages The
old German weinstube has not changed
since the days when the pedantic statesmen
Of the holy Roman empire unbent there
over their cups of good Rhenish after the
days quibbling in the gloomy hall of the
diet was over. The fine, lofty tower, from
which you can see the whole of red rooted
Regensburg at your feet and the Danube
meandering away toward the Walhalla in
the distance, stands four square, as it did
in the time Of poor Barbara Blombergh's
love affair. The wooden carvings in the
passages have hung there since Frederick
the Greats reign. Only the dining room