Würzburg Things to Do

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This was the first Baroque church to be built in the region of Franconia........by an Italian architect, Petrini.

It dates from the mid-late 1600s, but was badly damaged by the 1945 fire.

Above the altar is a huge painting by Tintoretto, so it's worth visiting just for that.

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The uber-twiddly pink and white Baroque facade of this church hides a church which in fact dates from the 11th century. It is built where St Kilian (an Irish missionary), St Kolonat and St Totnan were buried.....they were murdered in Wurzburg in 689.

The huge altarpiece is worth a look.....

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The red-and-white, twiddly Gothic Marienkapelle stands proudly in the main market square.

It dates from 1377, completed in 1480.............and the interior badly damaged in the 1945 fire.

Above the entrance are figures of Adam and Eve by Tilman Reimanschneider, local Medieval artist and craftsman.but they are replicas (the real ones are in the Mainfrankisches Museum).

Inside, tombstones and memorials which tell you a great deal about what people wore in the past, and a great deal about how skilfully they could work stone and wood.

Worth an exploration for the clothing detail alone!

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A lovely two-spired church, started in 1040 but with many later changes and additions. It was burned in 1945 but has been carefully restored.......see other photos for what damage was done.

There are some original bits of stucco work still remaining inside, and some rather impressive gravestones (including one by Tilman Riemenschneider, a local late-Medieval artist craftsman of great skill). The beautiful Schonbornkappelle, to the side of the northern transept, is another example of Balthasar Neumann's architectural skills.

Do go down into the crypt....undamaged by the bombs and fire. More sculptures, statues and memorials here, including a most wonderful skeleton (see photos).

More Dom photos in my Wurzburg page travelogue.

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Festung Marienberg is a humongous fortress along the Main river in Wurzburg, Germany. A fort since ancient times, it is one of the most prominent landmarks along the Main. Originally a Celtic settlement and shelter, the Marienkirche was built in 704 AD and by the 13th century was surrounded by its first fortifications. By 1492 the main castle was encircled by a medieval ring wall with the Scherenberg gate. In May of 1525 the Peasant's War attempted unsuccessfully to sieze the castle - with 15,000 men failing. Their leader Florian Geyer went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber in early June to procure the heavy guns needed to breach these walls while the leaderless peasant army camped around the castle and thereby outflaked by the bishop's professional army. More than 8,000 were slaughtered or blinded. In 1600 Julius Echter rebuilt the fortress into a Renaissance palace. The castle was finally conquered in 1631 by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and later reconstructed in Baroque style with fortifications and construction of princely park. During the Napoleonic Wars, the fortress was captured again. The Nazis lionized Florian Geyer 410 years later as part of the National Socialists' desire to connect with the common man and turn them away from the Catholic Church. The fortress wasn't defended in 1945 when the US Army quickly captured the side on the Main river where its located. The parts of the fortress that are today accessible to the public are the Scherenberg-Tor (Gate) the Burgfried (keep), a chapel, a well house, Bibra Stairs / Lorenz von Bibra apartments, and the Julius Echter Apartments. In the old Baroque Armory that was built 1702-1712 stands the current Mainfränkisches Museum, an excellent collection of Franconian works of art, including world-famous sculptures by Tilman Riemenschneider. The Fürstenbau Museum in the princes’ wing of the fortress offers a stroll through 1200 years of Würzburg’s history. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. [synopsis and data from Wikipedia]

St. Kilian Cathedral is the fourth largest Romanesque church building in Germany. It was begun in 1040, and throughout time has hosted the tombs of the deceased prince-bishops in the basement crypt. Two previous churches on the same site were constructed in 787 and 855. One original bell, called the "Lobdeburg Bell", dates from 1257, and still remains at the church.

This church was partially destroyed near the end of WWII, but completely restored by 1967. The Lobdeburg bell was removed and stored in the crypt during the war, and is the only bell from this church to survive the war.

Hiking up to the fortress was definitely worth the view and checking out the outer walls/winery. After you cross the bridge towards the fortress, hang a left and a trail will be marked after a hundred yards or so. It takes you up through the winery and you'll get a chance to taste really sour wine grapes enroute. The hike takes about 30 minutes, and you can reward yourself with a pretty good lunch with a view of the city within Marienburg.

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Furstenbau Museum is located in the residential apartments of the fortress. Here you can see liturgical and of common use objects that reconstruct the history of the town. There you can see a great plastic of the city that shows as it was after the end of the second world war.