In the heart of happy Franconia, surrounded by hills which conceal it from the traveler, till, within half an hour's distance, it suddenly spreads itself before his astonished eyes, lies the venerable city Wurzburg, once the chief residence of a powerful German nation. Overlooked by its proud citadel, beautiful buildings are spread along both banks of the majestic river Main, in the midst of a fertile and picturesque landscape. Few cities in Germany are more beautifully situated, and none is surrounded by a more fertile soil. The general wealth of the inhabitants is shown by many certain and prominent indications. Wurzburg was founded in the old heroic age of Germany. It was a place of some strength as early as the Roman wars. Under King Pepin, the father of Charlemagne, it was made the episcopal residence ; and St. Boniface there consecrated (a. d. 741) the first Archbishop Burkhardt with his own hands. The generous princes of Franconia made the city large donations of land, and it soon became as much known for its riches as for its strength. The possessions of the bishoprick were enlarged by many of the German emperors ; and, in the sixteenth century, the bishops proudly assumed the title of Dukes of Franconia. In the eighteenth century, the chapter was in possession of a district of eighty-seven square miles, inhabited by a quarter of a million of people, living in great prosperity. Poverty was unknown, for whenever its symptoms appeared, they were immediately banished by the hand of charity. The old German proverb, " It is good to live under the crosier," was here literally true, and Wurzburg was certainly one of the happiest cities in all Germany. The French Revolution put an end to this state of prosperity. Wurzburg and several neighbouring ecclesiastical possessions, were, by the treaty of Luneville, 1803, added to the hereditary dominions of Bavaria, as a compensation for territories given up by Bavaria beyond the Upper Rhine ; and when it lost the princely bishop's court, (which removed to Munich,) it lost also the advantages accruing from the collection of the revenue. Wurzburg was now a conquered country; but a change for the better was at hand, and at the peace of Presburg (1805) it was given to the former Grand Duke of Tuscany, with the title of an Electorate. Under this arrangement, happy days came back again to Wurzburg, as the seat of an electoral court, and the residence of a prince whose humane character adorned the throne. After the dissolution of the German empire, the prince changed his title to that of grand duke, and joined the confederation of the Rhine. The events of 1813, and the congress at Vienna, made new changes. The grand duke recovered his hereditary dominion of Tuscany, and poor Wurzburg fell back again to Bavaria. Since that time it forms the greater part of a province, and is the seat of the provincial government. Wurzburg contains about two thousand houses, and twenty-five thousand people. The city is built in a solid and beautiful style, and there is a fine view of it from each of the hills by which it is surrounded; but the best is that from Steinberg, so celebrated for its excellent wine. This is the view we have given in our engraving, which we shall now proceed to describe. The foreground of the picture consists of vineyards and gardens, interspersed with the citizens' country seats, or with public houses, used as eating-houses or ball-rooms. Fields of market vegetables, or of grain, approach very closely to the environs of the city; and tastefully arranged parks, with their picturesque groups of trees, extend directly under the high and noble walls ;—for Wurzburg is a citadel, and in Bavaria's times of war was considered the northern door of the empire. By the noble river Main we see the city divided into two unequal parts. As the principal churches and the most beautiful buildings are built upon high ground, the landscape is greatly beautified by the city, which you can see from a great distance. We are at first attracted by the fortress of Marienberg, which lies on the left side of the Main, on an eminence of 400 feet, and is surrounded by seven fortifications. This was the old residence of the Dukes of Franconia ; and they continued to inhabit it till they became extinct in the beginning of the eighth century. In this fortress Hermina, the heiress of the expiring dynasty, was baptized by Boniface ; and the most remarkable part of the old duke's castle, a temple consecrated to Diana, became the first Christian church of that country. The castle and buildings about it went to ruin by degrees, and in the thirteenth century were entirely destroyed. In their place a fortified chateau was built, and was from time to time embellished and enlarged. It was the residence of the bishops until the eighteenth century. Gustavus Adolphus, in 1631, carried the fortress by assault, plundered it, and made it the support of his power in the country. It was not until 1635 that it came again into the possession of the bishop. Some time after the year 1650 it was fortified after the system of Vauban, and so continues. It has been often besieged ; the last time was in 1813, when the Austrian-Bavarian corps, commanded by Wrede, took it, after three days' siege, from the French garrison. Provisions and ammunition are kept in large vaults, dug out of the solid rock. An inexhaustible supply of water is afforded by a well 400 feet deep, in the middle of the hill ; and there are besides two subterranean communications with the Main, from which water is raised 500 feet. Every spot on the hill, outside the fortification, is covered with vines, from which is made the excellent and celebrated Leisten wine. The part of the city under the citadel, in our picture, on the right side of the river, is the oldest ; and there we find some of the most ancient specimens of architecture. Near the Main you can plainly distinguish the church of St. Burkhardt, which (except the church of St. Mary, on the top of the hill) is the oldest, and belongs to the eighth century. Although renewed in 1033 and since, the old Franconian style is clearly to be recognized in some parts. Both towers are solid to the very top. The two churches which you see right under the citadel, were formerly Scottish and German convents, and are now used as hospitals, magazines, and barracks: both are superb monuments of the architecture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. We now pass through a continual crowd of men and carriages, and along a splendid and massive bridge of 1000 feet, across the Main, to the other and larger part of the city. Here seventeen churches, mostly with fine towers, rise above the mass of houses. Passing over the less remarkable ones, we notice the tower of the University church—the  prettiest and highest in the city. The University was founded in 1403, after the plan of that in Bologna, and is consequently one of the oldest of the German universities. It is one of the most celebrated for medical science in Germany, and it has professors of great celebrity in political science. Next to it is the church of the Blessed Ladies. Yet farther we see, with a large round top, the New Minster, remarkable in the history of the establishment of Christianity in Franconia. On the spot where it stands, fell the heads of the first Christian missionaries who arrived, St. Kilian and his companions : they died by the swords of the Franconians. The convent which stood on this place was built by Burkhardt, the first bishop of Wurzburg; and on this place new buildings were erected in the year 1000. Behind the New Minster we see four towers, resembling each other in shape : they belong to the Cathedral, which, with its side buildings, will remain a specimen of architectural ornament, for thousands of years. The Cathedral was founded in the ninth century, and the last alterations were made in the nineteenth. The paintings were mostly executed during the decline of the arts ; but there are several by Sandrart among them; and the figures around and above the alabaster pulpit, and the bronze baptismal font, with sculpture of the thirteenth century, are of great interest We now turn more to the left, to the extreme part of the city, where a cluster of great buildings, with many turrets and cupolas, spreads itself broadly before you, and looks like a governor's palace. It is the former princely bishop's residence, and rivals the most superb royal palaces in Europe. Of this we shall hereafter issue a separate engraving and description. In the same direction, but more in the foreground, you see the large front of a building, which, after the palace, is the most distinguished. It is the Julius hospital for the poor and afflicted, founded by the bishop Julius Echter. The cost was five millions of florins, and was obtained by ten years' savings of his personal estate. As a city of commerce, Wurzburg is important from its situation on the Main, and great facilities for the forwarding business. The trade in wine, although the fashion has changed in favour of the Upper Rhine wines, which are of the same price, is yet very considerable. The vineyards which surround the city produce in good seasons 75,000 pipes. Of these only about 10,000 are exported. There are no manufactures of importance, except those of tobacco, leather, cloth, and other woollen stuffs.