The Würzburg Residence (German: Würzburger Residenz) is a palace located in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, who were known for the Austrian/Southern German Baroque style, helped build the palace. Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand, who followed the French style, also contributed to its construction. Balthasar Neumann, the court architect of the Bishop of Würzburg, was the main architect of the Residence. The palace was built by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn, and his brother, Friedrich Carl von Schönborn, in 1720. It was completed in 1744. The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, along with his son Domenico, painted frescoes inside the building.
Important rooms inside the Residence, such as the grand staircase, the chapel, and the Imperial Hall, are considered masterpieces of Baroque/Rococo or Neoclassical architecture and art. The building was called the "largest parsonage in Europe" by Napoleon. It was badly damaged during World War II by British bombing. Restoration work has been happening since 1945. Since 1981, the Residence has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture.
History
The Prince-Bishops of Würzburg lived in the Marienberg Fortress on a hill west of the Main River until the early 1700s. Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1719–1724) moved the court to a palace built between 1701 and 1704, which was the earlier version of the Residence. However, he believed the small palace did not reflect his status as an absolute monarch. He wanted a palace similar to the Palace of Versailles or Schönbrunn Palace. After winning 600,000 florins (a large amount of money at the time) in a court case, he used the money to build a palace that would show his power.
He was supported by two relatives: his uncle, Lothar Franz von Schönborn, the Archbishop of Mainz and Elector of Mainz, who said he had a "building bug" (a strong interest in construction), and his brother, Friedrich Carl von Schönborn, who was the Imperial Vice-Chancellor in Vienna from 1704 to 1734. Both provided ideas and artists from their networks. Friedrich Carl met Hildebrandt in Vienna during the construction of the Belvedere. The foundation stone was laid on May 22, 1720. Construction began with the northern block.
Johann Philipp Franz’s successor, Prince-Bishop Christoph Franz von Hutten (1724–1729), had little interest in building a large palace. He only wanted the northern block completed. This part was finished in the year of his death. All other construction work stopped.
In 1730, under Prince-Bishop Friedrich Carl von Schönborn (1729–1746), work on the southern block began again. Between 1732 and 1733, the front of the Cour d’honneur was completed. From 1735 onward, the central building was constructed with the help of Lucas von Hildebrandt. In 1737, the main staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann was built. The garden front was completed in 1740, and the entire structure was finished in December 1744. Neumann worked mainly on the town front, while Hildebrandt focused on the garden side. The four interior courts in the side wings were an idea from von Welsch.
The vaulted ceilings of the Emperor’s Hall and the White Hall were completed in 1742, and the vault over the staircase in 1743. At the same time, the Court Chapel was decorated and consecrated in 1743. Between 1740 and 1745, the southern Kaiserzimmer (Imperial Apartments) and the Mirror Cabinet were decorated by artists including Ferdinand Hundt, Johann Wolfgang van der Auvera, Antonio Giuseppe Bossi, and Johann Rudolf Byss. Bossi also created the stucco work in the White Hall between 1744 and 1745.
Under Prince-Bishop Anselm Franz von Ingelheim (1746–1749), all construction work on the Residence stopped again. After his death, Karl Philipp von Greifenclau zu Vollraths (1749–1754) became Prince-Bishop and ordered construction to resume. In 1750, Antonio Bossi completed the stucco work in the Garden Hall, and the painting was finished the next year. In 1750, a merchant from Venice, Lorenz Jakob Mehling, sent Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, the most famous fresco painter of his time, to the Residence after Giuseppe Visconti failed. Tiepolo, with his sons, decorated the Imperial Hall and the ceiling above the staircase in the early 1750s. The large staircase has the world’s largest continuous ceiling fresco, painted by Tiepolo and his sons between 1752 and 1753. In 1753, Balthasar Neumann died.
Under Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim (1755–1779), Materno and Ludovico Bossi created stucco work on the staircase and in the first and second guest rooms of the northern Kaiserzimmer between 1769 and 1772. At the same time, the Green Lacquered Room and the Neoclassical Fürstensaal (Princes’ Hall) were completed. From 1776 to 1781, the Ingelheimer Räume (Ingelheim Rooms) were decorated, including stucco work by Materno Bossi.
The total cost of the construction was over 1.5 million guilders, a time when a day laborer earned one guilder per week.
The episcopal principality of Würzburg was abolished in 1802–1803. An eight-year period without a ruler followed, during which Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany (1806–1814) ordered the south block, called the Toskanaräume (Tuscany Rooms), to be decorated in the Empire style. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte stayed at the Residence three times between 1806 and 1813. In 1806, he signed a declaration of war against Prussia in the Residence. A Neoclassical double bed and bedside tables were installed for him and his wife Marie Louise in 1812.
