Würzburg

Travel times from Erfurt:
Train – 2 hours
Car – 1 hour, 50 mins.

Würzburg is a lively city at the northern gateway to the Romantic Road, a trade route from the Middle Ages still traveled by visitors seeking the best of medieval Germany. Since the foundation of the Würzburg bishopric in 742, the city has been the region’s religious center. Würzburg experienced its most prosperous period during the rule of the art-loving prince-bishops of the Schönborn family, who commissioned grand works of art and palatial structures that still make this city a delight to the senses.

The city is dominated by its most prominent landmark, the Fortress Marienberg. The origins of this fortress date back to around 1000 B.C., when a Celtic fortified refuge existed on this site. In 1482, the main castle was encircled by a medieval ring wall with the Scherenberg gate. In about 1600, Julius Echter rebuilt the fortress into a Renaissance palace. After the conquest by Gustav Adolf of Sweden in 1641, the fortress was reconstructed as a Baroque fortification, and a princely park was laid out.

The Baroque Armory, built 1702-1712, houses the Mainfränkisches Museum, an excellent collection of Franconian works of art, including 81 world-famous sculptures by Tilman Riemenschneider, one of the most meaningful sculptores and wood-cravers during the transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance during the late Middle Ages. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and offers today’s visitors a stroll through 1200 years of Würzburg’s history.

Balthasar Neumann built the "palace of palaces" for the Schönborn prince-bishops from 1719 to 1744. Known as the Würzburg Residenz (Residence), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is arguably the most ornate Baroque palace in Germany. The center entryway is big enough for a stagecoach to turn around and leads to a massive grand staircase. Halfway up the stairs, eyes are drawn upward to “The Four Continents” (only Europe, America, Asia and Africa were known at the time), a fresco by the Venetian artist Tiepolo that is considered the world’s largest painting. The brilliant colors fill an unsupported vaulted ceiling, which critics of the time said would surely collapse. Not only did it outlast the critics, but it was the only part of the Residenz left standing after a 1945 bombing.

Tours show off just a fraction of the more than 300 sumptuous Baroque and Rococo rooms in the Residenz (many are still under restoration). The palace’s chapel is a textbook example of Rococo, and behind the palace, the terraced Hofgarten features carefully manicured English- and French-styled gardens filled with whimsical Rococo sculptures.

The legacy of the prince-bishops’ love of fine architecture, sculpture and painting can be seen on nearly every block. An excellent example of their patronage in the city is St. Kilian’s Cathedral. Construction began in 1040 and numerous additions and changes were made until the 18th century, so that Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles are visible. Although the Cathedral was destroyed in 1945, the Baroque stuccowork in the transept and the choir were preserved. Connected to the Cathedral is the Schönborn Chapel, designed by Balthasar Neumann, the master of Rococo style.

Also worth visiting is the adjacent Neumünster Church, built in the 11th century where missionaries were killed in 689 and the destination for thousands of pilgrims every July 7. An impressive Baroque façade and a cupola were added from 1710-1716. Behind this church is the Lusam Garden, where the tombstone of Walther von der Vogelweide can be found. Mention should also be made of the Marienkapelle on the market square as one of the most interesting late-Gothic Bavarian churches, and also of its neighbor the Falkenhaus, the most splendid of Würzburg’s Baroque mansions with a Rococo stucco-work façade from 1751.

The Juliusspital was founded by Princebishop Julius Echter in 1576 and is an impressive, castle-like Baroque building which hosts a hospital and a home for the elderly. Also inside - one of Germany’s oldest, largest and most renowned wineries, whose proceeds subsidize the hospital and home. In its historic courtyard, there is a beautiful pavilion from 1714 and a Baroque fountain from 1706. The wine cellar is nearly 800 feet long and filled with 220 wooden wine barrels.

Created by the same master who designed the Residenz, Balthasar Neumann, the Pilgrimage Church Käppele was built from 1748-1750 next to the old Gnadenkapelle (Grace Chapel). The interior includes magnificent stucco works and frescoes. The Stations of the Cross (the largest in Germany) with 14 sculptures lead up to the church.

The prince-bishops’ summer resort is a jewel of Baroque architecture and horticultural art. Veitshöchheim summer palace—just a few miles north (40 minutes by excursion boat; ongoing departures from the docks Alter Kran of the Würzburg city limits—is well worth the trip. Although the palace is charming, it’s the extensive gardens—one of the most impressive Rococo parks in Europe—that are the most appealing with their intriguing balance of formality and a sense of whimsy.

After long hours of touring the treasures of the prince-bishops, treat yourself to some exquisite Franconian wine. Situated at the heart of the Franconian wine region, the excellent white wines produced in the area are central to life in Würzburg. The people of this city have a great appreciation for the quality and variety of wine from their region, as evidenced by the fact that nearly 80% of the wine produced there is also consumed there. Be sure to pick up a few of the region’s signature pear-shaped bottles before concluding your tour of beautiful, historic Bavaria.