Today had two unique sights: a medieval walled city and a palace.
Last night we sailed from Bamberg to Wurtzburg, arriving this morning at 9am. Since our tour did not leave until 9:30 we did not have to wake as early as on previous mornings. Michele was a hungry girl today and had two breakfast courses: the omelet and the french toast. Despite Rob ordering the blueberry pancakes for her, they brought out french toast. No matter, she happily consumed them. Roy and Gwyn joined us and we had a leisurely breakfast. The maitre’d, Jerome, talked to us awhile. He is the relief maitre’d for another staffer on vacation, but prefers his regular job mixing drinks at the bar. He worked on the big cruise ships for 8 years.
Our excursion today started with a one-hour bus ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the best preserved medieval walled town in Germany located in the Franconian region of Bavaria. The drive, considered the grandfather of Germany’s scenic routes, the “Romantic Road” from Wurtzen to Fussen, was beautiful through rolling hills and farmland.
In the Middle Ages, Rothenburg was Germany's second-largest city with a population of 6,000 compared to 11,000 today. There are very few places elsewhere in the world with so many of its original buildings dating from the Middle Ages as in Rothenburg.
A brief history: Settlement occurred in year 970. The first castle was built in 1070. The first fortification was built around 1170. The city became a free imperial city in 1274. The 1600s were especially turbulent with the 30 years war and other battles. In 1802 the city lost independence and became part of Bavaria. Artists discovered the town in the 19th century and their paintings beautified the town, attracting tourism for the first time.
Our tour guide gave us a brief overview of the city layout and major sights. Then we all went to a local restaurant for an authentic Franconian lunch. It was lightly peppered meat wrapped in boiled cabbage with mashed potatoes. Dessert was creme caramel.
After lunch we were on our own. We spent time walking a portion of the top of the 1.5 mile fortified wall that encircles the city. The wall connects five medieval gates with guard towers dating from 13th to 16th centuries.
The whole of the walled town is a museum, scarcely changing in appearance for hundreds of years. We walked the streets and enjoyed the characteristic half-timbered buildings, whose attics were once filled with grain and corn to enable the town's inhabitants to survive any siege. The cobblestone streets and mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque houses and fountains offered us something to see at every turn.
About 2,000 of the 11,000 town inhabitants live inside the walled portion of Rothenburg. It is a touristy town and most shops were open even today, Sunday, just for the tourists. Roy and Gwyn went in search of the best chocolate shop in town, while Rob and Michele went in search of the aqueduct.
We met our guide before 2:30pm to walk back to the bus together. Next up was an hour drive, partially on the Autobahn, to the Wurtzburg Residence.
It was begun for Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn by a young and unknown architect at the time Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753). The shell of the palace was built from 1720 to 1744 and the interior completed in 1780. By the time the massive building was finished, the gifted architect had also served the brother and second successor of Johann Philipp, Friedrich Carl von Schönborn, and the two following Würzburg prince-bishops. The building costs amounted to a total of around 1.5 million florins – at a time when one florin represented a week’s wages for a day laborer. This was a massive sum.
The interior of the Würzburg Residence was the finest of its age. At the Würzburg court three generations of artists and artisans from all over Europe produced an independent variation of the rococo style. The staircase, in Baroque style, was part of a formal reception room. The staircase spans its vault, an area of 18 × 32 meters, without pillars.
The first flight…
The highlights of the interior decoration were created by the Venetian Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and his son with the ceiling frescos in the Imperial Hall and above the staircase, completed from 1751 to 1753. It is the largest fresco in the world. The ceiling represents four continents: North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Each continent is represented by a typical landscape and animals (or the painter’s vision of these animals) and a female allegorical figure. This ceiling is one of the only ceiling frescos to survive the Allied bombing of WWII. Although the roof of this section of the building burned down, the vault below held and protected the fresco.
This one represents the African continent.
The White Hall in Rococo style was used as a ballroom and for playing cards and is dominated by the stucco decorations of Antonio Bossi.
The white stucco works on a light gray background are composed of a large quantity of rocailles, a French style of exuberant decoration, mixed with images of military items and even a dragon. This room is surprisingly the only ballroom in the nearly 400-room palace. The lack of gold and color allows the eye to rest between the splendors of the staircase and the ornate Imperial Hall beyond.
The Imperial Hall was used to receive visiting dignitaries, including the Emperors-to-be on their voyage to Frankfurt and on the return trip to Vienna. It was created in 1749–1751 at enormous cost. The walls of the Imperial Hall consist of stucco work marble in shades of red, white and yellow. Our guide told us the marble is synthetic to better control the placement of color.
The dome is decorated with golden stucco work and also frescoes by Tiepolo, showing an idealized history of the diocese of Würzburg.
We walked through a few other rooms, seeing historic furniture and impressively large tapestries.
Plenty of 23 karat gold decorates this room.
The palace was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during WWII and 20 million Euros needed for restoration. Since 1981, the Residence has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture.
We didn’t have time to visit the gardens. A quick drive back to our ship and we relaxed for two hours before dinner. A couple from Florida joined our table and we shared experiences in travels. Tonight we all enjoyed the schnitzel main course.
At 9pm a local German glassblower joined us as guest speaker. He brought his beautiful creations for sale and demonstrated creating two objects.
One object was a candleholder with an unusual teardrop edge that he invented. He surprised Michele by giving the finished piece to her. Boxed up, she will hand carry it home on the plane. (Here it is safe at home!)
Another lady received a blue sphere, seen here as he is blowing the hot glass. The maitre’d Jerome said he always gives a creation or two to ladies on the ship after his demonstration.
We were all so tired from the day that bedtime was right after. Tomorrow we visit Heidelberg.
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