Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Consider yourself forewarned…this is a long and photo-laden post. Even with culling down my photos to what you see here, I did not include many other good ones…simply because I didn’t have time to upload them all, and figured some of them--while good--could be considered redundant. Sigh. That said, please enjoy!
We knew we were heading somewhere today, we just weren’t sure until just before we left…en route to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This town is more than 1,000 years old and, according to guidebooks, went to sleep after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and didn’t wake up until the late 19th century. Its antiquity is still preserved and today looks just as it did in the Middle Ages.
Our timing worked out well, and we had enough time to eat lunch at the Ratsstube Restaurant & Cafe before joining a tour of the town. Benjamin was in a kind-hearted mood while waiting for our food…then MacKenzie joined in to complete the sibling hug. Fortunately, Zachary was in an accommodating mood.
Our tour began in the Marketplatz at 2pm where a clock with mechanical figures act out the story of the Meistertrunk legend. Legend has it that during the Thirty Years War the Protestant town was captured by a Catholic general who ordered widespread destruction and executions. The general decided to spare the town only if one of its counsilors could drink an entire 3.25-liter glass of local wine in one gulp. An ex-mayor named Nusch performed the feat, thus saving the town, then slept for three days and nights…and lived another 37 years. Our tour guide also told us the other more plausible reasons the town was saved, but the story of Nusch is a good legend.
We also saw Saint Jacob’s Church, which took nearly two centuries to build. Rothenburg was at a crossroads and many people made pilgrimages to the town in the Middle Ages. These pilgrims left gold coins as offerings--more than what was spent on building the church. So, the townspeople decided to continue building. The only problem was that there was a street in the way…so they built an overpass over the road so they could continue extending the church, thus creating a literal drive-through church! Our guide said that on days when the townspeople can't seem to get to church on time, they can simply drive there, stop their cars underneath the unique archway, and claim that they went to church. Granted, there's no way to hear the sermon or see inside the church from there...
We then walked just outside the city walls to the Burggarten (Castle Gardens) and had a magnificent view of the Tauber Valley. I’m sure it would have been an even more grand view had it not been such an overcast and dreary day. There used to be a castle on the hilltop in the 12th century, but an earthquake destroyed it in 1356. The remains of the castle were used as building material for the town’s defense wall, which is still fully intact today.
The remainder of the tour took us past Hell--a restaurant (notice the sign over the door with a silhouette of the devil) and the name of a street where it was slightly warmer because the wind is blocked...and which housed the jail (just across the street from the Catholic church--also the oldest church in Rothenburg). Apparently, acceptable punishments for returning home late (inflicted by wives for staying out past midnight), staying outside the city walls late, selling less than quality produce or even for children turning in homework late were sufficient to prevent the need for a jail. As a result, the jail was closed and sold to someone as a residence.
After we finished the official tour, we stopped by a bakery...primarily because we were getting chilled and wanted to step inside and warm up a bit. But, the snowballs and chocolate-filled croissants were absolutely delicious! After Zachary and MacKenzie ordered seconds (what a treat!), we headed back out into the cold. It didn’t seem quite as cold then...not sure if it was from the short warming up period or if the wind had actually died down a bit.
MacKenzie was interested in climbing to the top of the Town Hall Tower. It’s neat in that it doesn’t have a foundation of its own, but instead rests atop a gable. In former times, it accommodated sentries who were supposed to warn the town of fires and approaching enemies. Our guide shared the story of two sentries who failed to warn the town of a fire that destroyed part of the Town Hall (which was pretty darn near the tower itself) and were beheaded the next day. After that, there were no significant fires that got out of hand in the town--the sentries were on top of their jobs!
Zachary, MacKenzie and I made the trek up the progressively narrow and steep steps--more than 200 of them--to the top. The view from the top was spectacular, even for such an overcast and dreary German Spring day. The kids even saw Papa and Benjamin from way up there and called down to them. Surprisingly, Papa heard them!
Our last stop before departing the town was the wall itself. MacKenzie wanted to walk up the wall and look around a while. Of course, by this time, Benjamin was tired of watching most everything from the confines of his stroller and begged to come with us. So, the four of us climbed up and enjoyed the view from a little lower altitude than what the Watch Tower gave us. Once up there, Benjamin was actually shivering and chattering his teeth. But, he was too stubborn to keep his hands under the blanket we brought to cover him with while in the stroller, and he didn’t want to be left behind on this adventure, so I figured it would be OK to bring him with us for a short while. Considering how cold he was getting though, we didn’t stay up there too long before calling it a day and heading home.
