Würzburg
Encyclopedia
Würzburg (ˈvʏɐ̯tsbʊɐ̯k) is a city in the region of Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

 which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...

 Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....

. The regional dialect is Franconian.

Würzburg is approximately 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) from either Frankfurt am Main or Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 by road. The city of Würzburg is included in the district of Würzburg
Würzburg (district)
Würzburg is a Kreis in the northwestern part of Bavaria, Germany.Neighboring districts are Main-Spessart, Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Neustadt -Bad Windsheim, and the district Main-Tauber in Baden-Württemberg...

, but is its administrative seat (Landkreis). Its population is 133,501 as of 31 December 2008.

History

By 1000 BC a Celtic fortification stood on the site of the present Fortress Marienberg
Fortress Marienberg
Fortress Marienberg is a prominent landmark on the Main river in Würzburg, Germany. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. It has been a fort since ancient times...

. It was Christianized in 686 by Irish missionaries Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan
Saint Totnan
Saint Totnan was one of the Irish Franconian apostles who was martyred along with Saint Colman and Saint Kilian. His feast day is July 8.After his death he was named patron saint of the Bishopric of Würzburg....

. The city is first mentioned as a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 settlement called Vurteburch in 704. The first diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 was founded by Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...

 in 742. He appointed the first bishop of Würzburg
Bishopric of Würzburg
The Bishopric of Würzburg was a prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, Germany. Würzburg was a diocese from 743. In the 18th century, its bishop was often also Bishop of Bamberg...

, Saint Burkhard
Burchard of Würzburg
Burchard of Würzburg was a Bishop of Würzburg in 741–754.He was an Anglo-Saxon who left England after the death of his kinsfolk and joined Boniface in his missionary labors, some time after 732...

. The bishops eventually created a duchy with its center in the city, which extended in the 12th century to Eastern Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

. The city was the seat of several Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...

s, including the one of 1180, in which Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....

 was banned from the Empire and his duchy
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...

 was handed over to Otto of Wittelsbach.

The first church on the site of the present Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg...

 was built as early as 788, and consecrated that same year by Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

; the current building was constructed from 1040 to 1225 in Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 style. The University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

 was founded in 1402 and re-founded in 1582.

The citizens of the city revolted several times against the prince-bishop, until definitively defeated in 1400. Later, Würzburg was a center of the German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...

; the castle was besieged unsuccessfully. Notable prince-bishops include Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn was a Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Echter was born in Mespelbrunn Castle, Spessart and died in Würzburg....

 (1573–1617) and members of the Schönborn
Schönborn
- Places :* Schönborn, Brandenburg, in the Elbe-Elster district, Brandenburg* Bad Schönborn, in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg* Schönborn, Rhein-Hunsrück, in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, Rhineland-Palatinate...

 family, who commissioned a great number of the monuments of today's city. The Würzburg witch trial
Würzburg witch trial
The Würzburg witch trial, which took place in Germany in 1626–1631, is one of the biggest mass-trials and mass-executions seen in Europe during the Thirty Years War; 157 men, women and children in the city of Würzburg are confirmed to have been burned alive at the stake; 219 are believed to...

s, which occurred between 1626 and 1631, are one of the largest peace-time mass trials.

This mass execution took place during a time known as the "Burning Times," which was two hundred years of purging the countryside of France and Germany of what was believed to be witches; women who had supposedly made a pact with the devil. In Wurzburg, under Bishop Philip Adolf an estimated number between six hundred and nine hundred witches were burnt. < Witchcraft in Bavaria: Popular Magik, Religious Zealotry,and Reason of State in Early Modern Europe, Wolfgang Behringer, (Cambridge University Press;1997> < Much info given on this on footnote 38 also> In 1631, Swedish King Gustaf Adolf
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...

 invaded the town and destroyed the castle.

