Würzburg, a Bavarian town with a population of just under 150,000, sits on the River Main, not as pretty as other places. But let's wander.
In the 17th century it was the centre of a catholic witch hunt, which saw just under 1000 innocent souls; men, women and children, tortured and murdered, often burnt alive at the stake. Religious superstition, mind control, and abuse of power.
Marienberg Fortress, too far didn't bother
German engineering, Der Alte Kranen, harbor crane was built between 1767 and 1773, as part of a plan to improve the city's waterway trade route.
The housing stands at just over 30ft and sadly closed when I was there which is a shame it would have been interesting. Inside is the still fully functioning method of operation; two 15ft diameter treadmills which accommodate six crane operators each, who would just simply walk in unison so as to achieve a maximum lifting capacity of around a ton gross weight.
The Old Crane survived World War II and became a city symbol of survival. nearly a 1,000 tons of bombing debris from the city were loaded onto ships every day and transported away.
Beneath the memorial plaque inscribed into the are several highwater marks and dates: February 7 1909; January 16 1920; and February 25 1970.
In the early 1930s, it is estimated that around 2,000 jews lived in Würzburg. During the Kristallnacht pogroms in 1938, many jewish properties, houses and shops were raided, looted, or destroyed.
Between November 1941 and June 1943, jews from the city were sent to the Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe.
These brass plaques are quite common across German towns and cities, they are embedded in the pavement as close as is possible to the last residence of the city jews
"The victim of bureaucracy" A very apt and meaningful sculpture symbolising the struggles and frustrations faced by us, the normal people when dealing with global government bureaucracy.
I did, it refers to the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, following the establishment of the state of Israel, Nakba Day is celebrated on the 15th May.
There is so much more this hero and Edward Snowden were party to about the illegal american activities in the middle east. Sadly the west including the uk conspired against him
The Alte Mainbrücke which spans the Main River, just over 200yds long it joins the old town with Festung Marienberg.
On 16 March 1945, about 90% of the city was destroyed by a 20 minute firebombing from 225 British Lancaster bombers.
Würzburg had no major armament industries, nor was it a German stronghold, it did at the time though have 40 hospitals, it became in part a target for its role as a traffic hub but more so as an attempt **to break the spirit of the population**. 5,000 innocent men women and children were murdered. churchill was a war criminal as was Air Chief Marshal sir arthur harris, who had the nickname "bomber" harris.
Remakably the bridge survived, it even survived the German army attempt to blow up the bridge while in retreat it was only partially damaged due to failure of the placed explosives.
The old building were restored and new ones built, it is now a vibrant university town with over 25,000 students amongst the population.
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