Saturday, 9 July - Wuerzburg

This post occurred last Saturday, not yesterday. I have been in Berlin with virtually no internet or time for blogging all week. Sorry for the inconvenience.

When we arrived in Wuerzburg, we were greeted by a parade! I don't know what they were celebrating, but all the bands were fantastic and the costumes were wonderfully stereotypical of Bavaria. I took video of almost every group that passed us; here's the highlights.

This was actually taken from the car, just before we parked and saw the parade. It's a picture of the Residenz (details below).

First glimpse of the festivities. The parade seems to have started just a few blocks away from us; the crowd where we were standing was surprisingly thin.

Old stuff, hooray! This tower is part of the wall that extends out from the side wings of the Residenz.

Fife-and-Drum corps aren't just an American thing. This one was particularly good.

Wuerzburg is traditionally a wine city. In fact, you can actually see the  grapes growing in the hills that surround the town. These men, with grapevines on their hats and wearing Lederhosen, represent one winery.

The Wuerzburg Hofbraeuhaus, wearing pink surprisingly well, were well-represented.

There weren't any floats or antique cars, but there were two or three carriages. This one, also from the Hofbraeu,  had a team of four beautiful horses.

Detail of one of these impressive animals.

A simpler carriage, representing a winery IIRC.

And another, but with prettier horses.

With the red overcoats and tricornes, these men look like they just returned from fighting Napoleon.

I don't envy this guy! Lovely as it looks, I wouldn't want to march through the whole town with it.

This band was very good.

I laughed at this. "Weingeniesser-Club" literally means "wine-enjoyer club."

This winery brought their tractor along with them.

Not sure who these guys were, but they wore impressive uniforms and silly hats. Always a good combination.

Another band. The accordionist seemed to be having a very good time.

Another guy I don't envy. I also have no idea what the costume is supposed to be.

If Germany ever gets another Kaiser, these men would probably be his defenders.

Lederhosen!

Oddly, this band consisted only of drummers. They were good drummers, to be sure, but isn't that a bit like eating a bread sandwich?

So far, I have only seen one dog whose legs were not adorably short.

As the banner indicates, this boy led a band composed entirely of kids and teens. Surprisingly, they kept well in tune.

The only vehicles we saw in the parade. I don't think I could get used to green police cruisers.

After the parade, we decided to tour the Residenz. Photos were not allowed, which made me quite unhappy as the artwork inside was simply stunning. This building houses the largest continuous fresco in the world. Only the Sistine Chapel has more fresco by area, and its frescoes are discontinuous; they're not connected and have varying subjects.

In the distance the steeple of a church was visible.

A statue of the Kaiser's bishop, whose palace this was.

Entrance of the Residenz.

The lovely weathervane atop one of the Residenz's many peaked roofs. I want one.

After touring the building and learning some fascinating history, we went outside and visited the gardens, where a wedding was in progress.

Looks like something out of Hogwarts.

I was surprised to fine this marble of Pan, a Pagan nature god. The craftsmanship is excellent.

Looking out at the Residenz from the fountain.

The biggest cathedral in Wuerzburg.

I'm not a church person, but this one was quite nice. The murals on the ceiling were particularly charming.

And the altar is elaborate enough to make Martin Luther roll over in his grave.

The inside of the cupola is also finely decorated.

Another church.

It's a little too much marble for my taste, but 17th century Catholics love that stuff, I guess.

Every time I see an organ, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor gets stuck in my head.

Ugh, too much marble!

This is not a church, but rather the Alt-Rathaus. It's no longer used as such.

Wuerzburg has a castle. And a river (the Main, which further down the road splits Frankfurt in half and ends up in the Baltic.

No clue what this building is.

The current of the Main river formed eddies around the bridge. I like the way they look.

Someone dropped a sword off the bridge, oddly enough. It landed on a ledge with steps nearby, so I suppose it's theoretically retrievable. If only I had brought my fishing rod!

The passage under the old stone bridge is too narrow for container ships, so a canal was built nearby, complete with locks.

Looking back across the bridge as we return to town. Our car was parked at the Residenz.

We didn't tour the castle, but we stopped there on the way back home for pictures. This is most of the city, with the fields of grapevines that surround it clearly visible.

Looking up at the castle.

What you didn't see of the city before can be seen here. 

More of the castle.

And more.

More views of Wuerzburg. This is the main city center, where we spent our time.

The Residenz viewed in its entirety.

In stark contrast to the above, the Autobahn necessitated this tall bridge over the town.

I don't know if these buildings are part of Wierzburg, but they seem to be of an entirely different character.

The tallest tower of the castle, with an ivy-covered building below and the banner of Bavaria hanging from a window.

The figure atop the tower is quite impressive.

A closer view of the unknown building.

More of the castle.

I have even less an idea of the identity of the tower than of the unknown building.

A good view of the major components of this castle: treeline, heavy stone wall, half-timber supporting structures, towers.

German Word of the Day / Deutsches Wort des Tages
Bischoff :: Bishop
Der Residenz war der Palast des Bischoffs des Kaisers.
The Wuerzburg Residenz was the palace of the Kaiser's Bishop.