The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/Southern German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, as well as

Robert de Cotte Robert de Cotte (; 1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo, Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of ...

and

Germain Boffrand Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the ''style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...

, who were followers of the French style. Balthasar Neumann, court architect of the Bishop of Würzburg, was the principal architect of the Residence, which was commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn and his brother Friedrich Carl von Schönborn in 1720, and completed in 1744. The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, assisted by his son, Domenico, painted frescoes in the building. Interiors considered masterworks of Baroque/Rococo or Neoclassical architecture and art include the grand staircase, the chapel, and the Imperial Hall. The building was reportedly called the "largest parsonage in Europe" by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. It was heavily damaged by British bombing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and restoration has been in progress since 1945. Since 1981, the Residence has been a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in recognition of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture.

History

18th century

The Prince-Bishops of Würzburg resided in the Marienberg Fortress on a hill west of the Main river until the early 18th century. Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1719–1724) moved the court to a palace erected in 1701–1704, the predecessor of the Residence. However, the rather small palace did not, in his opinion, measure up to his position as an absolute monarch – he was looking for something comparable to the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

. Having won a sum of 600,000 florins (a fortune at the time) in a court case in the year of his accession, he used the funds to undertake a building project that would proclaim his political standing to all. In this, he was eagerly supported by two relatives, his uncle the Archbishop of Mainz and

Elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, Lothar Franz von Schönborn (who confessed to having been possessed by a "Bauwurm", a building bug) and his brother Friedrich Carl von Schönborn, from 1704 to 1734 Imperial Vice-Chancellor in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Both supplied ideas and, crucially, artists from their circles. Friedrich Carl had met Hildebrandt in Vienna during the construction of the Belvedere. The foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1720. The construction started with the north block. However, Johann Phillip Franz' successor, Prince-Bishop Christoph Franz von Hutten (1724–1729) had no great interest in building such an enormous palace. He only wanted the northern block to be finished. This construction was concluded in the year of his death. All other works ceased. In the year 1730, however, under Prince-Bishop Friedrich Carl von Schönborn (1729–1746), work on the south block began once more. In 1732–33, the front of the ''

Cour d'honneur A court of honor ( ; ) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block ('' corps de logis''), sometimes with a fourth side, co ...

'' was completed. From 1735 onwards, the work on the central building took place with the participation of Lucas von Hildebrandt. In 1737, the main staircase by Balthasar Neumann was constructed. The garden front was completed in 1740 and the whole shell in December 1744. Neumann was mostly responsible for the Residence's town front, while Hildebrandt's work dominated the garden side. The four interior courts of the side wings were an idea of von Welsch. The completion of the vaulted ceilings over the Emperor's Hall and the White Hall took place in 1742; the vault over the staircase in 1743. At the same time, the decorations of the Court Chapel were realized and its consecration was performed in 1743. From 1740 to 1745, the southern ''Kaiserzimmer'' (Imperial Apartments) and the Mirror Cabinet (''Spiegelkabinett'') were decorated by ornamental carver Ferdinand Hundt, by Johann Wolfgang van der Auvera, and Johann Rudolf Byss. Bossi also created the

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

-work in the White Hall during the years 1744–45. Under the rule of Prince-Bishop Anselm Franz von Ingelheim (1746–1749), all building work on the Residence ceased once again. After his death, once Karl Philipp von Greifenclau zu Vollraths (1749–1754) became Prince-Bishop, he ordered a resumption of construction. In the same year, Antonio Bossi completed the

-work in the Garden Hall, the painting of which was finished in the next year. In 1750, Lorenz Jakob Mehling, a merchant at Venice, sent Giovanni Battista Tiepolo to the bishopric residence, after the painter Giuseppe Visconti had failed. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, assisted by his sons, decorated the Imperial Hall and the ceiling above the staircase with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es in the early 1750s. In 1753, Balthasar Neumann died. Under Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim (1755–1779), and Ludovico Bossi created the

-work decoration over the staircase and in the first and second guest rooms of the northern ''Kaiserzimmer'' (Imperial Apartments) between 1769 and 1772. At the same time, the Green Lacquered Room and the Neoclassical ''Fürstensaal'' (Princes' Hall) were finished. From 1776 to 1781, the ''Ingelheimer Räume'' (Ingelheim Rooms) were decorated, including

-work by Materno Bossi. The total construction cost came to over 1.5 million guilders, at a time when a day labourer could expect a weekly wage of one guilder.

