I was down to the last two days of my trip but there was still time to squeeze in a bit more, despite the lengthy journey needed to get home. Southern Germany is a long way from the UK, even when the high-speed rail is working. However for now I was staying in Bavaria as I travelled on to Würzburg in the very north western part of the state. I had one final friend to visit and one final chance to extensively practice speaking German in person, not an opportunity I could miss. Not to mention it’s always handy to have a local guide to show you around somewhere you’ve never been before. Though I was glad this train journey was relatively short and for once without any issues.

Würzburg is not a city I knew much about when I first arrived. All I knew was that it is now a popular university city (my friend Sarah having studied here herself) but as I found out there is a great deal of history, although not all of it is good. The bombings of Dresden at the end of the Second World War are infamous the world over but that is often the extent of most peoples’ knowledge of the allied bombing raids on Germany. So when we walked around a small museum exhibit I was shocked to find out that Würzburg had been one of the last major cities to be bombed, after Dresden, and had actually suffered even more damage. Ninety percent of the city was destroyed in just seventeen minutes. Thankfully in comparison to Dresden, far fewer lives were lost. What makes it all the more remarkable is that you wouldn’t know it just from looking around. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of the local population that they managed to restore most of what was destroyed in the twenty years following the war. It once again made me stop and think about the Germany that was. Though it is of course easy to look back and lament the loss of a few buildings when you didn’t suffer through the human cost at the time.

There was no real plan for the day other than just to wander around and hang out. We started off walking through Ringpark which eventually led up to the Würzburg Residence, a grand Baroque palace that was once the home to the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg. Though we didn’t see all of it, perhaps unsurprisingly the highlight inside was the inner chapel. Southern Germany has always been strongly Catholic and the Catholics do love their ornate decorations. It also seems that Bavarian princes have a fondness for large scale building projects. This was far from the only church in the city, there was one on just about every street we walked down and that kept us occupied for most of the rest of the day.

Before spending the afternoon visiting as many churches as possible, most of which Sarah had never visited before either, we first had a fuel up for lunch (excellent pizza). Looking back I really should have taken photos of the church signs, as it took a lot of pouring over Google Maps to find the names of all the places we visited when I came to write this blog. Every church was different, some more modern than others, but there definitely seemed to be a recurring theme of whitewashed interiors. Something you very rarely see in the UK, though it certainly makes practical sense, as it lifts the light levels inside.

My favourite to visit was Würzburg Cathedral as it had crypts you could go down into, something rlse I enjoy doing. There’s always great history underground, whether you are looking at old foundations or the final resting place of important people to the church or cathedral. I was a little bit alarmed when I was back on the surface to see some graves marked with a skull and cross bones. I can’t quite remember why this is the case, but it definitely had nothing to do with piracy.

The last major stop on our tour of the city is a landmark you can’t miss no matter where you stand in Würzburg. Marienburg fortress sits overlooking the city on a nearby hill and was the home of the Prince-Bishops before the Residence was built in the eighteenth century. There are a few interesting buildings within the complex, including the inner court, but the real reason you come up here is for the panoramic views, made better by the fact we were here during golden hour. There was even a rainbow, though I don’t remember there being any rain. Looking out across the city I once again marvelled that almost everything I could see before me had been rebuilt from the ashes after the war. A fitting end to my time in Germany.

One big problem I’ve found with the cancellation of trains in Germany is that because the major inter-city trains run fewer per day than their equivalents back home in the UK, if one does get cancelled you can be stranded for hours. Looking at the schedule there were two trains that would get me back to Brussels in time for my Eurostar but after some consideration I decided the safe thing to do would be to get up extra early and take the first one. It was a gruelling nine-hour journey home and I didn’t fancy any extra surprises. My instincts proved to be right as the train I did get ran smoothly whereas the second train was cancelled. Had I opted for that one I’d have missed my connection back to the UK. Unreliable to the very last.

By getting the earlier train however I did now have a couple of hours spare in Brussels to see one final thing on my trip, the Cinquantenaire Arch. This is significant to me as I have a photo from more than a century ago of my great-grandfather posing with the monument in the background. The First World War had just ended and with all the other troops he was mobilising to complete the occupation of Germany following its surrender. It felt very special to stand on the very spot he once stood on.

It was all a bit of a rush to get across the city and back before my train to London, though thankfully I could leave all the heavy stuff in a locker. I did manage a quick look at the European Parliament building and in the distance I could see the towering spire of Brussels Town Hall, but I had no chance to get anywhere near it with the time I had. What makes Brussels extra confusing to navigate is that train stations have both a French and a Flemish name, and the one important to me has contradictory names. In French it is Bruxelles-Midi and in Flemish it is Brussel Zuid. One final quirk on my travels.

And then that was that. I picked up my luggage, got on the Eurostar and made it home in good time that evening. Fifteen days of travelling finished. I was always a bit disappointed that Covid scuppered my original much-longer trip, but I was so glad I managed to do this part of it. Not only did I get to see some of the amazing scenery of South Germany, but I also got to touch on important pieces of family history. Despite all the foibles along the way the more time I spend in Germany, the more I fall in love with the country and I’ll definitely be coming back again and again over the years. Next time I definitely want to explore North and East Germany as all I have done out that way so far is Berlin. There’s still so much I am yet to see.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog series as much as I enjoyed putting it all together. Perhaps it will offer a little bit of inspiration for your next trip to Germany or provide a few ideas for one that is already planned. It’s a real shame that the country often gets overlooked in the eyes of British tourists in favour of the likes of France, Spain and Italy as it is such a varied country with so much to see and experience. The people are also much friendlier and more polite than the stereotypes would have you believe either. I’m very glad that of all the languages I chose to learn, I chose German.

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