.jpg)
"Strap the dog into his backpack and lets get going. Its day four of our trip in Germany and we have a big day ahead of us. Today we are headed east from Rudesheim to Germany's Romantic Road. The first stop along the route is Wurzburg!"
.jpg)
The concept of the Romantic Road is kind of interesting. It's based loosely on an old Roman trade route that once connected the city of Wurzburg to the town of Fussen located in the southern part of the country. The route passes through several traditional medieval towns along the way as well as the famous Neuschwanstein castle situated near the Austrian border.
What is interesting though is that despite its roots being based in tradition, the concept of the Romantic Road is actually a relatively new idea that was born in 1950 as a clever marketing campaign designed to increase tourism in the country after the war. The campaign appears to have worked quite well too, as the route is one of the most important tourist attractions in the country still to this day.
It might just be an idealized version of the country as a whole, but for us the Romantic Roadreally did live up to its name. We definitely got caught up in the traditional character of the area and I would easily say that it was everything we hoped for in our trip to Germany.
Wurzburg
.jpg)
The town of Wurzburg is located in the center of Germany between the cities of Frankfurt and Nuremberg. It is situated on both sides of the Main river, connected by an old stone bridge that dates back to 1473 called Alte Mainbrucke (or Old Main Bridge).
.jpg)
The bridge is pretty cool in and of itself and is one of the main attractions in town. It is lined with stone statues of various historical figures that as of late have been updated slightly to suit these modern times. During our visit there, each was wearing a yellow face mask as a sort of reminder to everyone in town to wear your mask and try to maintain the customary social distancing protocols.
.jpg)
One thing that was really cool was that bistro tables were set up beneath each statue as well. There people could order drinks from one of the restaurants located on either side of the bridge. There was no need to even go into the restaurant as patrons could order their drinks using their phone and a QR code that was taped to the table top. It was kind of ingenious actually.
.jpg)
To the west of the city center across the river Main is the Marienberg fortress. Its more modern construction dates back to the 16th and 18th centuries.
At one point in its history the building was the residence of the Bishop of Wurzberg but now it holds two Franconian museums.
.jpg)
The fortress sits on a large hill overlooking the river and city below. Walking up there is relatively easy and well worth the trip. At the top is a large terrace with some great views of Wurzberg, the Old Main Bridge and even some vineyards located in the surrounding area.
.jpg)
We walked around the fortress for a little while then went into its courtyard before heading back down the hill to the main city center. From there we went to the Wurzburg Residence which is a large palace style castle situated in the heart of the city.
Wurzburg Residence
.jpg)
The Wurzburg Residence is a German Baroque style palace that was built in 1720-1744 by the city's Prince Bishop at the time, Johann Philipp Franz von Shonborn. In order to complete this massive undertaking, Johann enlisted the help of his brother Friedrich Carl von Shonborn as well as a few other wealthy and influential individuals in the country at that time.
As far as palaces go this one is quite massive and has even been compared to the Chateau Versailles of France.
.jpg)
We had the dog with us this day and unfortunately he wasn't allowed in the palace. No big deal.
Instead we walked around the palace gardens which are open to the public, including dogs.
.jpg)
One of the first things that you see upon entering the garden is this large fountain surrounded by a well tailored garden and perfectly trimmed trees and hedges.
.jpg)
Within the gardens are two large statues portraying different Greek mythologies. One of the statues depicts the "Abduction of Proserpina" and the other the "Rape of Europa."
.jpg)
I'm not actually familiar with either of those legends and I do not know which statue is shown in the photo below. Sorry.
.jpg)
A short walk through the garden brings you to a tree covered path and just beyond that is a staircase that leads to the upper terrace.
.jpg)
The lower gardens are surrounded by a fortified wall that is decorated by a whole bunch of strange statues. Most of them were of naked babies that were wrestling with monsters and demons. They were quite odd to say the least.
.jpg)
Others looked like child-like figures dressed up like adults. Maybe those were the clothes that kids wore back then? I do like the hats.
.jpg)
It was mid afternoon by the time we finished our tour of the garden. It was a hot day and we were getting thirsty so from there we headed back into the main square for some much needed drinks.