We knew we were heading somewhere today, we just weren’t sure until just before we left…en route to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This town is more than 1,000 years old and, according to guidebooks, went to sleep after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and didn’t wake up until the late 19th century. Its antiquity is still preserved and today looks just as it did in the Middle Ages.
Our timing worked out well, and we had enough time to eat lunch at the Ratsstube Restaurant & Cafe before joining a tour of the town. Benjamin was in a kind-hearted mood while waiting for our food…then MacKenzie joined in to complete the sibling hug. Fortunately, Zachary was in an accommodating mood.
Our tour began in the Marketplatz at 2pm where a clock with mechanical figures act out the story of the Meistertrunk legend. Legend has it that during the Thirty Years War the Protestant town was captured by a Catholic general who ordered widespread destruction and executions. The general decided to spare the town only if one of its counsilors could drink an entire 3.25-liter glass of local wine in one gulp. An ex-mayor named Nusch performed the feat, thus saving the town, then slept for three days and nights…and lived another 37 years. Our tour guide also told us the other more plausible reasons the town was saved, but the story of Nusch is a good legend.
We also saw Saint Jacob’s Church, which took nearly two centuries to build. Rothenburg was at a crossroads and many people made pilgrimages to the town in the Middle Ages. These pilgrims left gold coins as offerings--more than what was spent on building the church. So, the townspeople decided to continue building. The only problem was that there was a street in the way…so they built an overpass over the road so they could continue extending the church, thus creating a literal drive-through church! Our guide said that on days when the townspeople can't seem to get to church on time, they can simply drive there, stop their cars underneath the unique archway, and claim that they went to church. Granted, there's no way to hear the sermon or see inside the church from there...
We then walked just outside the city walls to the Burggarten (Castle Gardens) and had a magnificent view of the Tauber Valley. I’m sure it would have been an even more grand view had it not been such an overcast and dreary day. There used to be a castle on the hilltop in the 12th century, but an earthquake destroyed it in 1356. The remains of the castle were used as building material for the town’s defense wall, which is still fully intact today.
The remainder of the tour took us past Hell--a restaurant (notice the sign over the door with a silhouette of the devil) and the name of a street where it was slightly warmer because the wind is blocked...and which housed the jail (just across the street from the Catholic church--also the oldest church in Rothenburg). Apparently, acceptable punishments for returning home late (inflicted by wives for staying out past midnight), staying outside the city walls late, selling less than quality produce or even for children turning in homework late were sufficient to prevent the need for a jail. As a result, the jail was closed and sold to someone as a residence.
After we finished the official tour, we stopped by a bakery...primarily because we were getting chilled and wanted to step inside and warm up a bit. But, the snowballs and chocolate-filled croissants were absolutely delicious! After Zachary and MacKenzie ordered seconds (what a treat!), we headed back out into the cold. It didn’t seem quite as cold then...not sure if it was from the short warming up period or if the wind had actually died down a bit.
MacKenzie was interested in climbing to the top of the Town Hall Tower. It’s neat in that it doesn’t have a foundation of its own, but instead rests atop a gable. In former times, it accommodated sentries who were supposed to warn the town of fires and approaching enemies. Our guide shared the story of two sentries who failed to warn the town of a fire that destroyed part of the Town Hall (which was pretty darn near the tower itself) and were beheaded the next day. After that, there were no significant fires that got out of hand in the town--the sentries were on top of their jobs!
Zachary, MacKenzie and I made the trek up the progressively narrow and steep steps--more than 200 of them--to the top. The view from the top was spectacular, even for such an overcast and dreary German Spring day. The kids even saw Papa and Benjamin from way up there and called down to them. Surprisingly, Papa heard them!
Our last stop before departing the town was the wall itself. MacKenzie wanted to walk up the wall and look around a while. Of course, by this time, Benjamin was tired of watching most everything from the confines of his stroller and begged to come with us. So, the four of us climbed up and enjoyed the view from a little lower altitude than what the Watch Tower gave us. Once up there, Benjamin was actually shivering and chattering his teeth. But, he was too stubborn to keep his hands under the blanket we brought to cover him with while in the stroller, and he didn’t want to be left behind on this adventure, so I figured it would be OK to bring him with us for a short while. Considering how cold he was getting though, we didn’t stay up there too long before calling it a day and heading home.
Labels: Benjamin, Germany, MacKenzie, Nana and Papa, Travel, Zachary