19th and early 20th centuries

The episcopal principality of Würzburg was abolished with

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

in 1802/03. An eight-year

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

by Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany (reigned 1806–1814) followed, during which he had several rooms of the south block, the so-called ''Toskanaräume'' (Tuscany Rooms), decorated in

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

. Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

slept in the Residence when he stopped in Würzburg three times between 1806 and 1813. On 2 October 1806 he signed the declaration of war against

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

here. A Neoclassical double bed and bedside tables were installed in the sleeping room of the northern Imperial Apartments for him and his wife Marie Louise in 1812. In 1814, Würzburg became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The wrought-iron gates across the ''

'', which had effectively separated this inner area from the large Residence Square, were demolished in 1821. In their place today is the ''Frankoniabrunnen'' (fountain) created by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger. This was unveiled in 1894 as a tribute by the city of Würzburg and the whole of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

to Prince Regent Luitpold, who was born in 1821 in the Würzburg Residence itself.

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and Prince Albert stayed at the Residence on their way to Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, in August 1845. In 1921, the Residence was opened to the public.

Destruction in World War II

As a result of a devastating British air raid on 16 March 1945, the residence was almost completely burnt out and only the central building with the Vestibule, Garden Hall, Staircase, White Hall and Imperial Hall survived the inferno, their roofs destroyed. From the attic the fire ate down through wooden ceilings and floors, and all the furnishings and wall panelling which had not been stored elsewhere were devoured by the flames. Much of the furnishing and large sections of the wall panelling of the period rooms had been removed in time and thus escaped destruction. Neumann's stone vaults withstood the collapse of the burning attic. However, because the roofs had gone, further damage was incurred in the ensuing period due to dampness. In the Court Chapel, for example, most of the ceiling

es by Byss succumbed to the subsequent consequences of the fire, in spite of the intact vault, and had to be laboriously reconstructed.

Post-war rebuilding

From 1945 to 1987, the building and its interiors were reconstructed to their current state. The rebuilding cost about €20m.

Inclusion in UNESCO World Heritage List

The Würzburg Residence with its Court Gardens and Residence Square was inscribed in the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 1981. According to the Advisory Body Evaluation, the inclusion in the List was a "measure... so clearly desirable that the proposal of the Federal Republic of Germany does not require lengthy justification... The Residence is at once the most homogeneous and the most extraordinary of the Baroque palaces... It represents a unique artistic realization by virtue of its ambitious program, the originality of creative spirit and the international character of its workshop."

Description

Architectural plan

WurzburgResidenzSidePlan.jpg, Sectional drawing NeuResidenzPlan1.jpg, Ground floor NeuResidenzPlan2.jpg, Main floor

Exterior

The Residence was constructed on a base plate of 92 × 167 meters. The main structure consists of a central wing with two side wings, the north and south blocks, each with two interior courts. On the town side the side wings extend 55 m from the main structure, partially enclosing the ''

''. Beneath the

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

there is a cornice, decorated with vases and trophies. The façade around the main portal in the ''Cour d'honneur'' is particularly richly decorated. It lacks the lower

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

floor (see below) but sports a large balcony above the three portals accessible from the ''Weisser Saal'' (White Hall). Above the entrance a large coat-of-arms of Friedrich Carl von Schönborn is located. The ''Hofkirche'' (court chapel) is completely integrated into the western part of the southern wing and barely distinguishable from the outside. Originally, the ''Cour d'honneur'' was limited by a wrought iron enclosure. This masterpiece of ironworks by Joh. Georg Oegg was demolished in 1821 and sold at auction, because a member of the family of the King of Bavaria did not like them. The outdoor square in front of the Residence today measures around 200 meters by 100 meters and is mostly used for parking. The monumental :de:Frankoniabrunnen fountain from 1894 is located in the square.

Interior

The Residence has four floors, a high-ceiling ground and upper floor with a mezzanine floor above each. These served to enliven the façade and offered room for servants' quarters, kitchens and administrative offices. The residence has almost 400 rooms.