.jpg)
As you can see the dog was exhausted by this point, even though he had been carried for the better part of the day. We sat down at a small cafe to let him nap while we ordered a few beverages.
.jpg)
My wife had wine and I ordered a beer and a raddler. I swear I'm not trying to be cool in the photo below. Ha.
I must say, the beers in Germany are quite massive compared to France and even Canada. I'm used to beer being served in 0.25cl or 0.5cl glasses, the normal sizes in both countries. In Germany though you can actually order a full litre of beer which comes in a missive glass mug.
During our trip I had this romanticized idea of what it would be like to drink one of those beers, kind of like the scene in Lord of the Rings when the hobbits go into the pub:
Pippin: "Whats that?"
Merry: "This is a pint."
Pippin: "It comes in pints! Well I want one too."
In the end I chickened out though and only ever ordered a 0.5cl beer.
.jpg)
After our drinks we headed back to the hotel to rest and get ready for dinner.
.jpg)
As you can see the dog had enough for one day and was completely content to sleep in the hotel room while we ate supper.
.jpg)
Note: In my last post I mentioned that I was on the hunt for a German cuckoo clock. Unfortunately we didn't see a single one in any of the stores we went into in Wurzburg and I got a bit worried that we weren't going to see anymore on our trip. I guess the hunt will have to continue at the next location.
That’s it for Wurzburg. The next stop on our trip was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Thanks for Reading
If you are interested in reading more about our trip I will be posting about it over the next few days. For the previous post click the link below.
You are in Frankonia right now. The cuckoo clock, however, is a product of the Blackforest region. No matter where you're looking for one, beware of cheesy Chinese "interpretations". Here are a few manufacturers of the genuine article:
Anton Schneider & Söhne, Schonach
Rombach & Haas, Schonach
Robert Herr, Schonach
Helmut Kammerer, Schonach
Hubert Herr, Triberg
Hönes GmbH, Titisee-Neustadt
August Schwer, Schönwald
Engstler e.G., Villingen
Be sure there is as much carved wood / wooden parts as possible on the clock; even those manufacturers use more or less plastic to satisfy the demand for cheap souvenirs. It might be a paying proposition to drive to Schonach and talk to these people live. Then on to Freiburg and home via Strasbourg.
Schonach is also home to the "1st Original World's Largest Cuckoo Clock":
https://blog.deutsches-uhrenmuseum.de/2017/07/05/weltgroesste-kuckucksuhren/
As luck would have it, there is a "Uhrenstraße" ("Road of the Clocks") to follow :-)
In any event, bring cash, lots of cash.
You know, you're giving away some of the information thats coming up in my next articles... ;) hahahaha. No worries though, I appreciate the info.
Yeah, luckily I did some research before the trip. There were soooo many clocks in some of the towns and I noticed some vendors trying to be tricky with their signs to convince buyers of things that they aren't. Mimicking certain seals and certificates. I wasn't aware of the road of clocks or the largest cuckoo clock. That sounds very interesting. I'll check out that blog.
:-) Here is a searchable site with prices in English. You can search by manufacturer:
https://www.cuckoopalace.com/Carved-Cuckoo-Clocks:::35.html
Oh great, thanks. I looked at the article of the giant clocks. That's really cool. Their basically houses lol.
I am enjoying reading about your travels. To be honest, I am not familiar with the Romantic Road at all, but it does live up to its name. I am getting to know Germany even more since it's a country I have barely visited. The fondest memory I had of Germany was drinking large pints in a beer garden. I also encountered similar pint sizes in Austria. You have a knack for choosing beautiful sites to visit.
We didn't travel the entire romantic road but what we did see was very nice. I would recommend it for sure. And yes the beers are crazy big! Its crazy seeing a little old lady drinking 1L of beer in a mug. I saw that a few times and was impressed. I was ashamed that they were better beer drinkers than I am lolol.
The vineyard right outside the gates of the fortress, now that is a nice touch!
Cities with water running through the heart appeal to me and I assume the Main river could also have been a part of the romantic 'road' in the past.
Yes, I agree on both accounts. You might be right about the river being connected to the original trade route as well. That would make sense for sure. I'm sure a lot of goods were moved by boat.
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know every user has their own profile map?
And so does every post as well!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Congratulations @leaky20! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP