A Wonderful Day in Wurzburg

May 15, 2016

Important business before getting to our outing in Wurzburg.  Last night, Sunday, there was a music quiz in the lounge after dinner.  The six of us, henceforth know as the Michigan Mitt, were the champions winning a bottle of Sparkling Wine.  The quiz was not a "name that tune" quiz but more of a trivia quiz.  For example, the first tune was "New York, New York" but the question we had to answer was "What was the city in the song title called originally?"  We also received a bonus point if at least one couple from our team went out on the dance floor and danced.  The only question we could not answer was "What is the first name of each of the four members of this band?" The music had been "Dancing Queen" by ABBA.  We received 18 out of 20 points.  None of us danced to Pink Panther.  We expect a much higher level of respect from our family, particularly our grandchildren!

What a fabulous time we had today in Wurzburg. Our tour started at the former residence of the Bishop-Prince of Wurzburg.  The first Bishop named himself Prince so that he had considerable power over both political and religous matters in Wurzburg. The Residence, capitalized because that is the official name, was built to rival the Palace of Versailles.  The ceiling over the grand staircase features the largest frescoed ceiling in all of Europe.  It is larger then the Sistine Chapel.  This ceiling as well as two additional rooms survived Allied bombing at the end of WW II. These two rooms were done in a roccoco style, a very ornate, almost frilly style. They were extraordinarily beautiful.  The rest of the rooms suffered smoke and fire damage and were restored, with many of the items copies of the originals.  The Bishop of the Cathedral of Wurzburg no longer lives in the Residence Palace, no longer has Prince as part of his title, and, as such, no longer has the political power earlier Prince-Bishops had.  We also had time to wander around the gardens that were equally as beautiful, although it was a cold day (50 degrees) and the flowers looked chilly.

From the Residence Palace we walked about the city center of Wurzburg.  We saw the same architecture that captivated us in Bamberg as well as two lovely town squares.  The Cathedral of Wurzburg has two sanctuaries. What we would call the Cathedral proper is the seat of the Bishop of Wurzburg, meaning this is where he conducts Mass, and was originally intended for the wealthy of Wurzburg.  The second sanctuary, St. Killians, also called the Lesser Cathedral was smaller and was for the lower classes of Wurzburg to worship.  Nearby was the Chapel of St. Mary.  St. Mary is particularly popular in this area of Bavaria and this Chapel was built by the residents of Wurzburg to honor her.  Our tour ended at a pedestrian bridge over the Main River that was reminicent of the Charles Bridge in Prague.

While on our tour we did not go into the three cathedrals mentioned above as there were services going on in each, Monday being a religious holiday in Germany.  After a traditional German lunch of sausages, sauerkraut, and rosti, we went back and visited each of these.  We have been in many of the great cathedrals in Europe and are always impressed with the opulance of these edifices but the three churches in Wurzburg blew us away.  Probably the biggest reason for this is that they were severely damaged during the war and in restoring them many contemporary elements were used, particularly art work.  All three were white on the inside rather then the natural stone color of other cathedrals.  Not only was there a lot of contemporary art work in  St. Killians and the Cathedral, but the various aspects of the main alter area, including the alter, lecturn, pulpit, and sacriment wall were also contemporary in design.  In addition to a Menorrah in the center of the apse, the Cathedral had an art gallery in a room in a lower level.  When we returned to the ship all six of us agreed it had been a special day.

Tuesday morning we were docked in Werthiem where we boarded buses for a two hour drive to Heidelberg.  The drive was scenic through farm land that changed to hilly forest.  Our first stop in Heidelberg was the Castle, sitting high on a hill overlooking the town. Sometime in the 1600's the French army attacked the castle causing considerable damage.  When a lightning strike ten years later caused a fire that burned for two weeks the castle was abandoned.  There is still enough of the castle ruins remaining to justify a 2 hour tour including the viewing of the largest wine barrel in the world.  Upon leaving the castle we were taken to a hotel in the city center for lunch. The highlight of lunch was the presence at each table of a University of Heidelberg student who ate lunch with us. Becky, from Manchester, England,  was the student at the table we chose.  She is finishing her masters thesis on environmental impact of garbage waste solids in the country of India.  Becky was a very poised young women and a joy to talk to.  After lunch we had two hours of free time.  The three couples decided to go their seperate ways.  We visited a building that housed what was called the University Prison. Up until the late 19th century, the University had total control over the punishment  of students for crimes such as  public drunkeness and other civil infractions.  The students would be sentenced to 2 days to 2 weeks in the jail.  In reality, students were able to continue attending lectures and other activities regarding their course work.  The walls and ceilings as well as the stairwells were covered in grafitti.  It was said that if a Heidelberg student did not spend time in the Prison he was not really a student.  When the city took over administering punishment the University Prison went out of use but is still maintained as a museum.  We also visited the Great Hall which is in the Old University Building. This building  was constructed between 1712 and 1728.  The Great Hall is on the 2nd floor, last remodeled in1886 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the University.  A very impressive room, it is still in use not only as a lecture hall but concerts and other events are held there as well.  There was a display of plaques in the stairway leading to the second floor commemorating the 14 University of Heidelberg Professors who have won Nobel Prizes.  We spent the rest of the day shopping.

Tomorrow we visit the village where Guttenberg invented moveable type.  Until next time...

Guten Tag