Würzburg

When I'm on base I hear a lot of people talking about places they've been or things they've seen...whether they liked them, whether they didn't and then I go home and I do research. (Research is one of my favorite things.) I have lots of different little day trips planned and once or twice a month usually, the four of us hop into one of our vehicles and we bring up a destination from the Garmin and hope for the best. On Tuesday, we chose to go to Würzburg. 

This is how Scotty travels. Snug as a bug in a rug.

Maya tends to get car sick when she's in the back of the BMW so I always hop in and sit with Scott. She's listening to her iPod here and chilling out for the drive.

It's gorgeous here right now. Fall, especially where we are, is in its full glory.

At our destination! Würzburg.

Finding parking was, as usual, a bit of a challenge. I had one Parkplatz in the GPS but when we got there it was full. It didn't take us long to find another one.

Here is a map of the city.

We went on a Tuesday and it was surprisingly busy for a work day. 

Würzburg lies halfway between Frankfurt and Nuremberg. It's a university town. In fact, the University of Würzburg was founded in 1402 and is one of the oldest and most traditional universities in Germany. The University awarded Alexander Graham Bell an honorary Ph.D for his scientific work and houses the original lab where Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays in 1895.

The Main River

The Käppele chapel high on the hill.

Würzburg was a former Celtic territory Christianized by Irish missionaries in 686. In 1237, the city seal depicted the cathedral and a portrait of St. Kilian. The first church in the city was built in 787 and was consecrated by Charlemagne but was destroyed not long afterward. Another church was then built but was severely damaged by fire in 855. 

Festung Marienberg

The Alte Mainbrücke was built between 1473 - 1543 to replace a Romanesque bridge dating back to 1133 that had been destroyed. This bridge is similar to the Charles Bridge located in Prague.

Today, the Marienberg Fortress is a park and a museum, but it was a refuge castle for a great number of years. It dates back to the 13th century and was home to the prince-bishops for five centuries.

Main River and the Old Main Bridge.

We had a beautifully sunny day for our venture.

I spotted this sea dragon in a garden and couldn't resist him.

The Alte Mainbrücke is adorned with statues of saints and historically relevant figures. You can see them standing proudly along the bridge below.

This shot was taken from the bridge. You can see the cathedral from here.

The Fortress Marienberg from the bridge.

Just like in Paris and Heidelberg...and many of the other cities we've visited, we saw padlocks hanging along the Alte Mainbrücke. We keep forgetting to buy one for our family. I'll have to do that and leave it somewhere cool. Guess we have to go back to Paris, huh? (I'm guessing that reasoning will hold little weight with my husband but it's always worth a try.)

Maya and Steven looking out at the Main River.

The Würzburg Cathedral, or Dom St. Kilian. This present day cathedral was built in 1040 and is dedicated to St. Kilian.

Much of this building collapsed in the winter of 1946 due to the damage it sustained in the bombings on March 16, 1945. Restoration was fully completed in 1967.

Smiley Mylee in front of the Dom St. Kilian.

We bought pretzels and roamed around the Marktplatz for a bit. Steven and the kids spotted a knife shop so we admired the beautiful artistry while we ate our snack.

Between 1626 and 1631, one of the biggest peace-time mass trials took place right here. It was called the Würzburg Witch Trials and it is estimated that approximately 900 people were killed overall. 157 men, women and children were said to have been burned alive at the stake...many of them right here in front of the Marienkapelle, (Church of our Lady).

I actually didn't know this before we went and would never have guessed that this was the location of something so awful in German history. 

Obviously this over sized shrimp is unaware of it.

We listened to this guy play for a bit,

and walked through the Farmer's Market that was set up in the square.

The inside of the Marienkapelle was beautiful. Here's where I handed over the camera to Maya. We have an understanding, she and I. When it comes to cathedrals, she gets the Nikon.

When we step out of the cathedrals, Maya hands the camera back over to me. It works for both of us.

A friendly frog family just saying hello.

It's such a beautiful cathedral, but it's hard for me not to feel heavy of heart after reading about the witch trials. So many souls lost...and so many of them young children.

We made our way back down to the river again. I was in search of some fall foliage but autumn had not yet really visited Würzburg like it had in our village of Linden. We saw this restaurant instead.

Back into the city again, we spotted this church. From a distance it looked more like a government building, but upon closer inspection we realized it was the Stift Haug Kirche.

Scott wasn't so interested in the church, but he was interested in a store we spotted right near it. It was a model store filled with remote control cars, trucks, trains and boats. It was pretty awesome. 

We made our way back to the cathedral and walked around a smaller structure next to it called the Schönborn Chapel.

This chapel has an interior decoration made up of human bones and skulls.

Not REAL human bones and skulls. Yikes.

Not the most comfortable throne, but Scott was happy to have a brief rest. 

The towers of the Dom St. Kilian up close.

The kids on the steps of the Neumünster Kirche.

Scott looks excited, doesn't he? Yeah...Maya is our traveler...our city explorer. Scott is usually along for the ride. He's pretty cute, though.

At this point we decided it was time for a meal. We stopped not too far from both the Neumünster and the Dom St. Kilian and ate at an outside café. I spotted this fountain out front and had to take a picture of it.

Steven and I ate Flamkuchen, which originated in Alsace, France and is basically pizza. The kids ate pork schnitzel and pommes frites. (That's French fries.)

On our way out of the city I got a few more shots.

Another excellent day trip and more history learned.