9/3/11 Rothenburg ob der Tauber

How odd, I actually did posts on 9/1 and 9/2 but they aren't in the blog...odd indeed. Oh well, there wasn't much in them anyway, so we will proceed with today.

So, I got up at 0 dark thirty today (it really was still dark) so that I could get ready to walk my way down to the tour spot. I have to say there is something about walking at 6 am (by the time I left) when its dead silent out and you have to walk by forest area that is so thick that it's no wonder why the Brother's Grimm wrote some rather freaky tales. But, despite the possibly scary woods (actually I find them quite lovely) it was interesting to also see morning mist.

You know how you see posters with mist in the mountains just as the sun is starting to rise? Well that is kind of how it looked today when I was passing one of the clearings (its really the field the high school boys use to practice football...not sure what else it is used for yet). At any rate, I came strolling around the corner and with the light at the time it looked almost like there was a little lake. I hadn't remembered ever seeing a lake there when I walked by; then I realized it was the mist. It was so thick it looked like a layer of frosting on the clearing...just kind of floating above it. Very cool looking, made it worth being up that early.

So I got down to the tour bus parking, and of course was early. Not a big deal, it was a nice morning. We go through the process, you know, turn in the ticket, find a seat that looks like it might be ok, and then start praying that the bus wont be full and no one will sit by you so you have room (especially with my ankle and knees). As luck would have it, I didn't have any. This woman passes up four sets of one person seats and picks mine to sit at...ok, it was cause her friend was taking the seat across the way, but still, the nerve!

We finally got to take off and it was kind of interesting to see how the landscape changes. Thus far, I haven't really been far from this area. I have stayed in the hilly region that is the home of Kaiserslautern, today that changed. As the sun was really starting to rise, the road to Rothenburg (actually Rothenburg ob der Tauber...which translates to red fortress above the Tauber...if you put just Rothenburg in your gps you would end up someplace else)...anyway...the landscape started to change from hilly dense forest to more flat farming land with row up on row of crops. Of course it wasn't too easy to get a picture of this since they seem to like to have trees planted along the autobahn.

By the way, it is a myth that you are allowed to drive as fast as you want on the autobahn...in most places you aren't supposed to go more than 130 kph which is roughly 78 mph...just a little tidbit. Anyway, we did go over this river (no clue what its name is) and I did get one good farm land one and a really good billboard when we stopped:

On the way

The billboard was at the truck stop that we stopped at for breakfast. It was the best thing about the stop. If all meals at truckstops, here, are like the one this morning, they definitely do not live up to the same reputation as those in the States. This breakfast was basically fried potatoes and sausage...but the potatoes were a bit overdone. Let alone it cost me 8,95 euro (approximately $12)...disappointment in that one.

The trip to Rothenburg should only take about 2 3/4 hrs, but ours took longer. Why you might ask? Well there is this thing in Germany...it happens often enough that it has its own traffic sign. It happens often enough that its on the driving test. It is the STAU! translation, traffic jam. And yes, we got in one. But finally about 11 am we got to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. So the following are some pictures from my long long long day (I swear I was walking 7 hours...on cobblestone streets and walk ways...my dogs are barking tonight). I almost forgot to mention, this weekend was the Rothenburg Imperial Festival (a once a year thing) so people were dressed in period clothes and there were encampments with them re-enacting typical daily activities.

In case you were wondering: Rothenbur ob der Tauber is the only walled city in Germany without a single modern building. Most of the buildings were built by 1400.

These were taken outside the city walls, when we first arrived.

Then we went into the outer part of the walled town:

if you look on the wall section you can see railing...this is for the walkway on the wall.

Then into the fullied walled town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber:

 This was our tour guide, Kimberly...with the night watchman.

This is a clock that is located in the marketplace. On the hour there are two men that are shown. This commemorates a point in history important to the town. The 'Meistertrunk' story goes that back in 1631, Rothenburg was attacked by Imperial troops led by Count Tilly. Mayor Nusch offered him a welcome drink of local wine. The Count was so pleasantly surprised that he offered the town a way out. If someone could drink a tankard holding 6 pints in one draught (basically one drink, no stopping...chugging the whole thing), then the town would be spared. The Mayor accepted the challenge and saved the town.

St. Jacobs Church: it took 170 years for this church to be completed.

St Jakobs does some of their mission work in Tanzania so they have many carved and beaded items from that area within the church.

In the center crystal of this cross is a piece that is said to hold  several drops of blood from Christ.

This is a view of the St Jacob's Church towers from a distance (taken on the walkway on top of the wall). The story of these towers is that the two towers were built by two different people. The wider one was built by the  churches architect, and the thinner one was built by his apprentice. According to story, the architect was so in awe of the work that the apprentice had done and knew that he could never do such beautiful work that he threw himself off the tower. The church towers are the two sort of grey looking ones. The really tall white one is the town hall tower (which you can walk up to the top for a beautiful view, from what I was told...I wasn't quite ready to do that one...not on this trip at least)

Other sites in and around the town:
This turret has a sun clock on it (you have to click to enlarge and you should be able to see it):

More pictures from the town

 Kind of cool...this building has a garden on part of the roof.

