Technically, or administratively, the city belongs to the state of Bavaria but truly there is nothing about Lederhosen, Weißwurst, Bier and Biergartens. Würzburg, the wine capital of Franconia in the northwestern tip of Bavaria, will show you that there’s more to life than beer and sausage. The dialect is different, the choice of sausage is Bratwurst and here you’ll find endless rows of vineyards and Weingartens – not Biergartens:)

On my way to a lovely Croatia, I chose to stop in Würzburg and explore this baroque city as they like to call it. Knowing it spans over the river Main, I booked the first night in Schloss Steinburg – a castle hotel above the city. It was a love at first sight. Checking – in, spotting the vineyards that belong to the castle family – I was ready to have my romance night.

The stylish castle hotel enchanted me on so many levels. At the very entrance, knight armours were standing, ready to pull me in some past times. Having my book about the executioner Jakob Kuisl from 17h century Bavarian city Schongau – I knew this would be where I would finish my book. Next to the fireplace, with the view over the city.

I hurried to check my room, refresh myself and hurried down for a nice local beer. I knew the city was not famous for beer, but at that point, driving from Brussels, I was as thirsty as that armoured knight, holding his axe. Finally, the lady from the restaurant told me that the city has the fine choice of beer, for a starter.

Nestled on the steep slopes of Steinberg, overlooking the beautiful baroque town centre and the Main River meandering through the city and surrounding vineyards, Schlosshotel Steinburg is outright one of the most amazing castle hotels in Germany. It was time for the dinner.

I opened the menu and noticed the section dedicated to Goethe. This vivid life sufferer from Heidelberg visited Würzburg on numerous occasions as he enjoyed Frankenwein (Riesling).

”… denn kein anderer Wein will mir schmecken und ich bin verdrusslich, wenn mir mein gewohnter Lieblingstrank abgeht. ”

Goethe in his Letters, 1806 to his beloved Christian Vulpius

The vineyards around the castle with more than 83 ha offered Silvaner, Riesling, Weissburgunder, Scheurebe, Traminer, Müller-Thurgau and Chardonnay.

The restaurant is a fine dining: 6 courses that entertain. Mostly contains wild animals combined with wild forestal plants.

The next morning we strolled down to the city. Although we continued towards Croatia we had a hotel booked in the Old city on our way back to Brussels. See you in 2024!

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In 2024, I stayed in a hotel called Der Alter Kranen. It was just next to the river Main that flooded in the meantime, and had old crane attached, as the hotel name indicated.

The city started as a Celtic settlement in 500 BC and was soon taken by the Romans. My German colleague once told me that wine production in Germany is wherever Romans ruled and left the wine-making tradition.

The name of the city is presumably of Celtic origin too, but based on a folk etymological connection to the German word Würze which means herb, and spice, the name was Latinized as Herbipolis in the medieval period.

On the very first Celtic settlement, lays nowadays Marienberg Fortress – a prominent landmark on the left bank of the Main river. It served as a home of the local prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. They gave him Renaissance and Baroque styles between the 16th and 18th centuries. After Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden conquered the area in 1631 during the Thirty Years’ War, the castle was reconstructed as a Baroque residence.

The statue you see on the left is St Kilian. He was an Irish missionary from the 7th century who on his way to Rome (together with his buddies Kolonat and Totnan) stopped in Würzburg. St Kilian soon became the first prince-bishop of the city, as he spread Christianity among the medieval citizens. Their rests as saints are placed in the Neumünster – a Romanesque (11th century) minster church with a Baroque façade and dome. Its crypt (Kiliansgruft) houses the relics of Kilian, Totnan, and Kolonat.

Saint Kilian in the 7th century was believed to have helped spread wine growing in the Franconia region and is today considered to be the patron saint of wine growers in the area

Perhaps the most beautiful part of the city is Alte Mainbrücke, Old Main Bridge was built in the 14 century to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge dated 1133. The bridge was adorned with twelve 4.5-meter statues of saints and historically important figures like Jan Nepomuk, Mary and Saint Joseph, Charlemagne and Pepin the Short.

