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Published: September 5th 2013
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Wurzburg is in the region of Franconia in Northern Bavaria. The Main river runs through it and the hills around the city are covered with vineyards. This region is one of the most important of the wine growing districts in Germany. Famous for its mineralic dry white wines especially from the Silvaner grape. We happened upon big white tents set up around the central Markt area in and around the huge Marienkapelle church in the old town. These tents were all selling wine of the Franconia region and the name of the festival is called Wein Parade. We each had a glass of white. I was not impressed by it but the alcoholic content was high because I giggled my way along the Main River and across the Old Main Bridge which is lined with statues of saints, much like, but not as grand, as the Charles Bridge in Prague. On the other side of the Bridge and up on the hill is the Fortress Marienberg where Prince-Bishops governed from 1201 when they had the Fortress built, until 1719. We did not go up there as, quite frankly, I have seen enough fortresses for awhile! So after reaching the end of
Main Bridge and walking passed the saints we walked back again towards the old town. By this time the wine effect was starting to wear off. We visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Wurzburg Residence which was commissioned by 2 Prince-Bishops and is an enormous Palace built in Baroque stye by a famous Baroque architect, Balthasar Neumann (1687 - 1753). He is particularly famous for the Baroque staircase. The interior has been decorated by the Venetian painter, Tiepolo and his son. We walked through the the ornate cast iron gate and strolled around the beautiful gardens around the palace which contain manicured lawns, shaped hedges, rococo sculptures, pretty passageways made out of arched shaped hedges.
During the reign of the Catholic Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn and his nephew, the dreadful Wurzburg Witch Trials occurred. These happened in the years 1626-1631 and were one of the biggest mass trials and mass executions seen in Europe during the 30 year war. The persecutions were orchestrated by Julius and his nephew in the years after the Catholic re-conquest of Germany in the 1620's. Julius believed "…the fight against witches was clearly part of an apocalyptic battle against evil and for
the purity of the church" . 157 men, women and children are confirmed to have been burned alive at the stake. 219 estimated to have been executed in the city and 900 estimated killed in the entire Prince-Bishopric. This witch hysteria was rife until Swedish King Gustaf put a stop to it when he invaded! During the same period there were Witch Trials in other areas of Southern Germany, like nearby Bamberg. Julius eventually even burnt his own nephew at the stake!
On our meanderings around the streets of the old town like Rontgenring (from the station to our hotel) and Ludwigstrasse we noticed the small, cobblestone-sized memorials for an individual victim of Nazism embedded in the footpath in front of a number of apartment buildings. In front of some buildings there were as many as 6 or 7 and in one group these were all members of the same family. I first noticed these memorials in the footpaths around Leopoldstadt in Vienna and made mention of them in my Vienna blog. By searching the internet, I found that these memorials were part of a campaign begun by an artist named Gunter Demnig from Cologne. He initiated these Stolpersteine
(Botlatoko in Hungarian) in 1997 in which the name of the Nazi victim is engraved on the brass which is anchored onto the little cubes of concrete. They are then embedded into the footpath in front of the last known abode of the victim before his/her deportation. I found out that Gunter sees himself as "laying a trail". He says that remembrance should be a central part of our everyday lives and that memorials should not be located in distant and removed places.
I agree with him. I always stop and read these little memorials.
Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range, today known as X-rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. He made this discovery whilst working at the University of Wurzburg. I read on Nobelprize.org that despite all the accolades he had received after the Nobel Prize was awarded him, he "retained the characteristic of a strikingly modest and reticent man. Throughout his life he retained his love of nature and outdoor occupations. Many vacations were spent at his summer home at Weilheim, at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, where he
entertained his friends and went on many expeditions into the mountains. He was a great mountaineer and more than once got into dangerous situations. Amiable and courteous by nature, he was always understanding the views and difficulties of others." He did not take out a patent on his discovery and donated his Nobel Prize money to the Wurzburg University.
It is great to have access to the internet so that you can search and find out about things you have seen on your travels. Information at your fingertips. It is an amazing tool and one that I can appreciate as an ex-librarian. I am happy to say that I am still searching out information and recording my travel experiences, for my own benefit as well as for anyone who is interested in reading them 😊
Wiesbaden will be our last visit before we catch our fight (from Frankfurt) for Australia. So maybe one more blog post for this trip.
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