In 1720, the foundations of the Würzburg Residence
Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence is a palace in Würzburg, southern Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representants of the Austrian/South German Baroque were involved in the construction, as well as Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand, who were followers of the French Style...

 were laid. The city passed to the Electorate of Bavaria
Electorate of Bavaria
The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....

 in 1803, but two years later, in the course of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, it became the seat of the Electorate of Würzburg, the later Grand Duchy of Würzburg
Grand Duchy of Würzburg
The Grand Duchy of Würzburg was a German grand duchy centered on Würzburg existing in the early 19th century.As a consequence of the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the Bishopric of Würzburg was secularized in 1803 and granted to Bavaria. In the same year Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, was...

. In 1814, the town became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...

 and a new bishopric
Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg
The Diocese of Würzburg is a diocese of Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, and the bishop is seated at Würzburg Cathedral...

 was created seven years later, as the former one had been secularized in 1803.

Massacres of Jews took place in 1147 and 1298 and expulsions throughout the Middle Ages. In the period of Nazi rule, nearly the entire Jewish and gypsy population of the city was wiped out.

World War II

On 16 March 1945, about 90% of the city full of civilians was destroyed in 17 minutes by 225 British Lancaster bombers during a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 air raid. All of the city's churches, cathedrals, and other monuments were heavily damaged or destroyed. The city center, which dated from medieval times, was totally destroyed in a firestorm
Firestorm
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires...

 in which 5,000 people perished. Over the next 20 years, the buildings of historical importance were painstakingly and accurately replicated. 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 taken prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

. In comparison, Würzburg was destroyed more totally than was Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 in a firebombing the previous month.

Commencing 3 April 1945, Würzburg was attacked by the US 12th Armored Division and US 42nd Infantry Division in a series of frontal assaults masked by smokescreens. The battle continued until the final last-ditch German resistance was defeated 5 April 1945.

After the war, Würzburg was host to the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division
U.S. 3d Infantry Division
The 3rd Infantry Division is a United States Army infantry division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is a direct subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Army Forces Command...

, 1st Infantry Division
U.S. 1st Infantry Division
The 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army is the oldest division in the United States Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917...

, U.S. Army Hospital and various other U.S. military units that maintained a presence in Germany. The U.S. units were withdrawn from Würzburg in 2008, bringing an end to over 60 years of U.S. military presence in Würzburg.

City structure

Würzburg is divided into 13 municipals
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 which are additionally structured 25 borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

s. In the following overview, the boroughs and their numbers are allocated to the 13 municipals.

01 Altstadt
  • Dom (01)
  • Neumünster (02)
  • Peter (03)
  • Innere Pleich (04)
  • Haug (05)
  • Äussere Pleich (06)
  • Rennweg (09)
  • Mainviertel (17)

02 Zellerau
  • Zellerau (18)

03 Dürrbachtal
  • Dürrbachau (07)
  • Unterdürrbach (22)
  • Oberdürrbach (23)

04 Grombühl
  • Grombühl (08)

05 Lindleinsmühle
  • Lindleinsmühle (19)

06 Frauenland
  • Mönchberg (10)
  • Frauenland (11)
  • Keesburg (12)

07 Sanderau
  • Sanderau (13)

08 Heidingsfeld
  • Heidingsfeld (14)

09 Heuchelhof
  • Heuchelhof (20)

10 Steinbachtal
  • Steinbachtal (15)
  • Nikolausberg (16)

11 Versbach
  • Versbach (24)

12 Lengfeld
  • Lengfeld (25)

13 Rottenbauer
  • Rottenbauer (21)

Main sights

Notable artists that lived in Würzburg include poet Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets.-Life history:For all his fame, Walther's name is not found in contemporary records, with the exception of a solitary mention in the travelling accounts of Bishop Wolfger of Erla of the Passau diocese:...

 (12th and 13th cent.), philosopher Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus, O.P. , also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Those such as James A. Weisheipl...

 and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 Mathias Grünewald. Two artists who made a lasting impression were sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider
Tilman Riemenschneider
Tilman Riemenschneider was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master in stone and limewood.- Biography :Tilman Riemenschneider was born between 1459...

 (1460–1531), who was also mayor and participated in the German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...

