Wurzburg, Germany's Franken Wine Capital

A terrace garden at Festung Marienberg is an ideal platform from which to view the Stein vineyards in the background. Photo by Toni Dabbs

North Americans who want to visit German wine country usually head straight for the Rhine. Rieslings produced along that river's picturesque banks west of Frankfurt are familiar because they are readily available in the United States and Canada.

However, southeast of Frankfurt, a different river, the Main, wends through another beautiful wine region, Franken. The Franken region’s Muller-Thurgaus, Silvaners and other wines, considered by many Germans to be their country's best, are not well known to North Americans; almost all Franken wine is purchased in Germany, so little is available for export.

Wurzburg, the old Franken capital, is the region's center of wine production and marketing. From the 10^th century on, wealthy and powerful prince-bishops, who created the city as it stands today, ruled Wurzburg. The city was bombed only once in WWII in a raid that although it lasted only 20 minutes devastated 87% of the city. Over the years since, the city’s buildings have been largely restored.

One prominent complex still undergoing restoration is the Residenz, the former palace of the prince-bishops, built between 1720 and 1744. It is considered the most important secular Baroque-style structure in Germany. The palace suffered serious damage in 1945, but fortunately its furnishings were almost completely preserved. As rooms are returned to their original grandeur, they are opened for public viewing, as are the extensive gardens.

Candles on casks light the way to the tasting area in the vaulted wine cellar beneath the Residenz. Photo by Toni Dabbs

The Residenz operates its own winery, where tastings are held. A press cellar beneath one wing and a vast cask cellar beneath another are connected by a tunnel running under a courtyard, so workers can move wines from one cellar to the other without taking them to the surface. The Treasury, an archive of special wines, was begun in 1950 to resume a collection lost during the war.

Another Wurzburg landmark is Juliusspital. The third-largest wine estate in Germany, it has funded an adjacent hospital since it was founded in 1576. The 250 meters (820 feet) of vaulted cellars beneath its historic buildings are lined with 230 huge wooden barrels, some decorated with elaborate carvings and some more than a century old.

Dramatic views of the city are available from Festung Marienberg, a fortress complex atop a hill on the opposite side of the river. The vineyard covered slopes of Schlossberg and Steinberg hang like a curtain behind it. The complex, formed in 1201, housed the prince-bishops before the Residenz was built. Within its medieval walls is its namesake St. Mary's Church, dating from 706.

Marienberg's principal castle building now contains a restaurant with dining terraces overlooking its formal gardens. The armoury, added between 1702 and 1712, has become a museum exhibiting antique grape presses and other artifacts from the region's wine making history.

Of course, there is more to Wurzburg than wine. The prince-bishops were great patrons of the arts, and their legacy includes some beautiful fountains, monuments, churches and civic buildings. Among structures bordering the lively market square are Haus zum Falken, richly adorned with Rococo stucco work dating from 1752, and Marienkapelle, a Gothic hall-church begun in 1377. The market square is a pleasant place to people-watch while relaxing with a drink or to search for souvenirs among the vendors' stalls. Serious shoppers will want to visit the surrounding stores as well as shops along nearby Schonbornstrasse.

An old university town, Wurzburg invites walking, although buses and streetcars offer convenient public transportation. The city annually hosts several festivals that focus on music as well as wine. The Residenz is the natural setting for the Baroque Festival in May, with an evening of great music accompanied by dinner and selected Franken wines. It is also the site of the Mozart Festival in June. A jazz festival takes place throughout the city in November.

Dedicated wine celebrations include the Wurzburg Wine Village, late May to early June, during which Franken food specialties and wines are served in 40 quaint cottages around the city, and the Wurzburg Wine Festival in September, a traditional event staged in a huge tent alongside the river.