...: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

On the drive back from Munich, we stopped at Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg is a Medieval town surrounded by a defensive wall that is still intact. It was preserved by the 30 years war that left the town in poverty with no money to rebuild. Here is a view of part of the wall from the outside.

This picture was taken from the tower in the town hall and you can see the wall in the background with three gate towers.

One of the towers. Look at the two red castle emblems on either side. These are the symbols of the city and where it gets its name. Rotenburg translates to "red castle."

Here is the same tower showing the gate leading into the city. These gates had a very interesting defensive feature to repel invaders. If you look above the opening you can see a face.

From inside the tower, the town defenders could pour hot liquids that would flow out of the mouth of the face and fall on invaders trying to breach the door.

This was near our hotel. We found a nice shop that sold drawings of parts of the city and we bought one of this view.

Another shot from the top of the town hall tower shows St Jakob's church.

Inside St Jakob's is this alter carved in wood and finished in 1504. Near the top of the carving is a cross that contains a crystal. In the crystal is a miracle. The miracle is that some communion wine was spilled on a cloth and the stain turned into the shape of the cross miraculously. Also, the main scene is of the Last Supper and the carver made it so that Judas is removable. They remove him for 4 days before Easter.

That evening we took probably the most entertaining tour in Europe. The Nightwatchman's Tour. A local gives a tour and describes in vivid detail what living in Medieval Rothenburg was like. Tales of the plague, rotting waste in the street, and the hardships of being the last nightwatchman in Rothenburg.

Here is a sign to the oldest standing structure in town from the 1400s. It reads "To Hell, 120m"

And here is "Hell" which is now a Pub!

And of course the devil is hanging on the sign.

This gate is more than 600 years old, but the door is not the original, but a replacement added later, about 100 years later, so at 500 years old, it is still the "New Door."

As you can see in the above picture there is a small door in the large door. In Medieval times, Rothenburg had a curfew. They would ring the town bells at night and everyone outside the gates had 1 hour to get back inside. After that, they would close the large door and if you were late, they could let you in this little door after you paid a fine.