Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
24
Kult
C5
25
MUCK
C5
Entertainment
26
Standard
C2
Sights
Residenz palace
(
www.residenz-wuerzburg.de
;
Balthasar-Neumann-Promenade; adult/child €7.50/6.50;
9am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4.30pm Nov-Mar)
The Unesco-listed Residenz is one of Ger-
many's most important and beautiful baroque palaces and is a great way to kick off or end
a journey along the Romantic Road.
Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn, unhappy with his old-fashioned digs up in Mari-
enberg Fortress, hired young architect Balthasar Neumann to build a new palace in town.
Construction started in 1720. It took almost 60 years before the interior was completed,
but the prince-bishops only used the palace for 20 years before they were incorporated in-
to Bavaria. During the British bombing of WWII, the central section miraculously es-
caped unharmed; the rest required extensive restoration. Today the 350 rooms are home to
government institutions, flats, faculties of the university and a museum, but the grandest
spaces have been restored for visitors to admire.
Visits are by guided tour only. German-language groups leave every half an hour; Eng-
lish tours leave at 11am and 3pm year-round and, additionally, at 4.30pm April to Octo-
ber.
In 1750, the ceiling above Neumann's brilliant
Grand Staircase
, a single central set of
steps that splits and zigzags up to the 1st floor, was topped by what still is the world's
largest fresco (667 sq metres), by Tiepolo. It allegorically depicts the four then-known
continents (Europe, Africa, America and Asia).
Take in the ice-white stucco of the
Weisser Saal
(White Hall), a soothing interlude in
mind-boggling stucco and papier mâché, before entering the
Kaisersaal
(Imperial Hall),
canopied by yet another impressive Tiepolo fresco. Other meticulously restored state-
rooms include the gilded stucco
Spiegelkabinett
(Mirror Hall), covered with a unique