In 1814, Würzburg became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The wrought-iron gates across the Cour d’honneur, which had separated the inner area from the large Residence Square, were removed in 1821. Today, the Frankoniabrunnen (fountain) created by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger stands in their place. It was unveiled in 1894 as a tribute to Prince Regent Luitpold, who was born in the Würzburg Residence in 1
Description
The Residence was built on a base that is 92 meters wide and 167 meters long. The main structure includes a central wing with two side wings, the north and south blocks, each with two interior courts. On the town side, the side wings extend 55 meters from the main structure, partially enclosing the Cour d'honneur. Beneath the mansard roof, there is a cornice decorated with vases and trophies. The façade around the main portal in the Cour d'honneur is especially decorated. It does not have a lower mezzanine floor (see below) but includes a large balcony above the three portals accessible from the Weisser Saal (White Hall). Above the entrance, a large coat-of-arms of Friedrich Carl von Schönborn is located. The Hofkirche (court chapel) is fully built into the western part of the southern wing and is hard to distinguish from the outside.
Originally, the Cour d'honneur was surrounded by a wrought iron enclosure. This masterpiece of ironwork by Joh. Georg Oegg was demolished in 1821 and sold at auction because a member of the King of Bavaria’s family disliked it.
The outdoor square in front of the Residence today measures about 200 meters by 100 meters and is mostly used for parking. The monumental Frankoniabrunnen fountain from 1894 is located in the square.
The Residence has four floors, including a high-ceiling ground and upper floor with a mezzanine floor above each. These floors helped make the façade more lively and provided space for servants’ quarters, kitchens, and administrative offices.
The Residence has almost 400 rooms.
In the Baroque style, the staircase became an important part of the formal reception room. The staircase of the Würzburg Residence spans its vault, an area of 18 meters by 32 meters, without pillars. Beneath an unsupported trough vault, a construction masterpiece with a maximum height of 23 meters.
The lowest part of the staircase leads away from the reception hall toward a blank wall and then splits into two stairs that double back. This allowed the host on the upper landing to see visitors first, who initially walked away from him. When the guests turned and approached, the large ceiling fresco above became more visible.
This fresco, the largest in the world, was created from 1750 to 1753 by Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It shows paintings of the four continents: Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Each continent is represented by a typical landscape and animals (or the painter’s vision of these animals) and a female allegorical figure. Europe holds a sceptre, is symbolized by a bull, and has a boy playing with a cannon. America includes natives with feathers, who practice cannibalism of prisoners, and a crocodile. Asia includes a tiger and elephant, with crosses of Golgotha visible in the background. Africa includes a camel and a caravan of turbanned Magi. Tiepolo was helped by his son Giandomenico and the stuccoist Antonio Bossi. The fresco also shows Tiepolo himself (in the southwest corner) and Neumann, in the center of the southern front, leaning on a cannon.
Before creating the large fresco, Tiepolo sketched a smaller version of the work. This sketch is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Court architect Balthasar Neumann had to address concerns about the dangers of such a large vault. Unlike the vault, which is decorated in the Baroque style, the stairs and walls have very little decoration. The rest of the staircase is already decorated in the Neoclassical style.
Neumann originally planned to add a second staircase on the other side of the White Hall, but the Prince-Bishop’s advisers rejected the idea due to the high cost.
The staircase was shown on the back of the final version of 50 Deutsche Mark banknotes, which had Neumann’s image on the front.
The Weisser Saal, or White Hall, in the Rococo style was the audience chamber and is dominated by the stucco decorations of Antonio Bossi. The white stucco work on a light gray background includes many rocailles and images of real items, especially military ones.
The lack of gold and color allows the eye to rest between the splendor of the staircase and the Kaisersaal beyond. Five crystal chandeliers were used to light the room.
This hall opens to the east from the White Hall and is located in the center of the garden front. It was used to receive visiting dignitaries, including future Emperors on their journey to Frankfurt and on their return to Vienna. It was created from 1749 to 1751 at great cost.
The walls of the Imperial Hall consist of stucco marble in shades of red, white, and yellow. The dome is painted white and decorated with golden stucco and frescoes by Tiepolo, showing an idealized history of the diocese of Würzburg. One painting shows the marriage of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and Countess Beatrix of Burgundy, consecrated by Gerold, Bishop of Würzburg. Another shows Frederick II appointing the Bishop of Würzburg Duke of Franconia. On top of the dome, a painting shows the Brautfahrt: Apollo in the sun chariot leads the bride Beatrix, surrounded by Venus, Ceres, and Bacchus, toward Emperor Frederick II, who is accompanied by the Bishop of Würzburg.
Giovanni’s son Domenico created the supraportes: Emperor Justinian I publishes the Corpus Juris Civilis, Emperor Constantine the Great orders the execution of Gallus, and Ambrose denies access to the church to Emperor Theodosius I. Bossi’s figures show Poseidon and Juno, as well as Flora and Apollo.
When all the doors between these halls are opened, they create an enfilade stretching along the garden front for a total of
Today
The gardens and rooms mentioned earlier are available for public visitation. A special room is devoted to remembering the damage the Residence suffered in March 1945. This room also honors Major John Davis Skilton, a "Monuments man" from the U.S. Army who played a key role in protecting many valuable artworks after arriving in Würzburg in June 1945.
Most of the remaining areas of the Residence are used by the Martin von Wagner Museum, which was moved to this location in 1963, and by groups associated with the University of Würzburg.
Some scenes from the 2011 movie The Three Musketeers were filmed at the Würzburg Residence.
- The orangery