Travel times from Erfurt:
Train – 2 hours
Car – 1 hour, 50 mins.
From Erfurt, travel to charming Würzburg. This lively city is the northern gateway to the Romantic Road, a trade route from the Middle Ages still traveled by visitors seeking the best of medieval Germany. Today it is a surprisingly cosmopolitan Bavarian city filled with architectural and artistic treasures—and exquisite Franconian wine. As Würzburg is situated in the heart of Franconian wine region, wine and wine-making are central to city life.
Franconia lies some 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of the Rhine, in Bavaria, with most of its vineyards planted on the hilly slopes lining the Main River and its tributaries. Würzburg is home of the famed vineyard Stein, which gave rise to the generic term Steinwein, formerly used to denote all Franconian wines. Fuller-bodied, less aromatic, often drier, firmer and earthier, Franconian wines are generally the most masculine of Germany's wines.
Part of Franconian wines' singular personality is due to the climate: cold winters, high annual rainfall, early frosts — long, warm autumns are rare. As a result, the late-ripening Riesling plays a minor role. Müller-Thurgau (also called Rivaner), Silvaner and new crossings, such as Bacchus and Kerner, are the most important white varieties. Red wine grapes thrive in the western portion of the region between Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg. The finest Franken wines are traditionally bottled in a Bocksbeutel, a squat green or brown flagon with a round body — which lends considerable recognition value to the region's wines. Be sure to pick up a few of the region’s signature pear-shaped bottles.
The people of Würzburg have a great appreciation for the quality and variety of wine from their region, as evidenced by the fact that nearly 80% of the wine produced there is also consumed there. Visitors can gain their own appreciation at one of the many annual wine festivals, during wine cellar tours, at wine tastings, in wine bars and from extensive wine lists at almost every restaurant.
You can also make your way to a small village to enjoy a guided tour of a vineyard and wine cellar followed by a wine tasting and a picnic lunch. Or tour one of Germany’s most extensive wine cellars, underneath the Würzburg Old City.
Würzburg is dominated by its most prominent landmark, the Fortress Marienberg. The origins of this fortress date back to around 1000 B.C., when a Celtic fortified refuge existed on this site. Since the foundation of the Würzburg bishopric in 742, the city has been the region’s religious center.
The city experienced its most prosperous period during the rule of the art-loving prince-bishops of the Schönborn family, for whom Balthasar Neumann built the "palace of palaces" from 1719 to 1744. Known as the Würzburg Residenz (Residence), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is arguably the most ornate Baroque palace in Germany. The center entryway is big enough for a stagecoach to turn around and leads to a massive grand staircase. Halfway up the stairs, eyes are drawn upward to “The Four Continents” (only Europe, America, Asia and Africa were known at the time), a fresco by the Venetian artist Tiepolo that is considered the world’s largest painting. The brilliant colors fill an unsupported vaulted ceiling, which critics of the time said would surely collapse. Not only did it outlast the critics, but it was the only part of the Residenz left standing after a 1945 bombing.
The prince-bishops hired some of Europe’s finest architects, sculptors and painters, and their legacy can be seen on nearly every block. Sights worth exploring include St. Kilian's Cathedral for its exquisite architecture and the adjacent Neumünster Church, built where missionaries were killed in 689 and the destination for thousands of pilgrims every July 7. Behind this church is the Lusam Garden, where the tombstone of the medieval poet, Walther von der Vogelweide can be found. Mention should also be made of the Marienkapelle on the market square as one of the most interesting late-Gothic Bavarian churches.
Würzburg (like its visitors) benefits from its prime location on the River Main. The promenade makes for delightful strolls, and riverfront cafés overflow in good weather. Sightseeing boats offer excursions to neighboring villages, and passenger ships plying the Rhine, Main and Danube make the city a prime stop. And there are few better views from a hotel room than of a river, a castle rising above it, and vineyards stretching beyond sight.
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