Wurzburg (better: Würzburg), centrally situated in Germany, is surrounded by the forested hills of the Spessart, Rhön and Steigerwald. The city straddles the River Main some 60 km north of Rothenburg and is situated about 110km north west of...

Wurzburg (better: Würzburg), centrally situated in Germany, is surrounded by the forested hills of the Spessart, Rhön and Steigerwald. The city straddles the River Main some 60 km north of Rothenburg and is situated about 110km north west of Nuremberg. Wuerzburg is Bavaria's fourth largest metropolis and the capital of Lower Franconia. Its 88 square kilometers are home to about 126.000 people.

The Main-Franconian region lies in a basin below the wooded mountains of the Spessart which guarantees a mild climate and makes it possible to cultivate wine grapes even at this latitude. The high proportion of open land to industrialized area makes for clean air, peace and quiet. There is a network of footpaths as well as extensive bike paths throughout the region, all well-marked and clearly shown on local maps.

During the night of March 16, 1945 Wurzburg got the same treatment from Allied bombers that Nuremberg had received two month before. Huge parts of the city, amongst them some priceless historical monuments, were destroyed completely. Today Wurzburg is one of the main tourist attractions of Franconia due to its world famous Residenz palace, its strong connection to the German Road 899 and last but not least its wine.

The Wuerzburg cultural scene encompasses the classics and the avant garde, a fondness for local traditions and an openness to the world. Popular events such as the Mozart Festival, a world-class festival of classical music or the Africa Festival, one of Europe's major festivals of African music, attract hundreds of thousands visitors every year.

There are 600 classical concerts annually and countless performances of modern music in clubs, bistros and arenas. The culture, as well as the daily life, of the past - from the greatest of German sculptors, Tilmann Riemenschneider, back over 3000 years to classical antiquity and the ancient Egyptians - is on view at the Museum of Main-Franconia in the Marienburg Fortress and in the small but extraordinary collection of the Martin Wagner Museum , located in Würzburg's splendid archepiscopal Residence, the world-famous masterpiece of the great baroque architect Balthasar Neumann, considered by many to be the greatest baroque palace in Europe.

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