, and Balthasar Neumann
Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann , also known as Balthasar Neumann, was a [German] military artillery engineer and architect who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Italian, and French elements to design some of the most impressive buildings of the period,...

 (1687–1753), Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 architect and builder of the Würzburg Residence, now a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

. Its interior was decorated by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , also known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice...

 and his son, Domenico
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo was a Venetian painter and printmaker in etching. He was the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo.-Life history:...

.

Many of the city's "100 churches" survived intact with styles ranging from Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 (Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral
Würzburg Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg...

), Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 (Marienkapelle), Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 (Neubaukirche), Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 (Stift Haug Kirche) to modern (St Andreas).

Würzburg hosts the Mainfranken Museum, with artifacts from prehistory until modern times, a Museum of the cathedral, galleries for ancient and modern art, and the "Kulturspeicher" from 2002. Notable festivals include the Afrika Festival in May, the Mozartfest, in June/July and the Kiliani Volksfest in mid July.
  • Würzburg Residenz: The vast complex on the eastern edge of the town was commissioned by two prince-bishops, the brothers Johann Philipp Franz and Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. Its construction between 1720 and 1744 was supervised by several architects, including Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch. Although much of it destroyed during WWII, it has been completely rebuilt as it was before the war. However, it is associated mainly with the name of Balthasar Neumann
    Balthasar Neumann
    Johann Balthasar Neumann , also known as Balthasar Neumann, was a [German] military artillery engineer and architect who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Italian, and French elements to design some of the most impressive buildings of the period,...

    , the creator of its famous Baroque staircase. Its main sights are:
    • Hofkirche: The church interior is richly decorated with paintings, sculptures and stucco ornaments. The altars were painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
      Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
      Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , also known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice...

      .
    • Treppenhaus: The largest fresco in the world adorns the vault of the staircase by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. For many years the staircase appeared on a Deutschmark bill.
    • Kaisersaal: The centerpiece of the palace, emperor's chamber which testifies the close relationship between Würzburg and the Holy Roman Empire
      Holy Roman Empire
      The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

      .

  • The Fortress Marienberg
    Fortress Marienberg
    Fortress Marienberg is a prominent landmark on the Main river in Würzburg, Germany. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. It has been a fort since ancient times...

     is the castle on a hill across the Old Main Bridge, overlooking the whole town area as well as the surrounding hills.
  • Würzburg's Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge from 1133. It was adorned from 1730 on in two phases with well-known statues of saints and famous persons. A similar impressive bridge is the Charles Bridge
    Charles Bridge
    The Charles Bridge is a famous historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century...

     in Prague.
  • Among Würzburg's many notable churches are the Käppele, a small Baroque/Rococo chapel by Balthasar Neumann on a hill opposite to the fortress and the Dom (Würzburg Cathedral
    Würzburg Cathedral
    Würzburg Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg...

    ). The Baroque Schönborn Chapel, a side-chapel of the cathedral has interior decoration made of (artificial) human bones and skulls. Also in the cathedral are two of Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master in stone and limewood.- Biography :Tilman Riemenschneider was born between 1459...

    's most famous works, the tomb stones of Rudolf II von Scherenberg
    Rudolf von Scherenberg
    Rudolf II von Scherenberg was Bishop of Würzburg from 1466 until his death.Rudolf von Scherenberg was the son of Erhard von Scherenberg and Anna von Massbach. On April 30, 1466, he was appointed as bishop to replace Johann von Grumbach. He was confirmed as bishop on June 20, 1466...

     (1466–1495) and Lorenz von Bibra
    Lorenz von Bibra
    Lorenz von Bibra, Duke in Franconia was Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg from 1495 to 1519. His life paralleled Maximilian I , who served as Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519, to which Lorenz did serve as an advisor....

