Thursday, March 28th
Today we toured Würzburg’s Bishops’ Residenz, one of Germany’s largest and most ornate baroque palaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site and continued with a walking tour of Würzburg Old Town.
Unable to get a good picture of the exterior of the outside of the palace ...just too big!!!!
Wurzburg's Residenz Palace was commissioned by Prince Bishop Johann Phiipp Franz von Schonborn and designed and built by the architect Balthasar Neumann between 1720 and 1744. Neumann's famous grand staircase with its unsupported vaulted ceiing features the largest ceiling fresco--The Four Continents--in the world, created in 1752-1753 by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
The White Hall in Neoclassical style 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 typical piece of decoration of the baroque style, mixed with images of real items, especially of military purpose.
The walls of the Imperial Hall consist of stucco work marble in shades of red, white and yellow. The dome is painted in white colour, decorated with golden stucco work and also frescoes by Tiepolo, showing the history of the diocese of Würzburg. One picture shows the marriage of Emperor Fredrick I Barbarossa and princess Beatrix of Burgundy, consecrated by a Bishop of Würzburg. The opposite picture shows Emperor Frederick II appointing the Bishop of Würzburg, Duke of Franconia. On top of the dome a painting shows Beatrix, striving towards Fredrick II, who is accompanied by the Bishop of Würzburg.
Our guide in the Room of Mirrors.
Destruction in World War II
As a result of a devastating air raid on March 16, 1945, the residence was almost completely burnt out and only the central building with the Vestibule, Garden Hall, Staircase, White Hall and Imperial Hall survived the inferno, their roofs destroyed. From the attic the fire ate down through wooden ceilings and floors, and all the furnishings and wall panelling which had not been stored elsewhere were devoured by the flames. Much of the furnishing and large sections of the wall panelling of the period rooms had been removed in time and thus escaped destruction. Neumann's stone vaults withstood the collapse of the burning attic. However, because the roofs had gone, further damage was incurred in the ensuing period due to dampness.
From 1945 to 1987, the building and its interiors were reconstructed to their current state. The rebuilding cost about €20m Euros.
Fountain in the gardens...water frozen!!!!!
Charlie and Delia demonstrating how the royals walk down the staircase.
Wurzburg is a city of many churches.......
Ratskeller attached to City Hall...
We had a very nice day and the weather seems a little better...now back to the boat to catch up on the blog and hopefully rest up before dinner. It is amazing how tired the cold makes you.
