Rothenburg

Our hotel in Rothenburg was another family run affair. Located within the city walls (Rothenburg is a medieval city completely surrounded by a stone wall), this hotel had more of a ramshackle feel than the clean, country charm of the one in Salzburg. The furnishings in every room were made by the owner, including the beds. The rough finish and dark carpets exuded the 19th century. We dropped our bags and went for a stroll through town. Each of the towns we visited has architectural eye candy in all directions, but Rothenburg epitomizes a cute European city. The tourist money has been put to good use; the houses are in excellent condition, painted freshly in bright colors that appear to have been coordinated so that each street is a blaze of multiple hues. We walked to the main square, and craned our necks to look up at the clock. On the hour the doors on either side of the clock face open and reveal two figures, one of which woodenly tilts a mug towards his face. This charming display represents a legend of the mayor of the town preventing an army from invading by downing a mug of beer in one gulp. Cute story, but almost certainly a myth, and the clock charade is a recent addition to please tourists.

The next morning, breakfast was a heart-warming affair. There were others in the breakfast room munching happily, but we didn’t see a table with food, so after some standing uncertainty we assumed that someone must have served them and found a table in the corner against the windows. Sure enough, after a few minutes a gentleman with a bushy mustache greeted us and took orders for tea and coffee. Several minutes later he returned with a basket overflowing with a variety of breads and jellies, accompanied with pots of hot drinks. Simple and satisfying. We tore the bread while watched by a mustachioed head carved in wood on a post in the corner (looked disturbingly like our kindly host).

Our first activity was to walk the wall around the city. The wall has been rebuilt with tourist money through a brilliant marketing campaign. Individuals or businesses were able to sponsor the refurbishment of sections of the wall; stones carved with the names of the donors mark the number of feet that were paid for. The city is very popular with Japanese tourists; it was humorous to see that several feet of wall were sponsored by an international airport in Japan (making sure that the tourist destinations are in good condition to keep their planes filled). It was quite fun to stroll the wooden walkway, 10 feet from the ground, underneath a wooden roof, peaking through the vertical archer slits. At the southern gate there were extensive defense towers. A large circular tower had ramps to allow cannons to be pulled up by horses and arranged in a wide hall wrapping the tower for maximum effect. Near the main eastern gate we climbed a tall tower, up several stories of wooden stairs that zig-zagged through mostly empty space broken only by wooden floors stretched inside the square, stone tower. Above we were treated to fine views of the red-roofed homes, shouldering snuggly along the curving streets.

Leaving the wall on the north-west, we walked through town to the St Jacob’s church, stopping along the way for pictures of immaculate flower displays and interesting doors and windows. We did find one house that appeared to have been abandoned for some time, with dirty windows and junk piled high inside. St Jacob’s contains an intricate wood carving called the Altar of the Holy Blood. It shows the last supper, with Jesus giving Judas a piece of bread (Judas is prominent at the center of the arrangement, but his carving is removable and he is taken out of the display during particular times of the year). Outside the church we stopped for lunch on the outdoor patio of a nearby restaurant.

In the afternoon, dad and I visited a Crime and Punishment museum. This was a fabulous collection of historic and bizarre medieval artifacts. I found most interesting the descriptions of medieval punishments for minor crimes. There were funny masks that those who were rude or loud-mouthed would wear, pictorial demonstration of how a man and women would be allowed to fight to resolve a conflict (with the man in a hole up to his waist), the double neck violin that quarrelsome women would be put in face-to-face, and a description of “unroofing the house” which was done when a wife beat her husband, the husband was therefore not worthy of having a roof on his house. There was also an iron maiden, although in the opinion of the curators, the original iron maidens did not have spikes; they were simply a confined space. The spikes were said to be a dramatic addition long after the iron maiden was out of use. We also took a long walk through the valley below the city, passing by Toppler castle (more like a small house, elevated from the ground).
In the evening we joined a huge crowd following the Night Watchman tour, led by an appropriately dressed watchman carrying a wicked pickaxe. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing the history of the city from this colorful chap. The city of Rothenburg was only taken by force one time. The walls and elevated location were an effective barrier against hostiles. The only time that an attack was successful was when one of the Rothenburg soldiers entered the powder tower that was located in the wall with a lighted torch. Surrender was quick given the wide gap created in the defenses. Similar to Bruges, Belgium, Rothenburg was a wealthy city situated on critical trade routes in the middle ages. But eventually the position lost its value and the city was abandoned for hundreds of years before tourism brought it back to life.