     (1495–1519). Look for replicas of the statues of Adam and Eve by Riemenschneider at the entrance to the Marienkapelle (on the market square). The Neumünster is a Romanesque minster church with a Baroque façade and dome. Among the Baroque churches in the inner city are Stift Haug, St. Michael, St. Stephan and St. Peter.
  • The Julius Spital is a Baroque hospital with a courtyard and a church built by the prince bishop Julius Echter. Its medieval wine cellar, together with those of the Würzburg Residence and the Bürgerspital are one place to taste the Frankenwein. With an area under cultivation of 1.68 square kilometres, the Julius Spital is the second largest winery in Germany.
  • The Haus zum Falken next to the Marienkapelle, with its splendid facade, is an achievement of the Würzburg rococo period and accommodates a tourist office.
  • The Stift Haug was built in the years 1670–1691 and was the first Baroque church in Franconia. It is the most important building of the Italian architect Antonio Petrini.

Education and research

Würzburg has many internationally accepted institutions in science and research:

University

The University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

 (official name Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) was founded in 1402 and is one of the oldest and most traditional universities in Germany.

Academic disciplines are astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

, catholic theology, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

, educational and social sciences, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, languages and linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 (human medicine, dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...

 and biomedicine
Biomedicine
Biomedicine is a branch of medical science that applies biological and other natural-science principles to clinical practice,. Biomedicine, i.e. medical research, involves the study of physiological processes with methods from biology, chemistry and physics. Approaches range from understanding...

), pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 and sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

.The ten faculties are spread throughout the city.

Today the university enrolls approximately 22,000 students, out of which more than 1,000 come from other countries.
  • Wilhelm Röntgen's original laboratory, where he discovered X-ray
    X-ray
    X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

    s in 1895, is at the University of Würzburg
    University of Würzburg
    The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

    .
  • The University awarded Alexander Graham Bell
    Alexander Graham Bell
    Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....

     an honorary Ph.D for his pioneering scientific work.
  • The Botanischer Garten der Universität Würzburg
    Botanischer Garten der Universität Würzburg
    The Botanischer Garten der Universität Würzburg is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Würzburg. It is located on Mittlerer Dallenbergweg, Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany, and open daily; admission is free....

     is the university's botanical garden
    Botanical garden
    A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

    .

University of Applied Science

The University of Applied Science Würzburg-Schweinfurt was founded in 1971 as institute of technology
Institute of technology
Institute of technology is a designation employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...

 with departments in Würzburg and Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...

. Academic disciplines are architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, business economics
Business economics
Business economics as a field in applied economics uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms with labour, capital and product markets...

, business informatics
Business informatics
Business informatics or organizational informatics is a discipline combining information technology , informatics and management concepts. The BI discipline was created in Germany, from the concept of "Wirtschaftsinformatik"...

, civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

, computational engineering
Computational engineering
Computational science and engineering is a relatively new discipline of engineering. It is typically offered as a masters or doctorate program at several institutions...

, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

, engineering management
Engineering management
Engineering Management or Management Engineering is a specialized form of management and engineering that is concerned with the application of engineering principles to business practice...

, geodesy
Geodesy
Geodesy , also named geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space. Geodesists also study geodynamical phenomena such as crustal...

, graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...

, logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

, mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

, media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...

, nursing theory
Nursing theory
Nursing theory is the term given to the body of knowledge that is used to define or explain various aspects of the profession of nursing.-Grand nursing theories:...

, plastics engineering
Plastics engineering
Plastics engineering encompasses the processing, design, development, and manufacture of plastics products. A plastic is a polymeric material that is in a semi-liquid state, having the property of plasticity and exhibiting flow. The nature of plastic materials poses unique challenges to an engineer...

, social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...

.

With nearly 8,000 students it is the second largest university of applied science in Franconia.

University of Applied Languages

Würzburg University of Applied Languages is an institute and vocational school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...

 for translating and language interpretation.

Conservatory

The Conservatory of Würzburg is an institution with a long tradition as well as an impressive success story of more than 200 years. It was founded in 1797 as Collegium musicum academicum and is Germany’s oldest conservatory. Nowadays it's called University of Music Würzburg. After the commutation from conservatory to university of music in the early 1970s, science and research appeared to complement music education.

Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research

The Fraunhofer ISC in Würzburg is part of the Fraunhofer Society
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society is a German research organization with 60 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science . It employs around 18,000, mainly scientists and engineers, with an annual research budget of about €1.65 billion...

, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. It develops innovative materials for tomorrow’s products, offering competent, experienced and reliable partnerships to small and medium-sized enterprises and to large-scale industrial companies.

Commerce and business

Würzburg is mainly known as an administrative center. Its largest employers are the Julius-Maximilians-University
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

 which is one of the oldest universities in Germany, first founded in 1402 and the municipality. The largest private employer is world market leader Koenig & Bauer
Koenig & Bauer
Koenig & Bauer AG is a German company that makes printing presses based in Würzburg. It was founded by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer in Würzburg in 1817, making it the oldest printing press manufacturer in the world....

, a maker of printing machines.
Würzburg is also the capital of the German wine region Franconia
Franconia (wine region)
Franconia is a region for quality wine in Germany situated in the north west of Bavaria in the district of Franconia, and is the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria...

 which is famous for its mineralic dry white wines especially from the Silvaner grape. Würzburger brewery is also a popular pilsner beer worldwide.

Museums and galleries

  • The Mainfränkisches Museum is home to the world’s biggest collection of works by Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master in stone and limewood.- Biography :Tilman Riemenschneider was born between 1459...

    . In a space of 5400 m² (6,458 sq yd), art by regional artists is exhibited. Exhibitions include the pre-historic collection, artifacts of the Franconian wine culture and the anthropological collection with traditional costumes.
  • Fürstenbau-Museum. The restored “Fürstenbau” (prince bishop residence) of the Fortress “Marienberg” houses not only the renovated living quarters, but also the city history department of the Mainfränkisches Museum. Worth taking in are the gold jewelry and collection of liturgical vestments. Of special interest are two models of the city: Würzburg in 1525 and Würzburg in 1945.
  • Museum im Kulturspeicher
    Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg
    The Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg is a municipal art museum located at Veitshöchheimer Strasse 5, Würzburg, Germany. It is open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged....

    , housed in a historic grain storage building combined with modern architecture. Collections include the “Peter C. Ruppert" collection, with European concrete art
    Concrete art
    Concrete art and design or concretism is an abstractionist movement that evolved in the 1930s out of the work of De Stijl, the futurists and Kandinsky around the Swiss painter Max Bill. The term "concrete art" was first introduced by Theo van Doesburg in his "Manifesto of Concrete Art"...

     after 1945 from artists such as Max Bill
    Max Bill
    Max Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.Bill was born in Winterthur...

     and Victor Vasarely
    Victor Vasarely
    Victor Vasarely was a Hungarian French artist whose work is generally seen aligned with Op-art.His work entitled Zebra, created by Vasarely in the 1930s, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op-art...

    ; works from the Age of Romanticism, the Biedermeier period
    Biedermeier
    In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...

    , Impressionism
    Impressionism
    Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...

    , Expressionism
    Expressionism
    Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

     as well as contemporary, all this in more than 3,500 m² of exhibit space.
  • Museum at the Cathedral, opened in 2003. It features about 700 art pieces from the last 1000 years. The 1800m2 exhibit contrasts contemporary art with older works.
  • Shalom Europe, a Jewish museum. Built around 1504 tombstones discovered and excavated in the old city, the museum uses modern information technology to portray present and traditional Jewish lifestyle and survival over the past 900 years in Würzburg.
  • Martin-von-Wagner-Museum, with ancient Egyptian and the antiquity findings. It is housed in the South wing of the Residenz and houses ancient marble statues and burial objects. There are also ten exhibition halls with art from the 14th to the 19th century.
  • Siebold-Museum, which houses permanent and travelling exhibits, including the estate of the 19th century local physician and Japan researcher Philipp Franz von Siebold
    Philipp Franz von Siebold
    Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician and traveller. He was the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan...

    .