 If you look up on the top of this house you will see a pulley system, about half way down the front of the house you will see the bucket. Back in the day, grain was kept up in the attic area of the houses, so rather than having to haul the huge sacks of grain (and water for that matter) up the stairs, they would hoist the grain up using the pulley. Water was also brought up that way, using the pulley and the bucket.

 This may not look like anything, but upon closer inspection you might notice that this is a pear tree that is growing along the wall of this house. It doesn't stick way out, but still grows and has fruit on it (you could open the window when you want a snack and pick a pear). These were on the front a quite a few houses.

 A view into the valley through one of the wall windows.

 Town hall tower.

 This is a man hole in one of the wall gates. The gates would be closed as it became dark. If you happened to be outside the city walls then the only way you could get in was to go to one of the man holes, pay a heavy price, and you would be allowed in. If you couldn't pay the price you were stuck outside the walls to fend for yourself. The price was so high that people didn't tend to be late too often.

 On the wall you will see a mask. This was actually used for protection. If attacked and the guards ran out of ammo then they would pour pitch, hot oil or whatever was available (according to story, if they ran out of everything else that was boiling hot they would heat up urine and use it as well). The boiling hot liquid would be poured out of the eye holes in the mask onto the enemy.

 One of the guard gates.

 A bassinet (yes there really was a baby in it, too)

 One of the fountains in the town.There were over 40 fountains built to ensure the water supply for drinking and in case of fires. This is part of St. George's Fountain. Its base is approximately 8 meters (approximately 26 ft) deep and holds 100,000 liters (approximately 26,417 gallons) of water. It is the largest in the town and is located on the edge of the market square.

 The local specialty is called Schneeball. The metal instrument is filled then dipped in hot oil. Then the schneeball is coated with powdered sugar, chocolate, caramel, etc. I think the schneeball look like you took some bread and flattened it out then stuck it in a ball mold. The outside of the schneeball isnt bad tasting...but the inside of the ball is kind of bland. You can get them in different sizes depending on the bakery you go to, so maybe the donut hole size ones would be better, but the regular size just seem kind of a waste since the inside isnt that great.

 Views from the wall walkway.

This one and the next are views of the actual wall walkway. Its maybe about 4 feet wide. Along the wall part are name placards because during world war two the town was bombed (by the US) once (mainly because a German commander had hidden out in the city and the US forces were attempting to get him) During that bombing 40% of the city was destroyed (in 1945). There was an American embassador at the time who knew of the town and knew that it was basically an "innocent" town that had remained pretty much untouched for centuries (thus the reason it is a good representation of a midevil period). The embassador asked the US forces to allow the town to surrender in lieu of bombing it more. The town agreed, the Nazi general (cant remember his name) left the town, and the US forces did not bomb it anymore. After this happened the war ended. The people of Rothenburg wanted to rebuild, but not with new buildings, rather with the same style and architecture that the town had been. They asked the world for help, in the form of donations to rebuild the wall. People were allowed to be the sponsors of 1 meter sections of the wall (from what I understand this can still be done). With each of their sections, a wall placard was made with the donors name and location.

 This is a roof on one of the houses next to the wall. Notice the moss growing on the roof.

At one point on the wall there is a figure 8 section. This was built as a defense hold. If attacked, arrows or the like would not go through the structure because of the curve of the structure. The windows would allow for firing upon the enemy but when they shot back, if it went through the window it would hit a wall behind the window rather than going through. These pictures are part of that figure 8 (both inside and outside the wall)

 inside part of the moat area

Back inside the city walls.

 The following building is an addition to the oldest building in Rothenburg. The building is now a restaurant but was a tavern. If you look at the name of this place it is Hölle...which translates to Hell (click on the picture and it will enlarge and you can see that the sign is a golden devil). So if you happened to have been late getting in the city wall and had to go through the man hole (as told before), once you paid your fee for entry you were given the choice to go home or go to Hell. So now you know; if you are ever in Rothenburg, and someone says to you, "Go to hell!"... it's a good suggestion."

 A dunking cage used in medieval times. It is outside of the Medieval Crime Museum

Back in medieval times each village had their own form of measurement. A comparison was usually available in the market place in order to conduct trade. These rods are some of those measures.

This is where I ate my dinner in Rothenburg. To tell the truth I went in because I was going to get their special (Oddly enough it was lasagna with salad) but then figured I would get something German...I ended up with poached salmon, parsley potatoes, and salad. But I did stick with one German thing...beer.

And back out in town again.

 This was the window for one of the meat shops

So that was basically my day in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Believe it or not, I got out of the town without any Christmas decorations (despite this being a huge trade within the town and despite my love of Christmas decorations). I cannot wait to go to this beautiful little village closer to Christmas time as it is said to be spectacular. The day was beautiful and clear, and very warm. I was exhausted, my feet and knees were yelling at me, I got back to my room and about fell into bed, but it was all worth it.

Ok, I had to throw this one in...only because as Americans we tend to just assume we can guess what something means...So what do you think this is a sign for?

It's a sign for a balloon ride business.