St Jacob’s (Scots’) Church
Around the year 1070, the Irish God-seekers and wandering monks Muiredac, called Marianus, Candidus and Johannes came on their pilgrimage from Bamberg to Regensburg. Their arrival is generally regarded as the birth of the eight-hundred-year history of the "Scots monastery".
Irish monks lived here for over four hundred years, followed by Scottish Benedictines in Regensburg for almost as long. St. Jacob's is a classic work of High Romanesque church architecture in southern Germany. The foundation stone for St. Jakob was laid around 1090. The church is famous for its enigmatic portal. The so-called Schottenportal is one of the most important Romanesque architectural monuments in Germany.
According to experts, in the past all the figures of the portal were painted, some of them were gilded or silver-plated, and the holes were set with precious stones. It still poses many mysteries today. There are many interpretations for this 15 meters wide and 8 meters high portal wall. The only thing that can be said for sure is that the cycle thematizes the Last Judgment, Heaven and Hell. The twelve figures represent the outcasts who are denied admission to the kingdom of heaven. The figures represent despised, stigmatized people and trades such as bawds, criminals, prostitutes, jugglers, dancers, gluttons and lazy people. Inside the church of St. Jacob there is a relief of the monk Rydan, who probably really lived. Here, too, there are different interpretations, perhaps he was the master builder of the portal or a porter.