Roads

The city is located on the intersection of the Autobahns A 3 and A 7.

Rail

The city's main station
Würzburg Hauptbahnhof
is the central station for the city of Würzburg in the German state of Bavaria.Regional and long-distance trains call at the station; it is the southern end of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line that carries InterCityExpress traffic...

 is at the southern end of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line and offers frequent InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...

 and InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...

 connections to cities such as Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

 or Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

. It also is an important hub in the regional rail network.
Long distance Route
Inter-City-Express
(Linie 25)
  Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 – Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 – WürzburgKassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

 – Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

 – Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

Munich – Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

 – Würzburg – Kassel – Hanover – Hamburg / – Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

Inter-City-Express
(Linie 31)
  Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 – Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

 – Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....

 – Nuremberg – Würzburg – Frankfurt (Main) – Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

 – Cologne – Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...

 – Hagen
Hagen
Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...

 – Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

Inter-City-Express
(Linie 41)
  Munich – Nuremberg – Würzburg – Frankfurt (Main) – Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 – Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 – Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...


regional Route
Regional-Express   WürzburgKitzingen
Kitzingen
Kitzingen is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants.Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer in Bavaria...

 – Neustadt (Aisch)
Neustadt an der Aisch
Neustadt an der Aisch is a small town in the northern part of Bavaria , within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia,...

 – Fürth
Fürth
The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....

 – Nuremberg
Regional-Express   WürzburgAschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...

 – Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...

 – Frankfurt (Main)
Regional-Express   WürzburgOsterburken
Osterburken
Osterburken is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of Würzburg and 30 km east of Mosbach...

 – Heilbronn
Heilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....

 – Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...

 – Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

Regional-Express   WürzburgSchweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...

 – Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...

 – Lichtenfels – Hof/–Bayreuth
Regional-Express   Würzburg – Bamberg – Erlangen
Erlangen
Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach.Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants....

 – Fürth – Nuremberg
Regional-Express   WürzburgSchweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...

 – Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and is the seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is a world-famous health resort.- Town structure :...

 / – Münnerstadt
Münnerstadt
Münnerstadt is a town in the district of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Germany. It borders with the towns of Burglauer, Bad Bocklet, Nüdlingen, Maßbach, Großbardorf, and Strahlungen. As of 2000 it has a population of 8,300, and covers an area of 95 km²....

 – Bad Neustadt
Bad Neustadt
Bad Neustadt is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Rhön-Grabfeld district in Lower Franconia. It is situated on the rivers Fränkische Saale and Brend, near the Rhön Mountains, 30 km north of Schweinfurt, and 47 km southeast of Fulda.- Town structure :Between...

 – Mellrichstadt
Mellrichstadt
Mellrichstadt is a town in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 17 km southwest of Meiningen, and 13 km northeast of Bad Neustadt. It town includes the following villages: Bahra, Eußenhausen, Frickenhausen, Mühlfeld, Sondheim im Grabfeld und Roßrieth....

 – Meiningen
Meiningen
Meiningen is a town in Germany - located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia and is the district seat of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is situated on the river Werra....

 – Suhl
Suhl
- Geography :Suhl sits on the south edge of the Suhler Scholle, an upthrust granite complex that is streaked by numerous dikes. This is part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen Horst that defines the southwest side of the Thuringian Forest...

 – Arnstadt
Arnstadt
Arnstadt is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, situated on the Gera River. It is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia and is nicknamed Das Tor zum Thüringer Wald, The Gate to the Thuringian Forest....

 – Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

Regional train   Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig at the southwest of a hill called Landrücken, approx. 30 km southwest of Fulda.-History:...

 – Jossa
Jossa
Jossa is a village in the German municipality of Sinntal in Main-Kinzig-Kreis in the state of Hesse. Jossa lies within the Spessart nature park and is a state-recognised health resort. The village has 664 inhabitants and covers an area of . Its councillor is Günter Walther ....

 – Gemünden (Main)
Gemünden am Main
Gemünden am Main is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and lies roughly 40 km down the Main from Würzburg.- Location :...

 – WürzburgSchweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...

 – Bamberg
Regional train   Karlstadt
Karlstadt
Karlstadt can refer to places:* Karlstadt am Main, Germany* Karlovac, Croatia * Karlstad, Swedenor to:* Andreas Karlstadt, a contemporary of Martin Luther during the Reformation....

 – WürzburgSteinach
Gallmersgarten
Gallmersgarten is a municipality in the district of Neustadt -Bad Windsheim in Bavaria in Germany....

 – Ansbach
Ansbach
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.Ansbach...

 – Treuchtlingen
Treuchtlingen
Treuchtlingen is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:Treuchtlingen is situated on the river Altmühl, 9 km southwest of Weißenburg in Bayern, and 45 km northeast of Donauwörth...

Regional train   Würzburg – Kitzingen
Regional train   WürzburgBad Mergentheim
Bad Mergentheim
Bad Mergentheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.-History:Mergentheim is mentioned in chronicles as early as 1058, as the residence of the family of the counts of Hohenlohe, who early in the 13th century assigned the greater part of their estates in...

 – Weikersheim
Weikersheim
Weikersheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Tauber, 9 km east of Bad Mergentheim, Weikersheim is the location of the famous castle Schloss Weikersheim....

 – Crailsheim
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, 32 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, 40 km southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district, incorporated in 1338....


Trams

Würzburg has a tram network of 5 lines with a length of 19.7 km.
Line Route Time Stops
1 Grombühl – Sanderau 20 minutes 20
2 Hauptbahnhof (Main station) – Zellerau 14 minutes 11
3 Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) – Heuchelhof 27 minutes 20
4 Sanderau – Zellerau 23 min. 18
5 Grombühl – Rottenbauer 39 minutes 31

The new Line 6 from Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) to Hubland university via Residence will be realized in 2015.

Buses

27 bus lines are connecting several parts of the city and inner suburbs. 25 bus lines connect the Würzburg district with the city.

Port

The Main river flows into the Rhine and is connected to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , located in Bavaria, Germany, connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, running from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim...

. This makes it part of a trans-European waterway connecting the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

.

Points of interest

  • Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg
    Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg
    The Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg is a municipal art museum located at Veitshöchheimer Strasse 5, Würzburg, Germany. It is open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged....

    , the municipal art museum

Notable natives and residents

  • Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria
    Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria
    Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria , was the de facto ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, due to the incapacity of his nephews, King Ludwig II and King Otto.-Early life:...

     was born in 1821.
  • Yehuda Amichai
    Yehuda Amichai
    Yehuda Amichai was an Israeli poet. Amichai is considered by many, both in Israel and internationally, as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew....

     ("Ludwig Pfeuffer"; 1924–2000), Israeli poet
  • Frank Baumann
  • Lorenz von Bibra
    Lorenz von Bibra
    Lorenz von Bibra, Duke in Franconia was Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg from 1495 to 1519. His life paralleled Maximilian I , who served as Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519, to which Lorenz did serve as an advisor....

    , Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1495 to 1519
  • Mark Bloch
    Mark Bloch
    Mark Bloch , also known as Pan, P.A.N., Panman, Panpost and the Post Art Network, is an American multi-media artist from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Since 1982 he has lived in New York City...

    , American artist, born on U.S. Military base in Würzburg in 1956
  • Oskar Dirlewanger
    Oskar Dirlewanger
    Oskar Paul Dirlewanger was a World War II officer of the SS who commanded the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, a penal battalion composed of German criminals...

    , war criminal and S.S. leader of the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger
    SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger
    The 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, better known as the SS-Sturmbrigade "Dirlewanger" , was an infamous military unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Originally formed for anti-partisan duties against the Polish resistance, it eventually saw action against the Soviet Red Army near...

    .
  • Björn Emmerling
    Björn Emmerling
    Björn Emmerling is a field hockey player from Germany, who plays for Hanauer THC in his native country. The defender made his international senior debut for the German team in 1996, and competed at three Summer Olympics. HE retired from international play after the 11th World Cup, in Germany in...

