Würzburg and Bamberg are two attractive Bavarian cities, full of medieval and Baroque character. One extraordinary attraction is the Residenz in Würzburg. Before we go into the Residenz, let’s stroll around the towns.
Bamberg
The center of Bamberg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the well preserved architectural ensemble in the Old Town. ※ A bit of history:
From the 10th century onwards, this town became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of Bamberg strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century it was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Hegel and Hoffmann living there. (source)
Altes Rathaus, or Old Town Hall
The history behind Altes Rathaus is as fascinating as it looks. Legend has it that in the 14th century, when Bamberg was under bishop rule, there was no space allotted for a town hall by the Bishop. The citizens then decided to create an artificial island in the middle of Regnitz River and build their town hall there.
Construction started around 1386 and went through several modifications over centuries before acquiring its current form. It underwent significant reconstruction work between 1744-1756 under Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim who commissioned artist Johann Anwander for Baroque renovation.
(source)
The Altes Rathaus looks like three different buildings jammed together, which reveals its history of construction and renovations.
The tower / portal shows off energetic Baroque facades.
The downstream side is old-style half-timbered design.
And Rococo style paintings cover the upstream side. The paintings depict historical scenes from Bamberg’s past along with mythological figures. (More about Baroque and Rococo in bit.)
On one side, the leg of a little cherub emerges from the flat painting as a fully 3D plaster limb (far lower right of the photo). Legend says this artistic gesture symbolizes defiance against episcopal authority back when construction began. ※
Heller House
We liked the fresh Wedgwood blue and white of the decorated facade of the Heller House. Joseph Heller, a local businessman, historian and art collector was born here in 1798. ※ Heller a key figure in shaping German approach to art history. ※
The architect Justus Heinrich Dientzenhofer designed the building early in the 18th century. His story is a sad one, and it ties into what we’ll show you at the Residenz in Würzburg. Justus Heinrich’s father was the Court Builder of the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg. Upon his father’s death, Justus Heinrich took over the construction business and applied to be the Court Builder. At first he succeeded, but quickly an up-and-coming and better-connected architect, Balthasar Neumann, got the job. Justus Heinrich was relegated to the third place in the building hierarchy, and he died at only 42. Balthasar Neumann went on to design some of the most notable Baroque and Rococo buildings in Germany, including the Würzburg Residenz. ※
We just liked this collection of guild emblems:
Würzburg
A couple stops before the Residenz:
Falkenhaus
Another pretty Baroque building with Rococo flourishes, although yellow this time, is the Falkenhaus. In the Middle Ages, this building was the residence of the cathedral priest. In 1735, innkeeper Franz Thomas Meißner bought it. Fifteen years later, the innkeeper passed away, and Meißner’s widow Barbara — liberated or honoring, we don’t know which — had the façade decorated with magnificent rococo stucco by itinerant stucco artists from Upper Bavaria.
What we see today is a complete reconstruction of the original building. During the air raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945, the Falkenhaus building was entirely burnt out and parts of the façade collapsed. Reconstruction based on old photographs continued until the mid-1950s. ※
In Bavarian towns large and small, there’s always a May Pole. While there’s a long colorful history about raising May Poles and partying and playing pranks, the stylized pole serves another purpose. In centuries past when most people couldn’t read, the May Pole served to announce what services and activities were available in the town. You’d find little sculptures for the baker, blacksmith, vintner, etc. Today, the colorful cut-outs celebrate festivals and local heritage — now they’re signs for us tourists!
Marienberg Fortress overlooking the Main River and Würzburg
Baroque and Rococo
Before we go see the Residenz in Würzburg, let’s get a little background for these terms of Baroque and Rococo. Here in Wüzburg, but also in subsequent stops in Bavaria, we will encounter amazing examples of German Baroque and Rococo.
Baroque architecture emerged in the 17th century as a bold and dramatic reaction to the Renaissance. It’s characterized by grandiosity, emotional appeal, and an unapologetic desire to create awe-inspiring spaces. We find dramatic facades, dynamic shapes, ornate decoration and striking use of light. This style emerged during a period of religious fervor and dramatic change in Europe. Baroque architecture often served as a symbol of the Catholic Church’s power and influence. It’s closely associated with the Counter-Reformation and the desire to inspire awe and devotion through artistic expression — in counterpoint to the austerity of Protestant churches and theology.