Staircase

In Baroque style, the staircase gained importance as part of a formal reception room. The staircase of the Würzburg Residence spans its vault, an area of 18 × 32 meters, without pillars. Beneath an unsupported trough vault, a masterpiece of construction with a maximum height of 23 meters. The lowest part of the stair leads away from the reception hall, towards a blank wall and then splits into two stairs which double back. Thus, the host on the upper landing was able to see his visitors first who initially walked away from him. When the guests turned and approached, the vast ceiling

above was increasingly revealed to them. Tiepolo-residenz-wuerzburg.jpg Würzburg tiepolo 1.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-africa.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-apollon-asia.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-africa-europe.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-asia.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-america-africa.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-europe.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-europe-asia.jpg Tiepolo-residence-wuerzburg-asia-america.jpg This fresco, the largest in the world, created from 1750 to 1753 by Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo shows paintings of the four continents:

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Each continent is represented by a typical landscape and animals (or the painter's vision of these animals) and a female allegorical figure. Europe holds a sceptre, is symbolized by a bull, and has a boy playing with a cannon. America has natives with feathers, who practice cannibalism of prisoners, and a crocodile. Asia has a tiger and elephant, the crosses of Golgotha are visible in the background. Africans have a camel, and a caravan of turbanned Magi. Tiepolo was helped in his labors by his son Giandomenico and the stuccoist Antonio Bossi. There is also a picture of the Prince-Bishop with Mercury approaching from Olympus while

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

launches the sun horses, surrounded by incarnations of the stars. The fresco also shows Tiepolo himself (in the southwest corner) and Neumann, in the center of the southern front, leaning on a cannon. In preparation for his rendering of the large fresco, Tiepolo sketched a scaled-down version of the work; this sketch is on display in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. Court architect Balthasar Neumann had to fight concerns about the dangers of such an enormous vault. Contrary to the vault with its colors, the stairs and the walls have hardly any decoration at all. While the vault is decorated in the Baroque style, the rest of the staircase is already decorated in the following Neoclassical style. Neumann originally wanted to add a second staircase on the other side of the White Hall, but this was vetoed by the Prince-Bishop's advisers due to the costs involved. The staircase was depicted on the back of the final version of 50 Deutsche Mark banknotes, which featured Neumann on the front.

White Hall

The ''Weisser Saal'' or White Hall in Rococo style was the audience chamber and is dominated by the stucco decorations of Antonio Bossi. The white stucco works on a light gray background are composed of a large quantity of

rocaille Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decorative arts, decoration during the early reign of Lo ...

s, mixed with images of real items, especially of military purpose. The lack of gold and colour allows the eye to rest between the splendours of the staircase and the ''Kaisersaal'' beyond. Five crystal chandeliers were used to light the room.

Imperial Hall or ''Kaisersaal''

This hall opens to the east from the White Hall and is located in the center of the garden front. It was used to receive visiting dignitaries, including the Emperors-to-be on their voyage to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and on the return trip to Vienna. It was created in 1749–1751 at enormous cost. The walls of the Imperial Hall consist of stucco work marble in shades of red, white and yellow. The dome is painted in white colour, decorated with golden stucco work and also frescoes by Tiepolo, showing an idealized history of the diocese of Würzburg. One picture, ''Die Trauung Kaiser Barbarossas und der Beatrix von Burgund durch den Würzburger Fürstbischof 1156'' shows the marriage of

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

and Countess Beatrix of Burgundy, consecrated by Gerold, Bishop of Würzburg. The opposite picture shows Frederick II appointing the Bishop of Würzburg Duke of Franconia. On top of the dome a painting shows the ''Brautfahrt'': Apollo in the sun chariot leads the bride Beatrix surrounded by

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, Ceres and

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

towards the Emperor Frederick II, who is accompanied by the Bishop of Würzburg. Giovanni's son Domenico created the supraportes: Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

publishes the , Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

orders the execution of Gallus,

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

denies access to the church to Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

. Bossi's figures show

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

and Juno as well as

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

Southern and Northern Imperial Apartments or ''Kaiserzimmer''

When all the doors are opened between these halls they create an

enfilade Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in de ...