There is an old mill just below the bridge. I was breathing the past medieval times, thinking how I might come along this route again in summertime. The atmosphere must be totally different. More vivid and less grey.

To discover the old town of Würzburg, it is worth taking part in a historical city tour. The old bridge brings you right into the arms of the Old town. My first spot was Rathaus.

The Rathaus has a small room, entrance for free, with reminders on the World War ll. On 16 March 1945, about 90% of the city was destroyed in 17 minutes by firebombing from 225 British Lancaster bombers.

Over the next 20 years, the buildings of historical importance were painstakingly and accurately reconstructed. The citizens who rebuilt the city immediately after the end of the war were mostly women – Trümmerfrauen (“rubble women”) – because the men were either dead or still prisoners of war. 

Right in front of the Rathaus is the Four Tubes Well.  It is a popular landmark and meeting place for locals. Apparently, it comes with the virtues. 🙂 An obelisk stands in a base and each corner of the base is decorated with a figurative statue of the four virtues :
   Gerechtigkeit – Justice : woman with scales and faces
   Tapferheit – Fortitude : woman with helmet.
   Mäßigkeit – Temperance : woman filling a goblet with wine
   Weisheit – Prudence : woman with mirror and book.
The coat of arms on the obelisk is from prince-bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, as the prince-bishops were the rulers of the medieval Würzburg. At the crest of the obelisk is the statue of Franconia with a duke’s hat and the Frankish storm flag (Rennfähnlein).

Time for refreshments? The typical shape of the wine bottle here is called Bocksbeutel. Most of the time you will be swerved Franconian wine from these types of bottles. If you listen carefully, you will learn about the famous 1540 vintage – the oldest wine ever tasted!

So the story goes: the year 1540 in Germany was unusually hot. According to some reports, an extensive drought plagued the region and coupled with the heat became so hot that the Rhine River dried up and people could cross the river bed by foot. The heat contributed to an abundant harvest of grapes of exceedingly high ripeness levels.

As was tradition in many German wine regions to celebrate notable vintages, several large ceremonial casks were filled with wines from the 1540 vintage. A cask of Steinwein from the Würzburger Stein vineyard was kept by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, being regularly topped up with newer wine of similar quality to avoid oxidation from the evaporation of what is known as the “angel’s share”. Then they didn’t know the technique of adding sulfur to slow the fermentation. The wine was then bottled in the late 17th century. After bottling several bottles were kept in the cellar of King Ludwig I of Bavaria before eventually finding their way to a London wine merchant in the 20th century.

A bottle from this 1540 vintage was tried by several wine experts at a 1961 tasting in London when it was 421 years of age, making it one of the oldest wines to have ever been tasted. Apparently, the Steinwein was described as Madeira-like.

An unopened bottle from the 1540 vintage, making it at least 483 years old, is still kept today in the cellars of the Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist wine estate, a charitable foundation based in Würzburg.

St. Kilian’s Cathedral was built in the 11th century in Romanesque style. It contains many interesting sculptures as well as the tombs of many of the city’s bishops. Notice the white baroque stucco on the walls and ceilings.

In the cathedral are as well exposed the nails that fell from the roof, during the World War II bombing. The nails were found in exact cross position, giving the citizens of Würzburg the hope in future and reconciliation.

Continuing the walk towards Marktplatz, I discovered another well: Häckerbrunnen. It is a Franconian winemaker (hacker) with his work equipment.

At the Marktplatz, there is Haus zum Falken with its ornate stucco façade, which is an achievement of the Würzburg Rococo period. In the past, it served as an inn, and today it houses a public library and the tourist information office. I captured it on the photo, together with the Marienkapelle.

Although Marienkapelle deserves separate photo as well. 🙂  This one is not a baroque, but a Gothic style from the 14th century. It stands on the site where it used to be a synagogue. In 1349 the synagogue located at this site was destroyed in the course of a pogrom – the murder of the local Jews.

In fact, the entire Marktplatz used to be a Jewish area. The Jewish community of Wurzburg was founded around 1,100. The Jews settled near a swampy area that was, however, in the centre of the town. Some lived outside this quarter, and Christians were living among the Jews.