Adorable, colorful, quirky, and unique, the little walled town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber felt like it was designed by Walt Disney himself. Every corner I turned made me smile. It was so darn cute! Jim and I both ranked this one in the top two of our German cities tour!
In fact, the town inspired scenes in Disney's 1940s Pinnochio. And our Tour Guide Farid told us another movie did film scenes in town ... in his French accent we clearly heard him say "Shitty Shitty Bang Bang." haha!
This tiny town had all the charm wrapped up within its medieval walls! I wished we could have spent a night here.
But our group was staying at the hotel in Würzburg, so we boarded the bus early (as usual) and set off on the hour and a half ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The long name translates to mean "Red castle above the Tauber" to describe its location above the Tauber River.
There are several Rothenburgs in Germany, so the long name IS important, but for ease of writing, I'm gonna just use the first part here ... so don't let me confuse you.
We were fortunate once again to have an excellent local tour guide. "Thanks, Ina!" But as hard as I tried to pay attention, there were just SO many things to see and take photos of. I get distracted easily! haha! Thankfully there's Google to help me with dates and highlights. ;-)
We had parked down at the end of the map above. You can clearly see the red and blue lines around the city, which are the walls. These were the later walls. The original one was much tighter around the city center, but had to be expanded over the years as the population grew.
And originally the hospital was located outside the city, because they didn't want sick people within the city walls. In later years, city officials realized they needed the tax money from the hospital, so they annexed it with a new wall (the lower part)! And because stone was expensive, and no one was living up in the castle anymore ... well the townspeople decided that the stone would be more beneficial for the wall, so they deconstructed the castle and used the material!
So a total of three wall construction periods over the years completed the town of Rothenburg as it stands today. According to Wikipedia, it is one of only four towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls, the other three being Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl and Berching, all in Bavaria.
The wall is a fantastic feature of the city and you can walk the entire 1.5 mile loop up on the wall itself! We walked just a portion of it, but it was very cool and fun to look out of the little windows along the way.
A total of 46 historical towers can be found in the old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Walking along the city wall was truly special!
According to history, during the Thirty Years War, the town was mainly Protestant and the Catholics had arrived in October 1631 with 40,000 troops, easily able to take the city.
But legend has it that when the Catholic General was set to give the orders to burn down the city, a local councilman stepped in and tried to sway the General with a huge portion of wine ... 3 1/4 liters (nearly a gallon). The General said that if any person was able to drink the entire portion of wine in one chug, then he would spare the city. Rothenburg's Mayor stepped up to the challenge and drank the entire bit ... thus saving the city from destruction!
Every year this event, called The Master Draught, is re-enacted and celebrated Whit Sunday (Pentecost) weekend, which continues into Whit Monday, a national public holiday, which just so happened to be the exact time we were visiting!! How cool is that?!
There were reenactors and townspeople dressed in period clothing, who would march around throughout the day with drums and music, singing songs and celebrating that event ... when they drove the Catholics out. haha!
And since it was a festival day, there were no vehicles allowed on the streets, which made it extra special! As it is, driving within the city walls is already very limited ... allowed for residents, deliveries, and special circumstances. Visitors are normally required to park in one of the available lots outside of the city walls.
This clock on the white building chimes every hour on the hour (from 10 am to 10 pm) and the two windows on either side of it open. On one side you can see the threatening General and on the other side is the town's mayor drinking the wine to save his city!
Visiting on a festival day, by chance, only added to the fun and excitement of the charming town! We had such an enjoyable afternoon exploring the cobblestone walkways, colorful houses, and layers upon layers of town history. As a photographer, I was in love with the place!!
Farid paid for our entry into St. James Church (St. Jakobskirche in German) to see the famous Holy Blood Altar that was carved in the early 1500s by Tilman Riemenschneider. It includes a rock crystal reliquary cross (c. 1270). The church was built between 1311 and 1484 as a Catholic church, but in the 16th century it was changed to Lutheran.
After our guided tour that morning, we had a few hours to explore the town on our own, or get lunch, or shop. Jim and I decided to do all three! Of course, we started with lunch and the hunt for schnitzel, our favorite! Jim decided to order the cordon bleu instead, which is stuffed with ham and cheese. We found some at a cute restaurant that wasn't busy, and this time ordered it with mushroom gravy on the side. It was the best!!
Following lunch (and before dessert, haha), we walked around a bit and I wanted to visit the Christmas Store. Käthe Wohlfahrt is THE Christmas décor place to be in Germany (there are many locations) and her flagship store is in Rothenburg. As you enter, there's a delightful scene featuring animated stuffed animals busy in their little village.
From there you follow a winding path through the store, which is huge, and contains SO many Christmas ornaments and everything you can possibly associate with the holiday. It was wonderful and the little break in the air conditioning was welcomed too! And yes, I bought another ornament!
We also of course had to pop into a couple of bakeries and try a little something sweet. I kept seeing these large dessert balls in the bakery windows and had to get one of them. Only later did I learn that it was a schneeball (snowball) a cookie-like pastry made of pie crust that is fried and sometimes filled with a flavor and dusted in confectioners sugar, chocolate, candies, or nuts.
I think I may have gotten a hazelnut-filled one with a light brown chocolate coating on the outside. It was weird, but kinda good too. It was about the size of a large candy apple. The best way to eat it was to just break it open and grab chunks off of it. They are super popular in the area and have been made the last 400 years or so.
It was just a great day to walk around, and a fantastic place to do it. Plus the fact that it was a holiday, the spontaneous parades of reenactors, and no motorized vehicles, made it all the more special. It really was one of our favorite days on the tour!
photographing sausages through a shop window
We stopped in for a drink and Jim's beer happened to have his initials "JW" on the mug! He ordered one off the internet when he got back home!
Gorgeous flowers
I mean, what a window display! So many pretty colors everywhere I looked!
The architecture was just so great! Looks like a movie scene!
The main fountain in the middle of town
I loved how this tree/vine was growing up the side of this yellow house. Amazing!
All of that added up to a five-star day in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but the fun wasn't over yet! Because it was a holiday, a giant ferris wheel had been brought to town and was in the parking lot near our Gate 1 bus.
Farid said in all his visits there, this was the first time he'd seen a ferris wheel available, so he offered to buy all of us tickets for a ride up in the sky!
It was wonderful!! There was a great breeze and to see the entire town from that high was incredible for sure. The wheel went around three times and then we boarded our bus to head back to Würzburg for the night.
Thank you, Farid!! :)
Only two more days on the tour before we fly back home to Georgia!
