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WURZBURG

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 860 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WURZBURG , a university See also:

town and episcopal see of See also:Bavaria, See also:Germany, See also:capital of the See also:province of See also:Lower See also:Franconia, situated on the See also:Main, 6o m. by See also:rail S.E. from See also:Frankfort and at the junction of main lines to See also:Bamberg and See also:Nuremberg. Pop. (1905) 80,220. An See also:ancient See also:stone See also:bridge (1474-1607), 650 ft. See also:long and adorned with statues of See also:saints, and two See also:modern See also:bridges, the Luitpold (1887) and the See also:Ludwig (1894), connect the two parts of the town on each See also:side of the See also:river. On the lofty Leistenberg stands the fortress of See also:Marienberg, which from 1261 to 1720 was the See also:residence of the bishops. The main See also:part of the town, on the right See also:bank, is surrounded by shady promenades, the Ringstrasse and the See also:quay. Wurzburg is- quaintly and irregularly built; many of the houses are interesting specimens of See also:medieval See also:architecture; and the numerous old churches recall the fact that it was long the capital of an ecclesiastical principality. The See also:principal See also:church is the imposing Rdmanesque See also:cathedral, a See also:basilica with transepts, begun in 1042 and consecrated in 1189. The four towers, how-ever, date from 1240, the (See also:rococo) See also:facade from 1711-1719, and the See also:dome from 1731. The spacious transepts terminate in apses. The exterior was restored in 1882-1883. The beautiful Marienkapelle, a See also:Gothic edifice of 1317-1441, was restored in 1856; it is embellished with twenty statues by Tilman Riemenschneider (d.

1531). The Haugerstifts church, with two towers and a lofty dome, was built in the See also:

Italian See also:Renaissance See also:style in 1670-1691. The bones of St See also:Kilian, the See also:patron See also:saint of Wurzburg, are preserved in the See also:Neumunster church, which See also:dates from the 11th See also:century; See also:Walther von der Vogelweide is buried in the adjoining cloisters. The church of St Burkhard is externally one of the best-preserved architectural monuments in the See also:city. It was built in 1033-1042, in the Romanesque style, and was restored in 1168. The See also:Late Gothic See also:choir dates from 1494-1497. The Neubaukirche, or university church, curiously unites a Gothic exterior with a Classical interior. The See also:Protestant church of St See also:Stephen (1782-1789) originally belonged to a See also:Benedictine See also:abbey. Of the See also:secular buildings in Wurzburg the most conspicuous is the See also:palace, a huge and magnificent edifice built in 1720-1744 in See also:imitation of See also:Versailles, and formerly the residence of the bishops and See also:grand-See also:dukes of Wurzburg. The See also:Julius See also:hospital, a large and richly endowed institution affording See also:food and lodging to 600 persons daily, was founded in 1576 by See also:Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn (1545-1619). In 1906 it was See also:WURZEN arranged to convert this into a residential See also:college for students, the hospital being removed to a site outside the town. The See also:quaint town See also:hall dates in part from 1456.

Among the other See also:

chief buildings are the See also:government offices, the See also:law courts, the See also:theatre, the Maxschule, the See also:observatory and the various university buildings. A university was founded at Wurzburg in 1403, but it only existed for a few years. The See also:present university was founded by Bishop Julius in 1582. The medical See also:faculty speedily became famous, and has remained the most important faculty in Wurzburg ever since. Here W. K. See also:Rontgen discovered the " Rontgen rays " in 1896. Wurzburg was long the stronghold of Jesuitism in Germany, and the See also:Roman See also:Catholic theological faculty still attracts a large number of students. The university has a library containing 300,000 volumes, and is attended by about 1400 students. In no other university city of Germany has so much of the medieval See also:academic See also:life been preserved. Wurzburg is surrounded by vineyards, which yield some of the best See also:wine in Germany. Its principal See also:industries are the manufacture of See also:tobacco, See also:furniture, machinery, scientific See also:instruments and railway carriages.

It has also breweries, and produces bricks, See also:

vinegar, See also:malt and See also:chocolate. The site of the Leistenberg was occupied by a Roman fort, and was probably fortified See also:early in the 13th century. Wircebirgum is the old Latin See also:form of the name of the town; Herbipolis (See also:herb town) first appears in the 12th century. The bishopric was probably founded in 741, but the town appears to have existed in the previous century. The first bishop was St Burkhard, and his successors soon acquired much temporal See also:power; about the 12th century they had ducal authority' in Eastern Franconia. It is not surprising that quarrels See also:broke out between the bishops and the citizens, and the latter espoused the cause of the See also:emperor See also:Henry IV., while the former joined the emperor's foes. The struggle continued intermittently until 1400, when the citizens were decisively defeated and submitted. Several imperial diets were held in Wurzburg, chief among these being the one of 118o when Henry the See also:Lion, See also:duke of See also:Saxony, was placed under the See also:ban. By the See also:peace of See also:Luneville the bishopric was secularized, and in 1803 Wurzburg passed to Bavaria. The peace of See also:Pressburg in 1805 transferred it, under the name of an electorate, to See also:Ferdinand, formerly grand-duke of See also:Tuscany, who joined the See also:confederation of the See also:Rhine and tack the See also:title of grand-duke of Wurzburg. In 1815 the See also:congress of See also:Vienna restored Wurzburg to Bavaria. The Wurzburg See also:Conference is the name given to the See also:meeting of representatives of the smaller See also:German states in 1859 to devise some means of mutual support.

The conference, however, had no result. Wurzburg was bombarded and taken by the Prussians in 1866, in which See also:

year it ceased to be a fortress. The bishopric of Wurzburg at one See also:time embraced an See also:area of about 1900 sq. m. and had about 250,000 inhabitants. A new bishopric of Wurzburg was created in 1817. For the town see S. GSbl, Wurzburg, Ein kulturhistorisches Stadtebild (Wurzburg, 1896) ; J. Gramich, Verfassung and Verwallung der Stadt Wurzburg (Wurzburg, 1882) ; M. Cronthal, See also:Die Strait Wurzburg See also:im Bauernkriege (Wurzburg, 1887) ; Heffner, Wurzburg and See also:seine Umgebungen (Wurzburg, 1871) ; See also:Beckmann, Fiihrer durch Wurzburg (1906) ; and Hollander and Hessler, Malerisches aus Alt-Wurzburg (Wurzburg, 1898). For the university see F. X. von Wegele, Geschichte der Universitat Wurzburg (Wurzburg, 1882). For the bishopric see J. See also:Hofmann, Die Heiligen und Seligen See also:des Bistums Wurzburg (Wiirzbur , 1889) ; F.

J. B. Stamminger and A. Amrhein, Franconia sacra. Geschichte des Bistums Wurzburg (Wurzburg, 1889-1901); and T. See also:

Henner, Die herzogliche Gewalt der Bischofe von Wurzburg (Wurzburg, 1874).

End of Article: WURZBURG

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