The Würzburg Residence
Würzburg
is filled with historically important buildings but only one is protected
by the UNESCO World Heritage designation.
The Residence Palace in the city centre is the former seat of the Prince Bishops and one of the most important examples of Baroque architecture in the whole of Europe. In fact, it gave its own name to a style of late Baroque architecture: Würzburg Rococo.
The bishops had originally lived in the centre of Würzburg but the growing number of political and social disputes between them and the surrounding populations meant that it was safer for them to move to the easily-defended Marienberg Fortress from where they could keep a beady eye on the happenings down below on the other side of the river.
By the 18th century the turbulence had diminished enough so that the vastly wealthy families who supplied the ranks of the Prince Bishops felt safe enough to swap the security of a fortress for the luxuries of a modern town palace.
The Prince Bishop who is credited with the initial impulse for the Residence is Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn. He had been elected in 1719 and was, by all accounts, an extremely nasty piece of work (he was so hated by the Würzburgers that there were celebrations at his death and more than a suspicion of poison being involved).
Before his election he had been involved in a dispute with one Gallus Jacob (who was essentially the financial director for the bishopric and who had managed to rise to the nobility and massive wealth from nothing). Once he became bishop he threatened Jacob with an investigation into his financial affairs - an investigation that Jacob was so pleased to avoid that he paid 600,000 gulden (many millions of Euros or dollars in a modern-day equivalent) which went into the pockets of Schönborn and formed the initial finance for the project.
The architect responsible for the initial plans was relatively unknown at the time, but Balthasar Neumann had strong connections to the Schonbörn family (who were amassing Prince Bishoprics around southern Germany). It is said that one of his major achievements was the integration of many of the ideas of the various architects and family members who wished to meddle over the years.
Prince Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn died only five years after taking office and by that time only a small part of the Residence was in existence. A short delay was brought about by the election of a more parsimonious Prince Bishop as his successor but a few years later the building work got back on track when John Philipp's brother Carl Friedrich was elected.
The
main construction both of the buildings and the surrounding area
and gardens continued through the 18th century until 1779,
when sixty years of more-or-less uninterrupted building work near the
centre of Würzburg finally came to a halt.
Ironically, this magnificent palace and project only lasted in the hands of the Prince Bishops for a few decades, for the early 19th century was the time of secularisation and the former religious buildings came into the hands of the Bavarian state government, who used it as a palace for the Kings of Bavaria on several occasions.
In the 20th century the Residence was severely damaged by the bombing raid which destroyed much of the city in 1945. Two weeks later the city was occupied by the US forces which had destroyed so much of it and a temporary roof was placed over the buildings to attempt to protect the paintings and decorations by artists such as Tiepolo. Restoration work from this damage lasted all the way through to 1987.
The interior of the Würzburg Residence can be visited as part
of a guided tour.
Website: www.residenz-wuerzburg.de
The Residence also houses the Martin von Wagner Museum, a collection
of antique art and objects. Entry is free.
Website: museum.uni-wuerzburg.de
It is also worth planning some time for the formal court gardens, the Hofgarten, which are open during daylight hours.
