Germany is really large and we weren’t sure, when planning, how much we wanted to see on this trip. You could devote an entire trip to Germany and we assumed we’d see it all another time. That being said, we knew we were going to Austria and decided to do a 2 night stopover somewhere in between Amsterdam and Salzburg. Through research, we found a small town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which from what we read was a very stuck-in-time, quintessential German town. Everything we had read proved to be correct, from the cobblestone streets to the ancient Bavarian-style buildings.
We arrived at our hotel, the Eisenhut, located right in the center of town, in the early evening. As soon as you set foot in town, you get a glimpse of how life must have been in the Middle Ages. Rothenburg was founded in 950 and was a Free Imperial City from the late Middle Ages until 1803. Since it was a walled city that was heavily guarded, it has remained largely untouched for hundreds of years. We ate dinner at a lovely restaurant called Altfrankische Weinstube where we dined on large portions of German spaetzle and pork.
Since we had only one uninterrupted day in Rothenburg, we wanted to see as many of the attractions as we could. We started off visiting the Church of St Jakob, the home of a famous woodcarving called the Altar of the Holy Blood by Tilman Riemenschneider depicting the entry of Christ into Jerusalem and Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. After the church, we took a walk along the path outside of the city wall that provided amazing views of the town and German countryside. Rothenburg is also home to a famous Christmas store and museum that we got to see.
We stumbled into the Medieval Crime and Torture Museum, which may have been the weirdest museum I’ve ever been to. It showcased the insane torture tactics that ancient lawmakers used for hundreds of years before realizing that this strategy didn’t necessarily yield results, but innocent people wrongly confessing in order to escape torture. Some of the weirdest items on display were a neck violin, which resembled the instrument and was placed around the accused’s neck for being a bad musician, or the shame masks, a scary-looking device that was placed on the victim’s face if they were caught lying or gossiping. Some of the torture devices were so bizarre that they were humorous. For instance, if the baker’s bread was not an exact weight (meaning a pound more or less than the law required), he would be strapped to a chair and made to sit in the lake for hours. If a man was caught beating his wife, she would be allowed to plow a local field with not an animal, but her husband.
After the museum, we stopped for a drink at a restaurant off the main square that had a biergarten in the back. There was one a few other people there drinking, and they happened to be Americans from Sacramento. We began talking to them and found we had very similar travel styles and had been to many of the same places over the past few years. Nicole and Trevor were a couple who had actually met in Rothenburg while staying at a youth hostel a few years back. They had been traveling for 3 weeks and had just been joined by Trevor’s father, Joe. Nicole was heading back to the States the next day but Trevor and his dad were heading to Ireland for a week. He told us Dingle was one of his favorite spots and we talked about how Kevin has family there. Nicole mentioned how there was this amazing butcher across the street who makes dry cured sausages and she had just shipped back about 3 kilos to her home that day! At one point she snuck out and pretended like she was making a call, but actually went to buy us some of the sausages so we could experience them ourselves. They were so good that Kevin went and bought some more before they closed so we would have some snacks for the next few weeks (UPDATE: they didn’t last that long).
We also started talking to our waitress, Carol, who was from the Scottish Highlands. Of course Kevin made best friends with her immediately and when she mentioned how there was recently a vote for Scottish independence, Kevin showed her the YES bracelet he was still wearing and she flipped out. She was getting off work around then and joined us for a drink with her boyfriend.
That evening, we all decided to do the Night Watchman’s Tour, a must see if you are visiting Rothenburg. The tour meets in the main square, where you are then lead around town by the “Night Watchman” who is donned in medieval robes and carrying a lantern. He explains the interesting and gritty history of the town with a witty, dry humor that made all of us laugh. For instance, during World War 2, Rothenburg was being defended by German soldiers. In March of 1945, several bombs were dropped on the town. It was then that the US Secretary of War John J. McCloy found out about the bombing and gave a strict order that the American soldiers not use any artillery when taking the town. Apparently his mother had visited the town on vacation and, since she kept a beautiful picture of it in their home, he said that saving it was a priority. The Watchman gives a few tours daily and, since he only accepts cash, is now a millionaire who spends half of the year living with his wife in Thailand.
After the tour, we joined our new friends for dinner and met some other interesting travelers from Canada.
Recommendations:
- Hotel Eisenhut. Herrngasse 3-5/7, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. https://www.eisenhut-rothenburg.com/.
- Altfrankische Weinstube. Klosterhof 7, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. http://www.altfraenkische.de/english/hotel.htm.
- Church of St. Jakob. Kirchpl., 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany.
- Medieval Crime Museum. Burggasse 3-5, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. https://www.kriminalmuseum.eu/en/?lang=en.
- The Night Watchman Tour. Marktpl., 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. https://www.nightwatchman.de/.
