SOLO EURO III: DAY 20 [WURZBURG]

for my last day, i took a train from frankfurt to wurzburg for the day. the city is known for the old town & the residenz palace. once i arrived to the train station, i walked to the residenz, my only museum for the day. the palace is a blend of different styles: rococo, baroque, & neoclassical. the building was completed in1744 in the baroque style & built as a residence for the prince-bishop of wurzburg. the palace was heavily damaged during wwii. only part of the central building was not full destroyed & much of the interior was in safekeeping before the air raids. the residenz is a UNESCO heritage site. 

the staircase

the wurzburg residenz

this fresco is sometimes considered the largest in the world (by tiepolo, a venetian). i love the sculptures coming out of the walls.

the imperial hall

the reconstructed mirror cabinet & a goofball

there was also an exhibit about the damage from wwii

i had most of the palace to myself as it was pretty empty.

my favorite part if the residenz was the gardens. some of the leaves were already changing for autumn. for whatever reason, i found these gardens to be my favorite of any palace or castle i have ever visited. the garden is both in the style of baroque & english.

it rained off & on. funny enough, my last day was the coldest & rainiest (but not by much - this was by far my warmest europe trip, though the latest in the year). i believe it was an abnormally hot summer for europe (as my trip was the end of september & into october).

the gates to the garden

i then made my way towards the old town area. there were some cool old buildings along the way. it felt very old timey & there was a cute christmas shop. i also found a nice place to stop for some espresso & dessert. 

a cappuccino & a pistachio pudding cake with a picture of mozart (for whatever reason, he is associated with pistachios in germany & austria). 

near the old city hall tower is a small exhibit room about the damage done to wurzburg during wii. 90% of the city was destroyed in 17 minutes, including the city center with buildings from the medieval times. though the city did not have industry that would have made it a likely target, it was considered a traffic hub & bombed "to break the spirit of the german people." the important buildings were reconstructed in the next 20 years & was mostly rebuilt by women (you can see trummerfrauen memorials all over germany).

inside this building was a memorial & informational room about the wwii bombings.

a statue on the old main bridge with marienberg fortress in the distance.

there was a farmer's market going on

st. mary's chapel (c. 14th century - gothic style) & falkenhaus (c. 1735 - rococo style), the priest's house.

i then took the afternoon train back to frankfurt & spent the rest of my afternoon in old town & the stadt museum (that can be found in my post about frankfurt). wurzburg did end up being my favorite day trip during my stay in frankfurt. the city is definitely worth a day trip from frankfurt or even an overnight stay.