Wuerzburg Residence

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Wuerzburg Residence With The Court Gardens And Residence Square (1981); Balthasar Neumann'S Prince Bishops' Palace, Carrying What Is Generally Called The Largest Ceiling Fresco In The World, By Tiepolo · Wuerzburg, Bavaria

The Residence at Wuerzburg is the palace the prince-bishops built for themselves between about 1720 and 1744, mostly to Balthasar Neumann's design, and it was one of Germany's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981. Its reputation rests on one room. The staircase rises through the building with no supporting pillar under its vault, and across that vault Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted an allegory of the four continents in the early 1750s, generally described as the largest ceiling fresco in the world. The bombing of 16 March 1945 burned out the city and the palace roof, and the vault held - the story usually told credits an American officer with getting an emergency roof over it before winter, and it is an account worth repeating rather than a settled fact. Inside are also the White Hall, the Imperial Hall with more Tiepolo, and a Mirror Cabinet destroyed in the war and recreated over decades. The Court Gardens behind are free, and the Hofkirche is Neumann at his most compressed.

Residenzplatz 2, central Wuerzburg, on the Main at the northern end of the Romantic Road, Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany

Open daily year round apart from a few public holidays, with longer hours from roughly April to October and shorter ones in winter; last admission is about half an hour to an hour before closing, and the building empties promptly - confirm. The Court Gardens are free and open daily from early morning until dusk, with earlier closing in winter. The Hofkirche and the Mirror Cabinet have their own arrangements: the Mirror Cabinet is shown only on a guided tour. Guided tours in German run frequently through the day, English ones at a few set times. The Residence hosts the Mozartfest in early summer, when parts may be given over to concerts.

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