Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Wurzburg

Yet another burg!  Actually, yesterday we learned the difference between cities whose names end in berg and those which end in burg.  With an E the place has a hill, with a U it means town.

Wurzburg was the location of the first church in Germany, and today the city skyline is dominated by church spires.  It was home to powerful bishops of the Catholic Church who proclaimed themselves prince-bishops and hobnobbed with European royalty.
Marienberg Fortress
Festung Marienberg is the fortress looming above the town (on the south side of the Main).  Originally a Celtic fortification (circa 1000 AD), it was the site of the first cathedral (from the 13th to the 17th centuries).  In the early 18th century, the bishop decided to move to the other side of the river and commissioned a palace.  The Wurzburg Residence was modelled after Versailles, and included special architecture, frescoes, tapestries, sculptures, and paintings designed to impress visiting royals. 
front courtyard Bishop's Residenz

Franconia Fountain
in front of Residence
Almost 90% of the city was destroyed by British bombers in WWII (in just 17 minutes). Part of the Residence was bombed, but the north wing with the largest fresco in Europe survived.  They have restored some of the rooms that were damaged, working from pictures and documentation.  Officially, they don't let you take pictures inside, but I quietly snapped one glimpse of the fresco atop the entrance stairway.





gardens behind the Residence
After the tours we explored the gardens.  Even in November there were flowers blooming.  Staff, however was covering some of the rose bushes in preparation for winter.


















high water marks on port building
The town has been hit by flooding from time to time.  Many buildings have the high water marks on them, and there is one wall along Willy Brandt Kai (the port's main street) that has a series of markers.  The worst flood seems to have been in 1342... but there are pictures that show the city center underwater, making it look more like Venice than Germany as people are poling boats through the square.
















Wurzburg marks a shift from upper to lower Franconia, and from a beer producing region to wine country.  Around town you can see hillside vineyards, some of which are fairly steep.



No comments:

Post a Comment