Wurzburg Residence

The Residenz was built for prince-bishops who wanted a court to rival anything in Vienna, and Balthasar Neumann gave them one: a palace whose unsupported vault over the grand staircase still looks improbable. Across that vault Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted the four continents in what is usually called the largest fresco ever made, so the ceiling changes character as you climb and the figures at the cornice lean out over your head. Beyond it come the stucco work of the White Hall, the gilt and marble Kaisersaal, and the Mirror Cabinet, reconstructed panel by panel. Outside, the Court Gardens drop away in terraces of clipped yew and sandstone urns, free to walk and rarely as busy as the state rooms.

History

The prince-bishops of Würzburg lived in the Marienberg Fortress until Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn, who wanted a residence to rival Versailles or Schönbrunn, paid for one with 600,000 florins won in a lawsuit; the foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1720, with Balthasar Neumann as chief architect and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Maximilian von Welsch, Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand also involved. His successor wanted only the north block finished, but work resumed in 1730 under Friedrich Carl von Schönborn: Neumann's great staircase went up in 1737, the vault over it in 1743, and the shell was complete in December 1744, after which the Venetian Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and his son Domenico painted its frescoes. Napoleon is said to have called it the largest parsonage in Europe (Wikipedia, Würzburg Residence).

The main sights

• The staircase vault - Neumann's single unsupported span, with Tiepolo's continents overhead.
• The Kaisersaal - the imperial hall in marble, gilt and fresco, the palace at full volume.
• The Mirror Cabinet - lacquer and painted glass, rebuilt piece by piece after fire.
• The Court Gardens - terraced parterres and clipped yews behind the palace, open without a ticket.

When to go

State rooms open year round; the Court Gardens are at their best from May to September, when they stay open into the evening. Morning slots are quieter than afternoons, and the guided tours that cover the southern apartments run to a fixed timetable, so check the times on arrival rather than assuming you can walk straight in.

Good to know

Photography is not allowed in the state rooms, which frustrates people who came for the ceiling. Summer weekends bring coach groups that fill the staircase at exactly the moment you want to stand still under it. The garden front looks plain from the forecourt, and the walk from the station crosses ordinary modern shopping streets.

Nearby

The Marienberg fortress across the Main, the old bridge with its statues, and Franconian wine villages upriver.

Key facts