Since every generation needs to push back on the previous, as a response to the grandeur of the Baroque style, Rococo architecture emerged in the 18th century. It is known for its delicate, whimsical, and ornate designs that emphasize grace and elegance. We find curvilinear forms, ornamental flourishes, pastel color palettes, and a focus on interiors. This style came about during the Enlightenment, a time characterized by a shift toward reason, secularism, and especially individualism. The style’s emphasis on grace and elegance reflects the changing social and philosophical values of the 18th century. ※
While Italy was the birthplace for Baroque architecture and France developed Rococo, why are there so many amazing examples of both in southern Germany?
First, it’s about the Church:
Around the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was something of an economic miracle in the German lands, accompanied by a frenetic upsurge in building activity. This followed nearly a whole century which was blighted by wars and economic collapse. At the end of it the Catholic Church emerged revitalised, wealthier than ever and triumphant in its defeat of Protestantism. In the temporal sphere, the creed of absolutism, which imposed few constraints on the power of the prince or local lord, was at its height.
The Baroque style was the perfect expression both for the Church Triumphant and for the temporal ruler who, taking his cue from Louis XIV at Versailles, wished to overawe his subjects and impress on all visitors the might and magnificence of his person.
(source)
And it’s about politics — which is really the same thing.
In the 18th century, Germany was not a politically unified country as we know it today. Instead, this region was a collection of territories governed by different ruling families, many of whom were avid patrons of architecture who transformed their principalities into major centers of artistic production.
Hundreds of new buildings dotted the landscape, many with elaborate interiors designed to overwhelm all who stepped inside. Scholars have had difficulty characterizing 18th-century German architecture, viewing it as a superficial (or even exaggerated) imitation of the French Rococo and Italian Baroque styles. However, artists in German-speaking territories transformed Rococo ornament into three-dimensional sculptural forms. They manipulated space and masked architectural structure, and never clearly adopted a single style. Germany’s superior woodworking and traditions also aided in refashioning the imported Baroque and Rococo styles.
(source)
The Residenz
Armed with our art-history knowledge, let’s visit the Residenz, which is the palace of the Prince-Bishop. (Prince-Bishop was an elected absolutist position that was both secular and ecclesiastical.)
We need one more digression, however. Who was responsible for the construction of this notable palace? And why was it so monumental?
Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1673-1729) commissioned this palace and he wanted everyone, including the Holy Roman Emperor, to know about it. From the 13th century until well into the 20th century, members of the von Schönborn family held high offices in the Holy Roman Empire and in many principalities in what is today Germany. When Johann Philipp Franz became Prince-Bishop, he felt that the little local palace wasn’t up to his status and ambitions. He wanted something comparable to the Palace of Versailles or Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna. By good fortune, in the year of his becoming the Prince-Bishop, he won a sum of 600,000 florins (a fortune at the time) in a court case. He used the funds to undertake a building project that would proclaim his political standing to all. ※ Since he was using his “own” money, no one could stop him!
Around 1720, with the funds in hand and with a progressive aesthetic vision, Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn hired the then young and unknown architect Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753). ※ Neumann would go on to be one of Germany’s most prolific and influential Baroque architects.
The exterior is quite conservative, a heavy if large regurgitation of Versailles and Schönbrunn. Today, its gravitas is scuttled by the beautiful parking lot — which we used; it was very convenient!
However, once you enter the main ground-level portal in your carriage and you emerge to ascend the main staircase, you get it that the Prince-Bishop means business. The first three monumental spaces tell us a lot about how the Prince-Bishop saw himself, and how he really wanted everyone else to see him.
Just arrived, you mount this great staircase beneath a remarkable frescoed sky. If you’re important enough, the Prince-Bishop waits for you at the top of the stairs. He significantly looks down at you. We all have our place, and his is at the top.
That frescoed sky is remarkable on a number of fronts.
