Rothenburg ob der Tauber -- Revisited

Nate and I have had some interesting discussions about Germany and places we’ve traveled and would like to see again. Having both been to Germany during our high school years, we have stories and our old pictures, some that are in the same areas.

Nate’s group never went to Rothenburg, but I always remembered that I liked the town. The pictures I looked back were not so good, and really do not do the town any justice. Looking at them almost made me wonder if I remembered the right city. So, as a beautiful day was here, we traveled about an hour and a half to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, “Rothenburg over the Tauber.”

The town is on a plateau overlooking the Tauber River. It was bombed during WWII, but they gave up the town as to not be destroyed. The town was quickly rebuilt and is quite a tourist place now. They also make these schneeballen , snowballs, which are deep-fried dough balls sprinkled with powdered sugar or covered in chocolate.

Packing up the dog, we grabbed our cameras and hit the road. What started out as a lovely day, turned a little cloudy as we drove towards Nurnberg. Great. Neither one of us had jackets, so it would be perfect if it started to rain. Driving in and out of road construction, we made it to Rothenburg, and most of the clouds were gone. Although when we arrived we noticed that they had a race going on through town, which had a few shops open, perfect for buying a couple little things.

We headed through the city wall, not what I remembered, but intriguing. I knew at some point I’d remember more, but the rediscovery was fun. We climbed the stairs to the top of the wall. It seemed as though we could walk all around the town from the top of the wall. Half attempted to start we took a few pictures and climbed back down to walk through town.

Meandering through the people running and a stop a linen store we made it to more of a pedestrian area. We were in awe of the beautiful buildings, the kind you picture in your head when you think Germany. The houses were made of large beams and a plaster in shades of green, yellow and pink. The roads were tiny cobble stone paths, barely wide enough for cars.

Two small tables outside a restaurant called to us, as we were starving from not having lunch yet. Osu sat patiently while we ate, watching the people on the street. After finishing and throwing Osu a few fries, we wandered down the street and found some festivities for the half marathon and headed back in the other direction.

Ah, we’d found the city I remembered. The wide open square with the old Rathaus, that’s where my picture was taken 11 years ago. There was a small stand selling fruits and vegetables, a fountain, and a lot of people. Seems they all came out since the clouds had gone. We wandered down to the church with no scaffolding and then into a shop with sketches and paintings. We bought two more additions for our walls at home, a Europe map from 1572 and a sketch of Rothenburg's famous Plonlein street. The wonderful lady also told us some cool history of the drawings and town.

We headed down the street to a park outside the West Gate for a few

pictures, and then back down to the famous street corner. A violinist was playing and people were eating their ice cream. The building behind the player is in the picture we bought. To determine when the picture was drawn, you look at the beams on the second floor. If they are ‘X’s then it was after the reconstruction in the 1950 or 1960s, but if still bowed, then they are the original beams. It’s funny the things you learn from the towns people, if you happen into the right shops.

After a few more pictures it was getting late in the afternoon. We had much more to see and discover, but it’s not too far from home. Next time we’ll leave earlier in the morning, as it is an all day tour.

*Nate has added his photos from Rothenburg to his Flickr site. You can find them HERE