Hofgarten

Hofgarten lies beside the Würzburg Residence, at the edge of the city’s former baroque fortifications. Large supporting walls on the eastern side preserve part of those earlier defences. Sloping ground rises towards the bastions, while trimmed fruit trees, flowerbeds, hedges, trellises, and potted plants create a Rococo setting.

Johann Prokop Mayer designed the layout in the late eighteenth century for Prince-Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim. He divided the difficult terrain into symmetrical sections with distinct character. The East Garden follows the Residence’s main axis across three terraces to the bastion summit. The flat South Garden centres on a round basin and a tuff-stone monolith. Eight yew trees, clipped into cones, surround the water.

Below the orangery, a kitchen garden follows historic paths and beds, growing old and new fruit and vegetable varieties. Historically arranged flower borders recreate planting styles associated with earlier centuries. Classical sculptures by Johann Peter Wagner appear as casts, while Johann Georg Oegg’s ornate wrought-iron gates frame the grounds. A planned cascade never reached the East Garden, leaving its terraces to tell the story of Mayer’s original design.