Würzburg

Following Heidelberg and Rothenburg, our trip's next and final destination was not the other favorite city of my American friends, Munich, but Würzburg, a city in Franconia that is home to wine and beer.

There is a wine Franconia and a beer Franconia, but both liquids are drunk in abundance in both parts.

Our group experienced Würzburg in the rain. I have been to the prince-bishop's city on the Main many times. So here are some links to previous visits.

Our class reunion in 2006 took place in Bayreuth. Elisabeth and I visited Würzburg on the outward journey.                                            

In 2011, we, i.e., some of my classmates, made our last bicycle tour along the Main and Tauber rivers. We also spent two nights in Würzburg. 

Back then, I showed two of my friends Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's laboratory, where he discovered the rays named after him in 1895.

On June 1, in the morning, the group mounted the car for Würzburg. When we arrived, it rained. Luckily, we spent the morning in the residence, the palace of the prince-bishops. 

         View of the forecourt of the residence from a fly-screened window. No sun in the sky.
The Marienberg fortress can be made out in the background on the hill to the left.

Initially, the Würzburg bishops resided in the castle on the Marienberg. However, this was no longer representative at the beginning of the 18th century. So the prince-bishops had their magnificent baroque residence built on the city's outskirts between 1720 and 1780, the style of which bears the signature of Balthasar Neumann.

I had to hold my old hands  still while stretching the telephoto lens on my iPhone to its limit.

Würzburg's rise began on June 17, 1156, when the local Bishop Gebhard von Henneberg married the newly crowned Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) to the still very young Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress to the Free County of Burgundy (today Franche-Comté). The wedding is depicted in the Imperial Hall of the Residence.

The Investiture of Bishop Herold as Duke of Franconia.
Painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (©web Galery of Art/Wikipedia)

The diocese of Würzburg contributed considerable sums to finance Barbarossa's military campaigns. So the Emperor enfeoffed Bishop Herold von Höchheim with the dukedom at the Imperial Diet held at Würzburg in 1168. From then on, the Würzburg bishops held the title of princes.

All went well until October 1631, when Prince-Bishop Franz von Hatzfeld, also Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, fled from the advancing Swedes under King Gustav Adolf to the "hilige (holy)" city of Cologne. The Würzburg city council realized that the town could not be defended against 26,000 Swedes and opened the gates. Only the Marienberg fortress put up resistance and was stormed.

It was over by the beginning of November 1631. Gustav Adolf appointed a royal government and declared the bishoprics of Würzburg and Bamberg Swedish hereditary fiefdoms. After the king died in the Battle of Lützen, the Swedish Chancellor Oxenstierna gave the fiefdom in June 1633 to his general, Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, who used it to form his Duchy of Franconia.

In 1634, the Swedes suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Nördlingen and withdrew hastily from southern Germany. As a result, Würzburg fell to the Imperial forces under General Ottavio Piccolomini in October 1634, and Franz von Hatzfeld returned to his prince-bishoprics.

The large staircase has unique ceiling paintings.

The Weiße Saal (White Hal)l with entrance doors to the Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall)

On the way to the guided tour of the city, our group stopped by the court chapel.

The weather was miserable, so many participants returned to the hotel to relax before the highlight of the evening: a concert of the Mozartfest with the Wind Ensemble Zefiro at the Kaisersaal of the residence.

Since there were no strings, the wind instruments started without a tuning delay.

It started getting dark, but Wolfgang's music kept us awake.

The excellent musicians enjoyed the well-deserved final applause.

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