This week started out as usual. Wednesday, Matt and I went to Indoor Golfing Stuttgart with one of his golf friends. The indoor golf place is also a wine importer and bar so at least there were drinks for me while I watched the (bad) golfing.
Friday, we got a surprise visitor! My sister has been wanting to visit and decided on Tuesday she would come on Friday! We picked her up bright and early from the airport and got her settled in. We went to lunch at Brauhaus and then caught up with the kids.
When Ryan walked in and saw Alli, he just said “oh, hi.” LOL. Brooklyn was super surprised though and you could see the shock on her face.
Sunday we got up early and made the two hour drive to Würzburg. Matt has been several times during his car-buying process and even did some sight-seeing with Megan and Pat, but for the rest of us, it was the first time.
We started at the Würzburg Residenz, a baroque palace built in the 1700s for the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg.
The inside, with its frescoes, carvings, gilding, and mirrors, was incredibly ornate. I would even say it was more ornately decorated and beautiful than the Palace of Versailles; just not as big.
As we toured the open rooms, some of them showed pictures of the damage inflicted during World War II. I had not known this previously, but the palace, as well as the city, were heavily bombed towards the end of the war. A final exhibit in the palace talked about the damage sustained during the war and the restoration process. Restoration on the main parts of the palace was not completed until 1987; with the final rooms being completed in just 2016.
After we toured the palace, we walked around the exterior’s baroque gardens.
After the Palace, we walked around town. It was market day, and a beautiful weather day, so lots of people were out and about.
We walked over to the Alte Mainbrücke, or ‘Old Main Bridge’ and got some pictures and then found lunch at a really good Italian restaurant.
Our final stop of the day was the Marienburg Fortress, which overlooks Würzburg from a high hill. We walked the ramparts to see the views of Würzburg and then walked around the inside of the castle walls.
Driving back home, I did some more research (Google 🤪) on the bombing of Würzburg. Almost the entire city center was bombed in a period of 17 minutes during the night of March 16, 1945. Residents did not have much warning to get out. A low grade alarm went off at 7pm, but most did not take heed until the full alarm at 9:07pm, only 18 minutes before the bombs started dropping. The allied forces first dropped bombs that would blow out windows and destroy roofs in order to increase damage done by fire. A second round of bombers dropped incendiary bombs that essentially razed the city to the ground in a firestorm. Over 5000 people were killed and the medieval city destroyed, all in 17 minutes.
Würzburg was chosen because of its use as a transportation hub, but also because it had a dense, half-timbered medieval city that they knew would burn quickly. Sadly, it was also chosen because the loss of Würzburg would hurt the German spirit. Many Germans, and not just the residents of the city, would feel an emotional loss with the destruction of the city. I think a parallel example would be if an aggressor targeted Boston or Williamsburg and how Americans would feel at the destruction of these historical places. All I can say is it made me so sad. So much life lost, and so much history gone. In war, all parties suffer great losses.
Sunday, we headed to the Bodensee, aka Lake Konstanz. There are many towns and villages along the lake that are worth a visit and this time we were heading to Meersburg, about half way down the lake on the German side.
It was so windy and cold, but luckily, the sun made a brief appearance. After we arrived, we walked along the breakwater and tried to not get blown away. We decided it was close enough to lunch time to stop and eat and warm up. We ate at {another} good Italian restaurant.
We walked around the town, which was mostly empty due to it being Sunday, and everything was closed. This was actually awesome because we didn’t have to wait in any lines or move through crowds, and were able to see everything pretty quickly.
Luckily, the town’s castle was open so we were able to take a tour. Apparently, it is Germany’s oldest inhabited castle and dates back to sometime between the 600s to the 700s; no, that’s not a typo. It was enjoyed the most by Ryan since there were a ton of medieval weapons on display and he was able to run back and forth calling out the names of each one (thank you Auntie Alli for making this fun for him.)
Afterwards, we headed home for a nap! We definitely wore out poor Alli (and ourselves) as soon as she arrived!
Gilcrests Abroad 