Scenic Tours Jewels of Europe #6

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Wurzburg

On the way to Wurzburg the culinary crew had some fun and showed their artistic skills.

We arrived at Wurzburg in time for an 8:30 departure for Rothenburg or a tour of the Residence. We chose the tour of the Prince Bishop's Residence. The people there say that they are Franconians not Bavarians because they were Francs (from the Germanic tribe of Francs) until Bavaria sided with Napoleon.

The Celts had a fortification here in 1,000 BC. The word ending "burg" means that it was a fortress and "berg" means it was a hill or mountain.

In medieval times a fortress was built on a hill, now across the river from the town centre. It grew into a large fortress with a Residence for the Prince Bishop.

In the 18th century the Prince Bishop decided that he wanted a new Residence (Palace) so he built one in the town. It was on a grand scale, but the north and south wings were destroyed in a bombing firestorm about 1 month after Dresden was destroyed. However the centre section survived undamaged, apart from smoke, and its magnificent painted ceilings are still intact and bright. Unfortunately no photographs were permitted because the flashes might damage the paint - even though the rooms were bathed in bright sunlight. Might be more about selling photos in the shop.

The painting was onto fresh plaster and is in excellent condition. In the upstairs entry hall the paintings showed the countries to the North, South, East and West and the superiority of the European culture. The artist had obviously not seen some of the animals and had not been to those countries. The downstairs entrance hall was large enough for the carriages, pulled by up to 8 horses, to drive in, unload, turn and drive out again. Maria Theresa and her 6 horse carriage entered here - she had 23 coaches with her! In those days, when people did not bathe, it was necessary to bring their own beds with them.

Then followed a visit to the vast wine cellar which, to a teetotaller, was pretty much a waste of time, however the guide explained that, with climate change it was now necessary to irrigate the vines. "White wine makes you think, red wine makes you say your thoughts and sparkling wine makes you act your thoughts." It takes one person one hour to light the candle on each of the 300 barrels. The candles are warnings of dangerous carbon dioxide. We should have skipped this part and explored more of the town.

The Dom was a typical large cathedral, but the Nue Munster, built on the site where 3 Irish priests had been murdered and buried, was almost as large and was light and airy. We arrived as traditionally dressed pilgrims, honouring the Irish priests, were leaving the church.

The trams were of very modern appearance.

Another church, the Marienkapelle, was on another side of the Market Square but we did not enter it.

Back to the ship.

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