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Bavaria State

Vacation 2010 September 16, Germany Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

After the tour with the night watch-man (left), we spent the night at the hotel Zum Breiterle, named after the horsemen who once protected town and country (right and below). The next morning, we took another tour in daylight. Rothenburg is not very big, but full of sights and everywhere one bumbs into hundreds of years of history.

Join us on a tour through Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our hotel was located near the medieval wall, overlooking Rödergasse, one of the many picturesque streets.

The city of Rothenburg originated in late 12th century. The inner wall was constructed at that time. Most of today's town is outside that old boudary. While the newer wall, built in the 16th century still exist (and is one of the town's main attractions), The only remains of the old fortification are three towers and this small piece of wall and parapete walk, called Röder's Bow (above).

picture above borrowed from gittus.com.au; picture below left borrowed from zug55

Soon after passing through Röderbogen, we reached the historical market square. The square is dominated by the town hall (above). The town hall started as a gothic building, erected between 1240 and 1400 (the white part with the tower. Later new parts, in new architectural styles were added. Most prominent today is the central renaissance part (built between 1572 and 1578). 100 years later, in 1681, the baroque arched terrace, called the arcade, was added. Rothenburg is also famous for its many fountains. The largest - and most famous - one is the St. George Fountain (below), built in 1608 and also at the market square.

In World War II, Rothenburg was target of an air raid that destroyed some of the buildings and nine of the historic watch towers. The town could have easily shared the fate of so many German Towns that were turned completely to rubble. However, it was saved by two brave military leaders on different sides of the War. First, U.S Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy, who had visited the town as a child, remembered its historic importance and beauty and ordered the US Army not to use artillery in taking Rothenburg. Then, evenly important, German military commander Major Thömmes ignored Hitler's order to fight to the end and surrendered the town without fight. While McCloy was named Honorable Protectorate of Rothenburg in November 1948, we couldn't find anything about the fate of the courageous German Officer who certainly risked his life to save the town.

Rothenburg is also famous for its churches. One of he oldest ones is the Franciscan Church (above), built in 1309. Largest church is the Church of St. Jacob. Work on this church started in 1311, but it took 174 years, until 1485, to finish it.

The Church of St. Jacob is most famous for its altarpiece, the Holy Blood Altar (bottom left), created in 1505 by Tilman Riemenschneider. There is also some impressive artwork on the outside (bottom right).

Of course, the town is not only art and history. It is also home to 11,000 people and outside the historical center, it looks like any other town (just a little bit cleaner and nicer).

This house has been occupied by the same family since 1701! Bavaria is famous for its hospitality. And we sure met a lot of interesting people.

We have so much more about this beautiful town that we can't fit it on one page. At the next to pages, we invite you into Rothenburg's Historical Museum and on a stroll along the city wall. Just follow the link below.

Click the left turn sign to get back to the previous page. Or click the right turn signal to dig deep into Rothenburg's history.

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