stretching along the garden front extending a total of 150 meters. These rooms served as reception halls and as accommodation for important guests. The impact of both apartments is generated by a sequence of rooms of increasing degrees of decoration. The most decorated room of the Southern Apartment is the ''Spiegelsaal'' or Mirror Cabinet. Its walls consist entirely of glass panels, decorated on the back using either paintings, or drawings engraved into a gold ground and then underlaid with dark gloss paint. All the paintings and drawings show oriental, especially Chinese, scenes. The southern part also includes the ''Toskanasaal''. The highlight of the Northern Apartment is the Green Lacquered Room. Its multilayered wall coverings consist of a metallic green color decorated with paintings and golden ornaments.

Court Chapel (''Hofkirche'')

The Court Chapel is a prime example of the sacral Baroque style in Germany. The interior design is dominated by the curving walls and three intergradient oval dome vaults. It extends upwards through both of the main floors of the Residence. The supporting columns are made from agate-coloured marble. The columns of the two side altars and the six statues are made from white marble, carved at

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. The side altars are based on designs by Hildebrandt and were painted in 1752 by Tiepolo (

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

to the south, War in Heaven to the north). The high altar is made from stucco created to look like marble by Antonio Bossi. Above the altar is a matroneum with a statue of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

in the centre and oratories on both sides. Bossi was also responsible for the colourful stucco work on the ceiling (1735) and with painters Högler and Thalhofer created the frescoes in the domes (1735–6): martyrdom of the three Franconian apostles Kilian, Totnan and Kolonat (over the choir), Coronation of the Virgin (in the centre) and War in Heaven (above the organ).

Court Gardens

The Residence was built when Würzburg was still a fortified town. Therefore, the garden had to be planned within the fortifications. The solution included two bastions of the fortified town wall, using its differences in height to create a very special landscape. From west to east there is a rise in ground, until the level of the wall is reached. Near the residence itself, the ''Hofgarten'' (or Court Gardens) is designed in a very formal, Baroque style. Farther away, the style changes to an English garden with small forests and meadows. Designs for the former part were made by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Neumann and François de Cuvilliés. It was mainly created in 1759–70. Johann Peter Alexander Wagner added putti, vases, urns and two monumental sculpture groups, the Rape of Europa and the abduction of Proserpina, sited in the central axis between the Orangery and the southern pavilion of the Residence. The figures were added to the park under Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, who had the park at Veitshöchheim similarly decorated. Three monumental gates lead to the Court Gardens, commissioned by Friedrich Karl von Schönborn from Joh. Georg Oegg.

Today

The gardens and representative rooms described above are open to the public. A memorial room is dedicated to the Residence's destruction in March 1945. It also honours Major John Davis Skilton, a " Monuments man" of the U.S. Army who was instrumental in preserving many of the art treasures after his arrival at Würzburg in June 1945. Most of the rest of the residence is occupied by the Martin von Wagner Museum (moved here in 1963) and organizations of the University of Würzburg. Some scenes of the 2011 film ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' were filmed at Würzburg Residence.

Gallery

File:Residenz Würzburg7.jpg File:Residenz56.jpg File:Residenz wuerzburg eu-minis.jpg File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079088-0022, Würzburg, Residenz.jpg File:Würzburg - Residenz Nord, Toscanasaal, Decke.JPG File:Wuerzburg Salle Residence.JPG File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079090-0032, Würzburg, Residenz.jpg File:Residenz Würzburg 1.jpg File:Hofgarten Wuerzburg1.jpg File:Würzburg Residenzgarten2.JPG File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F079089-0025, Würzburg, Park der Residenz.jpg File:Orangerie Hofgarten Wuerzburg-1.jpg, The orangery

References

External links

Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square / UNESCO Official Website

Virtual-Tour through the Residence of Würzburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurzburg Residence Palaces in Bavaria Gardens in Bavaria Museums in Bavaria Historic house museums in Germany Buildings and structures in Würzburg Castles in Bavaria Episcopal palaces in Germany Houses completed in 1744 Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria World Heritage Sites in Germany Baroque architecture in Bavaria German Baroque gardens Baroque palaces in Germany 1744 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire