Monday 11th September
When we awake this morning we are gliding into Wurzburg, Bavaria, a much bigger city than Wertheim of about 130,000 people. A city of spires, domes, minarets and steeples. This is a very old medieval city, origins that go back into the mists of time. Christianity was brought to these parts by the Irish in 686, three monks a long way from home brought the word and are still revered today. The wine industry goes even further back to 500BC, there is evidence suggesting that the people from this area traded wine with the Greeks. Much, much later the city suffered heavily in the bombing raids by the British close to the end of the Second World War.
The river is calm but adjacent to us waters spill over a rocky ledge that runs along the rivers edge for some distance. A big advantage of the river boat system is the ability to dock right in the centre of town, it takes but just a short walk from the docking berth and you are right at the heart of the city. No ocean liners can reach this deep inland, cruising a river is a completely different experience. Outside our window the sky shows splashes of blue but dark clouds are not far away. The temperature today will remain cool, maybe 16, 17c-62, 64f.
After breakfast in the ships restaurant, we prepare ourselves for the day ahead. First a tour of the Bishop-Princes residence, a short coach ride to a huge palatial building almost the size of Versailles in France. Apparently his previous residence didn’t stack up for an important man such as his station commanded. The first corner stone was laid in 1720 but the “Residence” wasn’t Completed until 1781, by which time the Bishop-Prince who started the construction was long gone. Prince-Bishops started in Roman times when a secular leader was appointed instead of a roman commander, the Prince-Bishops then made all the regional decisions, but were answerable directly to the emperor. The interior designs are phenomenally over the top, baroque style, using only the best materials and artisans they could find from all over Europe.
The entry way has two huge doors so that your horse drawn carriage could enter, drop you off at the base of the huge staircase and then exit the other door in a u-turn, all under cover. Once on the staircase you proceed slowly as the steps are designed in such a way as to slow you down and mount the staircase in a elegant fashion. As you look up you see the largest fresco ever painted, on the ceiling above, showing the world view as they believed it, Franconia as it was then saw themselves as the natural inheritors of the Roman Empire, the seat of all learning, arts, mathematics and power. The rest of the world is depicted as a savage place, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Australia just didn’t get a Guernsey in those days. Just the painting of this fresco alone took two years to complete, then there was extensive plaster work and marble sculpture, all this and we haven’t even moved passed the foyer. Then comes the waiting room where you might enjoy a glass of the local Riesling, all elaborately decorated beyond belief. Next the reception room where the Bishop-Prince would receive you, or the emperor if he was in town. But yes there is more, a mirrored room, made entirely of mirrors all hand painted in exquisite detail. Remarkable in that all the mirrors shattered in the bombings and had to be painstakingly reconstructed, talk about seven years bad luck. In total the residence has 400 rooms, hidden corridors allow servants to move around unseen with firewood to stoke the massive ornate cast iron stoves that openings face inwards towards the wall cavity, ingenious. Napoleon Bonaparte stayed here three times and so did Queen Victoria and Consort Albert but just the once.
Finally though the building met a sticky end when the British bombed Wurzburg, destroying a good part of the buildings internal structure, fortunately they missed the roof at the front of the building and the frescos where saved. The building is now rebuilt but still undergoing internal renovation.
Then there are the gardens, we would have loved to spend more time looking around them, but guided tours wait for no man or woman.
We move on by foot to the market square for a brief orientation of the town centre then we are set free to do our own thing for the rest of the afternoon. The skies look threatening one moment, then are sunny the next, the locals tell us summer is over, fall is on its way. We stop for coffee and a German sandwich of olive ciabatta, filled with cheese, sliced tomato and spicy salami. Then move on intermittently shopping for some essentials and sightseeing, a light sprinkle of rain sends us into a shop. Then sunny again we move on, then while in another shop a downpour, then clear blue skies above and we can move on for more sightseeing.
Many of the buildings here where flattened a huge cultural shock to the country, but those that could be are returned to former glory. A medieval picture of the town I found showed how the town looked at that time, before the town was named even Wurzburg the towers and spires built then are still very evident today. The town is surrounded by vineyards that run down into the Rhine valley, even the castle, known as the Marienberg fortress, sitting high in the hilltop over looking the town is complete with its own almost vertical vineyard.
Before we leave the town we take a quick walk partly over the bridge that leads to the fortress, erected in 1473 to replace a Roman bridge, the bridge is well known for the statues of saints or important people in the history of Würzburg such as the statue of Saint Nepomuk or the one of Saint Fredericus reminiscent of the Renaissance period. You can also see the statue of Charlemagne who was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the year 800. The statues of the three Irish saints that brought Christianity to Wurzburg, Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan are also evident. An unusual local phenomena takes place on the bridge, there is a small wine seller at the bridges starting point, locals buy a glass of wine then proceed to promenade across the bridge, stopping here and there to sip and take in the river view upstream and downstream. Also here are lovers padlocks locked onto whatever can be locked onto indicating a lovers pact, fortunately there is not a lot of space for this, as I think it detracts from the ancient craftsman ship of the stone bridge and sculpture work.
From here we descend the stone stairs to the river level with Mike, a fellow traveller who we had coincidentally met on the bridge, to make our way back to the River Duchess where she is berthed just a short distance away. Back at the ship and the end of the afternoon we are quite pleased, we have picked up some warmer clothes to cope with the cooling weather conditions in this part of the world, it is still a couple of weeks before we fly to Singapore where the shorts should make a come back.
A quick break and the cocktail hour is upon us along with our presentation of tomorrow’s events. Then to dinner, tonight’s fare is hors D’oeuvres, a tiny plate of anti pasta, vineyard escargot, Sauerkraut soup, and salmon. Amanda has the chef make her a grilled chicken Caesar salad, that they are more than willing to do and very well pleased she is with the result. The wines are nothing we recognise, local of varieties, a Silvaner white wine and Zweigelt red wine. Both interesting to try but not really to our taste.
Another early start tomorrow, so well satisfied we make for our beds, we sail late tonight around midnight, no doubt to encounter more locks through the night as we move ever close to the Danube where we switch from upstream to downstream.