Legend whispers that Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle stands where a Roman Juno temple once stood. This was near the Roman army camp Castra Regina’s headquarters. The legend calls the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle the oldest church in Bavaria. It supposedly played a key role in the region’s Christianization. Around 700 AD Duke Theodo II was baptized here. Bischof Rupert of Salzburg allegedly transformed the temple into a Marian shrine. Theodo then made it his palace chapel. Medieval chronicles describe it as the first house of God in Bavaria. However this lacks concrete historical evidence.
Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle first appeared in writing in 875. King Ludwig the German’s document mentions it. The church served the Carolingians Ottonians and Bavarian dukes as a palace chapel. Court officials held services there. Citizens attended St Kassian’s parish church. In 887 Emperor Arnulf moved the palace near St Emmeram’s monastery. The palace chapel fell into disrepair. The collegiate foundation also dissolved. A 967 document uses the term antiqua capella Old Chapel reflecting the building’s decay.
King Heinrich II later Emperor Heinrich II. restored the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle. He returned his residence to the Alter Kornmarkt in 1002. He immediately rebuilt the ruined church. He refounded the collegiate chapter in 1002. He and his wife Kunigunde endowed it generously. The founding charter called the church mater ecclesiae Mother Church. A title usually reserved for cathedral churches. Heinrich and Kunigunde are revered as the true founders. The Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle has existed continuously since 1002.
In 1009 Heinrich donated the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle to the newly founded Bamberg diocese. It remained there until secularization. Except for a few exceptions the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle’s provost was always a Bamberg cathedral canon. The collegiate chapter in Regensburg operated largely independently under a dean. The chapter produced notable clerics such as Archbishop Tageno of Magdeburg. It lost influence later.
A Marian pilgrimage possibly began in the 13th century. It focused on a supposed Lukas Madonna. It is a Byzantine-style Marian icon. It was actually created around 1225 in Regensburg. Numerous indulgence letters from the 13th and 14th centuries exist. However church historian Joseph Staber says this doesn’t definitively prove a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is only demonstrably proven from the 17th century onwards after the Thirty Years’ War.
Until the 15th century the collegiate chapter mainly comprised nobles. Citizens gradually gained prominence. From 1581 all canons had to be priests. There were about 15 canons in the Middle Ages. Today the chapter grants only seven canonries. They are mostly for deserving retired priests. The chapter elects its dean who heads the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle. Since 1933 the bishop of Regensburg has appointed canons after consulting the chapter.
The Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle faced severe difficulties during the Thirty Years’ War. The canons temporarily relocated to Regensburg’s Dominican monastery. Some were even moved to Ingolstadt.
Secularization in 1802/03 didn’t dissolve the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle. It survived Regensburg’s annexation by the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810. Most of its assets were in Austria. Dissolving the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle would have meant Austria taking over the assets. The Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle remained under state supervision. Only a provost remained. In 1830 King Ludwig I confirmed the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle’s existence. He granted it self-governance in 1838.
At Bishop Rudolf Graber’s suggestion Pope Paul VI. raised the Stift zu Unserer Lieben Frau zur Alten Kapelle to a basilica minor on March 5 1964.