The vault over the stairs was the largest of its time. It’s about 600 square meters or 6,500 sf. The young relatively unknown Balthasar Neumann proposed the vault. His older and more conservative colleagues said it couldn’t be done. They were wrong. It has survived for centuries, even through the burning of the roof from the 1945 bombings of Würzburg.
Covering this immense vaulted ceiling is the largest fresco in the world, even today. Von Schönborn commissioned the celebrated Venetian artist Tiepolo to create Apollo and the Four Continents. You can imagine that the Prince-Bishop identified with the figure of Apollo.
Around the periphery, we find the continents of America, Africa, Asia and Europe, which was the entire known world at the time. Each continent is personified as a female figure. The degree of civilization of each continent is inversely proportional to how clothed she is. The focus of attention from America, Africa and Asia is Europe, the center of the civilized world in the European minds of the day.
Despite the grand aspirations of this fresco, we find a few down-to-earth notes. Tiepolo depicted the architect of the palace reclining in the center beneath Europe.
We find Tiepolo himself sneaking a glance from the corner. He’s the one with white hair.
After you’ve been suitably impressed in grand staircase, you pass into the next hall, the White Hall or Guards’ Hall. It’s like you passed from summer into a snowstorm. The walls and ceiling are all white. Perhaps this is because the guards who were stationed here were dressed in vivid blue and red uniforms which looked stunning against the white walls. But these walls are not at all minimalist or boring. They exude some of the most flamboyant Rococo stucco work that you’ll find anywhere. Stucco artist Antonio Bossi designed and created all these forms in situ and in the course of just a few months.
Another reason that this room is white is to provide a powerful contrast to the following and ultimate room, the Imperial Hall. Von Schönborn wanted the grandest possible hall in which to receive Holy Roman Emperors — and perhaps projecting his own imperial ambitions. It turns out that he did not become the Emperor, and only one actual Emperor ever came to call. Nonetheless, he pulled out all the stops. The faux marble columns cost more than real marble columns because of the artistic effort required. Gilding and mirror fragments make the rooms sparkle. Tiepolo created the paintings and frescoes here too. We find grand panels showing the Prince-Bishop’s role in supporting the current Emperor — yet another hint about his justifiable (according to himself) ambitions.
There are about forty more rooms that we were permitted to visit after these three big ones. There were plenty of tapestries, paintings, ornaments, chandeliers and rambunctious furniture. For example:
But one famous room stood out amid all that, the Mirror Cabinet. This is perhaps the most unfettered shiny Rococo interior that you can find anywhere. Mirror Cabinets were popular in German Baroque and Rococo palaces. They are usually paneled rooms with inset mirrors, carvings and stucco-work, where porcelain was frequently displayed. The walls of the Würzburg Mirror Cabinet, however, consisted entirely of glass panels, which were prepared on the back using a special technique: either paintings were produced on the partially recessed mirror ground, or drawings were engraved into a gold ground that was applied on the back of the mirror and then underlaid with dark gloss paint. By this means, instead of displaying Oriental porcelain figures in front of the mirrors as was customary, a rich array of exotic figures and scenes could be incorporated directly into the mirrors. ※
The Mirror Cabinet, along with the rest of the palace bring us to our growingly familiar coda: destruction in World War II and subsequent reconstruction. The original Mirror Cabinet was completely destroyed in the bombing raids of 1945. Based on a preserved mirror fragment, numerous photographs and a watercolor rendition of the original room, the entire room shell was recreated between 1979 and 1987, using the old techniques. ※
Most of the palace as well as most of Würzburg were destroyed during that bombing campaign.
On 16 March 1945, only a few weeks before the end of the Second World War, a devastating air raid destroyed 90 percent of the Würzburg old town. The Residence was almost completely burnt out. From the attic the fire ate down through wooden ceilings and floors, and all the furnishings and wall panelling it had not been possible to store elsewhere were devoured by the flames. Only the core of the Residence, the vestibule, Garden Hall, White Hall, staircase and Imperial Hall with Tiepolo’s frescos were saved. Neumann’s stone vaults withstood the collapse of the burning attic. (source)
October 2024