Right in the Heart of Europe

Welcome to the Heart of Europe ...

The golden mean is the well-balanced nature of differences and attracting opposites. “Heart” is the key word when we talk about Würzburg, the county located in the center of Europe with easy access to all European traffic – with enterprises and people who live business and life to the fullest. Enjoy the county’s traditional and innovative spirit, art and culture, hospitality and cosmopolitanism.

Welcome to Würzburg !

Fascinating Nature and Culture

What really characterises the Würzburg its people who get closer over a glass of Franconian wine and solid Franconian cooking? Is it the absolute beauty of landscape which the fascinated visitors to the Main and Tauber valley love to explore by bike? Or is it the many events, the concerts, open-air plays, theaters and galleries, museums and exhibitions that entice so many people every year into visiting our county? There must be more to it ....

Pure Joys of Life... between Wine and Wellness

Many automatically link the Würzburg to wine and wine events. Okay, you are right - but there is so much more to it: visitors as well as residents appreciate the variety of leisure-time and sports activities the area offers – the Romantic Road, the hike-and-bike tracks, the charming landscape which again and again gives witness of the county’s long and rich history. Events such as the annual knight plays in Aub, the Castle Brattenstein open-air theater in Röttingen, the Florian-Geyer plays in Giebelstadt, the Veit Relin Tower Gate Theater in Sommerhausen skillfully and successfully combine history and entertainment.

With its landmarks through history – cultural world heritage Residenz, Marienburg, Dom – and impressive offers of art and culture, its attractive shopping and extensive leisure-time possibilities, university town Würzburg is, of course, a great and . Whether the old masters Tilman Riemenschneider or Balthasar Neumann, the Mozartfest or African festivals, live art, culture or pub scene - there is something for each and .

The countless congress and conference facilities make Würzburg a first-class meeting point for many a company. The county a variety of innovative and high-tech enterprises which compete very successfully on the international markets.

In Accord ...

Tradition and innovation coexist in perfect harmony. The county’s romantic river valleys, vast sugar beet fields and world-famous natural stone quarries house epoch-making ideas and brand-new technologies. Whether revolutionary methods for blood storage, vegetable medicines according to Kneipp, impressive wind power plants – there are a variety of successful enterprises. Fashion by s.Oliver, yachts by Bavaria - the largest yacht maker in Germany – the products made by Südzucker, Danone and playground designer eibe are known far beyond our county borders. Logistics, mechanical and plant engineering, printing and communication industries also enrich in our region.

... Living, Learning, Working...

Julius-Maximilian University and Technical College, South German plastics center, Fraunhofer Institute for silicate research represent the high educational quality within our county. Our schools, colleges and universities have the largest number of students in Germany. Trade schools, technical colleges and professional training facilities as well as a variety of additional training possibilities supplement the county’s educational portfolio. Most of the graduates remain in the county. The Rimpar industrial park, the technological center in Würzburg, the BioMed/HmK innovation center, the high-tech center in Höchberg of the Klingholz industrial park are perfect for new companies of spin-offs – many of the companies with headquarters in Würzburg have quickly become international market leaders. In New Materials, the county is closing in on the international key competitors.

Our Friends – Würzburg Goes International

International partnerships are not formed through history alone. The establishment of new friendships and the promotion of international means of communication comes naturally to open-minded people. New cultural and economic contacts pave the way into a world that grows closer every day

The Mate Yehuda District in Israel

A very lively youth exchange has taken place between Würzburg and the Mate Yehuda district whose borders reach from Tel Aviv to the confines of Jerusalem. If immigration from all parts of the world keeps up at today’s rate, the number of inhabitants will soon double to 60,000. Half of the district consists of natural preserves and national parks as well as antique and archeological sites. About 40% of the area is used for intense farming: fruit, wine, vegetables, cotton; cattle and poultry are also important sources of income.

The Olomouc Region in the Czech Republic

The Olomouc region with our former partner county Sumperk is rich in tradition and history. Witnesses to the Old are the many wonderful and historically significant monuments. Characteristic for the region is its and diverse landscape combined with a rich of culture, sports and recreational possibilities making it the popular destination for many visitors

Sumperk County in the Czech Republic

Forests and hills, brooks and mineral springs: Sumperk county in the Czech Republic stands out for its beautiful landscape. The county offers a variety of recreational possibilities: winter sports, hiking, mushroom picking, just to mention a few. Famous also the county’s sulphar baths in Bludow and Velreè Losiny. The towns Zábøeh, Mohelnice and Hanuovice are destinations easily to be reached from Ormutz, the county capital.

A Short Tour Through History ...
... the County

To say that Würzburg is rich in history is quite an understatement. For those interested in history or art, the number of starting points is almost infinite in this land where culture reigns: Hallstadt era or Celtic culture? Baroque architecture or the Peasants’ War? Tilman Riemenschneider or Balthasar Neumann? Whatever you may wish: Würzburg county is full of testimonies to a rich and animated history. Have fun exploring them!

... and its History

• 1814 Franconia is taken over by Bavaria
• 1817 The region around Würzburg becomes part of the Lower Main region
• 1837 Lower Main becomes Lower Franconia
• 1852 Districts are formed, the first forms of county parliaments come into being
• 1862 Division in district offices, administration was separated from legislation
• 1929 District office Ochsenfurt comprises 53 townships and 83 villages with up to 26,875 inhabitants of which and 27 others.
  District office Würzburg comprises 46 townships with 86 villages with up to 48,072 inhabitants of which and 101 others.
  The district office is located in Würzburg, Tiepolostraße 6.
• 1930 today’s counties are still called district offices.
• 1945 On August 18 after the Nazi terror and dictatorship, after the total breakdown following the war, the first official newspaper is published by Michael Meisner, appointed administrator by the American Forces.
• 1946 On January 27 Bavaria has its first free post-war county elections
• 1972 The county reform combines Würzburg and Ochsenfurt and further townships from the neighbor counties Marktheidenfeld, Karlstadt, Kitzingen and Gerolzhofen. Würzburg county takes its beginning

Fast Connections

Remarkable the closeness to national and global road and rail networks: an hour to the Frankfurt, Stuttgart and the Nuremberg airports, regional airport Giebelstadt is even closer. A few minutes drive and you enter the national highways A3, A7 or A81. The ICEs take you everywhere from the Würzburg central station. And the Rhine-Main-Danube canal floats you right into the great European waterway.

Population trend
1 Dec 1840 - 60,974
1 Dec 1900 - 69,625
15 May 1939 - 83,846
13 August 1950 - 114,059
27 May 1970 - 121,665
25 May 1987 - 138,261
31 Dec 2001 - 159,311
30 June 2002 - 159,470

Apartment buildings in 2001: 41,432
Apartments in 2001; 67,716
Total area in 2000; 86,884 hectares
Farmland: 62,710 hectares
Forest area: 20,600 hectares

National accounts:
a Gross National Product at market prices per wage/salary earner
(= industrial productivity), 1998 EUR 51,048

b Gross National Product at market prices per resident
(= economic power), 1998 EUR 13,913

The County Administration Office ... a Modern Service Center

The county administration office is located in the Zeppelingstraße in Würzburg. The office was restructured in 1997 and divided three business units, 22 technical bodies and 3 staff positions. Five hundred and fifty very committed employees see to the needs of the county residents and enterprises and provide an excellent resident-oriented, district-focussed and environmentally friendly service. It is their explicit task to guarantee the equal rights of men and women and to make administration and county institutions performance-oriented and responsible instruments.