Würzburg Residence

Würzburg Residence

A palace of the prince-bishops

In the Bavarian city of Würzburg stands one of the most magnificent baroque palaces in all of Europe: the Würzburg Residence. It was built not for a king but for the prince-bishops of Würzburg — powerful churchmen who, like princes, ruled their own state within the Holy Roman Empire. Their great palace, built between 1720 and 1744, was meant to display their wealth and power in the grandest possible style.

A masterpiece of the baroque

The Residence was designed mainly by the brilliant young architect Balthasar Neumann, one of the greatest builders of the baroque age. He created a palace of perfect balance and splendour, with grand state rooms, a glittering hall called the Imperial Hall, and a beautiful court chapel.

The palace's most famous feature is its enormous staircase. Neumann roofed this great open stairwell with a single vast vault, with no supporting columns — a daring feat of engineering that doubters said would collapse. It never has, standing firm for nearly three hundred years, even through the bombing of the Second World War.

The largest ceiling fresco in the world

Above that great staircase spreads the largest ceiling fresco in the world, painted by the Venetian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The huge painting represents the four known continents of the time — Europe, Asia, Africa and America — in a riot of colour, figures and light, with the prince-bishop himself honoured among them.

As visitors climb the staircase, the painted heavens seem to open above them — one of the most breathtaking sights in any palace in Europe.

War and rescue

In 1945, near the end of the Second World War, Würzburg was devastated by bombing, and the Residence was severely damaged and burned. Remarkably, Neumann's great vault over the staircase survived, protecting Tiepolo's fresco beneath it.

After the war, the palace was painstakingly restored over many years, and today it shines once more. It is protected by UNESCO as one of the great masterpieces of European baroque architecture.

Gardens and grandeur

Behind the palace lie beautiful baroque gardens, the Court Garden, with terraces, hedges, statues and flowers laid out in the formal style of the age. They make a lovely setting for the grand palace and a peaceful place to stroll.

Visiting today

Visitors can climb the famous staircase beneath Tiepolo's enormous fresco, tour the glittering state rooms and the Imperial Hall, visit the court chapel, and wander the baroque gardens. Displays tell the story of the prince-bishops and the palace's destruction and rebirth. Magnificent, daring and crowned by the world's largest fresco, the Würzburg Residence is one of the supreme achievements of the baroque age.