Würzburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria

 Port number 4 of the Grand European Tour on the Viking Skirnir, November, 2014

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Although Würzburg is a city of 130,000, we only went to the Würzburger Residenz (Würzburg Residence).

From Wikipedia: The Prince-Bishops of Würzburg resided in the Marienberg Fortress on a hill west of the Main river until the early 18th century. Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1719–24) moved the court to a palace erected in 1701–4, the predecessor of the Residence. However, the rather small palace did not, in his opinion, measure up to his position as an absolute monarch – he was looking for something comparable to the Palace of Versailles or Schönbrunn Palace.[1]: 52  Having won a sum of 600,000 florins (a fortune at the time) in a court case in the year of his accession, he used the funds to undertake a building project that would proclaim his political standing to all.

A portion of the Residence as seen from the back garden

Detail from one of the over 300 rooms

Quite frankly, I found the scale and design of the place pretty overwhelming--so many wings, so Baroque, largest fresco, etc. Yes, we saw the bedroom where Napoleon once slept--he reportedly called the place "the largest parsonage in Europe." I just couldn't help thinking my socialist thoughts about how much money was spent basically to satisfy the pride and arrogance of a single man, the Prince-Bishop--money that could have helped the people who lived nearby. 

When I am overwhelmed, I often focus on small details. That is my excuse for this final photograph in the Residence. found inside the modern public restrooms.