Wuerzburg

I studied in Wuerzburg from 1977 to 1982, obtained my medical degree and worked as a medical resident until 1988. In 2017, I returned to the Institute of Radiology as a senior professor.

Wuerzburg is in the north of Bavaria on the Main River, has a population of app. 135,000 and is the administrative centre of the district of Lower Franconia. The city is surrounded by vineyards, the Main loop near Volkach, the Steigerwald and Spessart forests.

Wuerzburg was first mentioned in 704 and became a diocese under Boniface in 741. Repeated rebellions against the bishops ended in the defeat of the citizens. In 1814, Wuerzburg was annexed to Bavaria. Large parts of the city were destroyed by bombing attacks in March 1945.

The Marienberg fortress dominates the city, originally a Celtic bastion and the residence of the bishops from 1250-1720. The episcopal baroque residence by Balthasar Neumann with its impressive staircase and frescoes by Giovanni Tiepolo is world-famous. Other sights include the Old Main Bridge, St Mary's Chapel, the Juliusspital, the baroque Neumuenster and the Kaeppele pilgrim’s church.
Today, Wuerzburg is the centre of Franconian viniculture. With the Staatlicher Hofkeller, the Buergerspital zum Heiligen Geist and the Juliusspital, Wuerzburg is home to three large wineries. Franconian wine is filled in typical Bockbeutel bottles.

The Bavarian Julius Maximilian University was founded in 1582 by Bishop Julius. It was then a centre of Catholic theology. After 1800, the medical faculty became more important. Well-known professors include the philosopher Schelling, the pathologist Virchow, the physicist Roentgen, who discovered the X-rays named after him in Wuerzburg in 1895, and the histologist Rudolf von Koelliker.

My time in Wuerzburg had many different influences on me.