  • Leonhard Frank
    Leonhard Frank
    Leonhard Frank was a German expressionist writer. He studied painting and graphic art in Munich, and gained acclaim with his first novel, The Robber Band...

    , expressionist writer
  • Werner Heisenberg
    Werner Heisenberg
    Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...

    , (1901–76) theoretical physicist
    Theoretical physics
    Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...

    , best known for asserting the uncertainty principle
    Uncertainty principle
    In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle, such as position and momentum, can be simultaneously known...

     of quantum theory
    Quantum mechanics
    Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...

  • Alexander von Howart, war criminal, known as the butcher of Dachau
  • Alfred Jodl
    Alfred Jodl
    Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...

    , general during World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

  • Cage Kennylz
    Cage Kennylz
    Chris Palko, better known by his stage name Cage, is an American rapper from New York City. He has released three studio albums and two extended plays. Cage is also the founder of the underground hip-hop supergroup called the Weathermen.-Early life:...

    , American hip-hop artist
  • Waltraud Meier
    Waltraud Meier
    Waltraud Meier is a Grammy Award–winning German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen and Santuzza...

    , opera singer
  • Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
    Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
    Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn was a Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Echter was born in Mespelbrunn Castle, Spessart and died in Würzburg....

     (1545–1617), long-serving Prince-Bishop of Würzburg and leader Counter Reformation
  • Johann Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753), military engineer and architect
    Architect
    An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

  • Dirk Nowitzki
    Dirk Nowitzki
    Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association...

    , NBA Champion, currently playing for the Dallas Mavericks
    Dallas Mavericks
    The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

  • Shane Primm
    Shane Primm
    Shane Christopher Primm is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He was a cast member of Spike's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.-Biography:...

    , Mixed martial arts
    Mixed martial arts
    Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

     fighter
  • Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider
    Tilman Riemenschneider was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master in stone and limewood.- Biography :Tilman Riemenschneider was born between 1459...

    , artist (c. 1460–1531)
  • Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
    Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
    Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901....

    , who discovered X-ray
    X-ray
    X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

    s
  • Philipp Franz von Siebold
    Philipp Franz von Siebold
    Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician and traveller. He was the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan...

    , among the first Westerners to visit and work in Japan

Historic population figures

Year Population
1200 5,000
1787 18,070
1900 84,335
1939 112,997
1950 86,564
1961 126,093
1970 128,547
1987 123,378
2002 131,582
2004 133,539
2006 134,913
2010 132,690


Twin towns

Würzburg maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with: Faribault
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...

, U.S., since 1949 Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

, Scotland, since 1962 Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

, France, since 1962 Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, U.S., since 1966 Mwanza
Mwanza
Mwanza is a mid-sized port city on the southern shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania. With an urban population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan population of 2 million, it is Tanzania's second largest city, following Dar es Salaam and ahead of other major Tanzanian cities of Arusha,...

, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, since 1966 Otsu
Otsu, Shiga
is the capital city of Shiga, Japan. The city was founded on October 1, 1898. As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 338,629 with an average age of 40.7 years and a population density of 905.28 persons per km²...

, Japan, since 1979 Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

, Spain, since 1980 Suhl
Suhl
- Geography :Suhl sits on the south edge of the Suhler Scholle, an upthrust granite complex that is streaked by numerous dikes. This is part of the Ruhla-Schleusingen Horst that defines the southwest side of the Thuringian Forest...

, Germany, since 1988 Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...

, Sweden, since 1992 Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

, Ireland, since 2000

Associated: With the Germans of the district Trautenau, Czech Republic since 1956

Partner: With the City of Arad
Arad, Romania
Arad is the capital city of Arad County, in western Romania, in the Crişana region, on the river Mureş.An important industrial center and transportation hub, Arad is also the seat of a Romanian Orthodox archbishop and features two universities, a Romanian Orthodox theological seminary, a training...

 in Western Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...


Cityscape


External links

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