Visit Wurzburg, Germany,  on the Romantic Road 

Wurzburg, Germany (Tourist information) is 235 miles southwest of Dresden, and midway between Frankfurt, 75 miles to the northwest and Nurnberg, 75 miles to the southeast.  So when we returned from Prague, we drove from Dresden, our farthest point east in Germany we had come back westward to this city so that we could drive the so-called Romantic Road south and east to Munich, stopping at Rothenburg and Nordlingen on the way. (You can see the route we took on this Google map.)

 

Wurzburg did not disappoint. Despite heavy damage incurred during WW II the town seems restored in its former style. Today it is charming with many attractions.  Principal among these is the Residence Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This very large building and gardens served as the residence of various Prince Bishops throughout the 18th century. ( A Prince Bishop is a Bishop who also is a Prince over a designated territory. That means that they had the power to tax and spend. A lot of what they collected was spent on the Residence. It would seem that nothing was too good for a Prince Bishop.)  It was heavily damaged during WW II and has been undergoing restoration ever since.  In 2005 when we visited it seemed to be completely restored to its grand and beautiful former glory.

 

We spent a few hours touring it.  We have some images of what it looks like now which you can see on the photo page . There are many beautiful features, and some that are truly special.  One of these is the grand staircase, which we do not have a photo of, but can be seen in this link.  Another are the frescos and ceilings  painted by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and his son Domenico.  You can see one of the largest ceiling painting in the preceding link.   And there is the drop-dead Court Chapel which we do have a photo of on the photo page.  There are links to other photos  and virtual tours of the Residence in the Wikipedia description in the link above.

 

Wurzburg is a university town.  The University of Wurzburg is where Willem Roentgen discovered X-Rays, and the laboratory in which he discovered them is still there. As we left the Castle, we saw a very large building high up on a hill overlooking Wurzburg- the Marienberg Fortress. This has existed in one form or another since antiquity and now houses two museums, the Main-Franconian art museum and the Furstenbau Municipal History Museum.

 

After touring the Residence we walked around the town, had a delicious dessert (photo) and coffee and then continued on to our next stop, Rothenburg.