Würzburg

Our Würzburg hotel wanted €24 (about $26) to feed us breakfast. I'm sure it would have been very good, but we thought the price was a little steep. So, we opted for a little bakery down the street instead. Fortified with our apple pastry, we set out to take the city walking tour.

Maypole in the Marktplatz

Unlike Heidelberg, which was largely spared bombing in World War Two, the Allies bombed the hell out of Würzburg. Most of the city got through almost the entire war untouched, but when the Germans began to fall back after the Bulge, one of the places they tried to hold a line was along the Main River at Würzburg. About a month after the terrible firebombing of Dresden, Würzburg got the same treatment. More than 200 British Lancaster bombers dropped a 1,000 tons of bombs, mostly incendiary munitions. In the firestorm, more than 5,000 civilians burned or suffocated in shelters. The city was a ruin.

A small museum in the town hall holds the memory of the destruction and the reconstruction. The town hall itself dates from the 1300s, but like most of the rest of the city, only the shell of stone walls was left after March of 1945. Everything else is a reproduction made to look like something from the 14th century.

We crossed the Old Bridge across the River Main (Alte Mainbrücke). Most people climb up to the old castle, Fortress Marienberg. But it's a steep walk, and travel guide writer Rick Steves is of the opinion that there isn't enough to see up there to make it worth the climb. As we were standing at the bottom, looking up, an older German woman stopped and asked us if we were looking for the way up to the castle. She seemed quite shocked when we told her, "No!"

Vineyards cover every hillside in this wine country, even the castle hill. We got a good view of that without having to become mountaineers. We also got to see a number of old, but nicely restored churches. The first, right at the base of the castle hill, was St. Burkhard. The church was first consecrated in 1042, but expanded in the 1500s. The exterior is still being renovated, but the inside was quite ornate.

A bit farther up river, but still on the west side of the Main, we visited Deutschhauskirche. Originally built as the church of the Teutonic Order of Knights around 1296, it is now restored in a plain style that looks rather Protestant. They put in some modern stained glass at the chancel, but most of the stained glass around this city was lost in 1945.

We walked up hill (not nearly as steep as the castle hill) a short distance to the Don Bosco church and school. School was in session and the church was locked, so we merely visited the grounds. We also saw an original gate in a section of old city wall in a park nearby.

Back across the bridge, we visited "The Dom," a.k.a. The Cathedral of St. Kilian. Begun in the year 1040, and in continuous construction to at least 1237, it was made over in Baroque style in the early 1700s. After being burned out in 1945, it was reconsecrated in 1967. Some of the chancel is original from the 18th century, but most of the nave is new. We also visited the crypt and smaller chapel along the cloister.

After getting momentarily lost on streets behind The Dom, we found our way back to the Marktplatz (market square) where we visited Marienkapelle. This Gothic church was begun in 1377 and completed in 1480. Today, after reconstruction, it is far more impressive on the outside than on the inside. However, the 16th century altar panels were preserved.

After that, we'd had enough churches, and the mix of restored and 20th century modern buildings was growing a bit tiresome. It was time for lunch. After trying a couple other options unsuccessfully, we returned to the same place where we had eaten the night before, on Alte Mainbrücke. We enjoyed different menu offerings, as well as bier and wein.

On the way back to the hotel, we made a visit to the Juliusspital -- a huge complex built in 1699 and expanded in 1789, it housed a charitable foundation established by the Prince-Bishops to care for the poor and the sick. It was rather unclear to us, because we could not read the German, just what function the building serves today.

Then it was off to the rail station. We picked up our bags at our hotel and walked the long block to the Hauptbahnhof. We were rather shocked that our ticket to Frankfurt was nearly double the price of the ticket that had brought us to Würzburg the previous day, even though it was yet again a slow, regional train and not an Inter-City Express. Apparently it's about supply and demand, because a Friday afternoon train to Frankfurt was crowded. And the view along the River Main was less scenic than the day before.

Our Frankfurt hotel is almost right across the street from the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, so it didn't take long to find it. But the two previous days of high-mileage walking are catching up with us. We opted for relaxation in the room, and will leave exploration of Frankfurt until tomorrow.