We arrived in Rothenburg on Saturday only to realize we didn’t get the memo that costumes were required for entry into the walled city. We literally had to fight crowds of merry men and women gathering on street corners singing songs, playing medieval flutes and drums or walking carts loaded up with animals, carpets and dirty-looking children. We eventually found our hotel (Hotel Spitzweg) and it was impossibly cute, just like the town. Our room was a suite with two bedrooms and a huge bathroom. Jim thought that perhaps he stayed here as a child with his parents (although after reading Alison’s blog entries, it seems Jim has a lot of these moments that don’t turn out to be accurate).
We unpacked the car and took off to investigate the cute town. After mere moments the sun came out and Alison and Jim went back to the hotel to grab sunglasses only for the sun to disappear once again. We walked around exploring the nooks and crannies and happened upon a little medieval market with people selling clothing (that you would only want to wear if you were attending the renaissance festival) jewelry and beer in vessels. We decided to have a snack called a Flammkuchen which a flatbread with bacon, cheese and green onions.
That evening we gathered in the main square for the much recommended and very entertaining walking tour led by Rothenburg's medieval "Night Watchman." A thousand years of history is packed between the cobbles. I made Alison take a picture with him, but alas her eyes were closed. He told a number of interesting historic ancetodotes including one of the town’s survival during WWI. In March 1945 in World War II, Nazi soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, allied bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 39 people and destroying 306 houses, six public buildings, nine watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg from his mother’s visit many years prior, so he ordered US Army Generals not use artillery in taking Rothenburg. The local military commander ignored the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and gave up the town, thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. McCloy was named Honorable Protectorate of Rothenburg. After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage. Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world. The rebuilt walls feature commemorative bricks with donor’s names.
After the tour the town was really quiet and peaceful. We stopped into an Italian restaurant and enjoyed some okay Italian food and some fine Franconian wine.
The next morning we packed up the car and after breakfast drove to park outside the city walls. Our host had warned us that the city was going to be closed to car traffic that day until 6. Sunday was a big celebration day with parades and music and (somewhat disturbing) canon firings. The town filled up to capacity within hours and we were glad we got an early start to walk the wall without too much of a crowd. Along the way we stopped at the Medieval Torture museum which had great English descriptions and an amazing collection of historical legal documents, and grisly torture instruments.
For lunch we decided to let mom try her precious currywurst, the one sausage to rule them all. After looking for a few restaurants that had moved or were closed we settled on a popular sausage stand that had a line going out the door. Unfortunately, the famed currywurst did not live up to the hype for our mother.
After our sausage filled lunch, we went to tour the Christmas museum which was oddly empty except for us. Walking through the museum, I was surprised to discover how many of our Christmas traditions come from Germany. The tradition of bringing in a fir tree and decorating it with ornaments originated in Germany. The museum had a great collection of old ornaments, Christmas Cards, advent calendars and nativity scenes. Being crazy about Christmas, my mom, sister and I loved it, but Jim didn’t share our enthusiasm. The description of the exhibit talked about some Nazi era ornaments and care packages sent to soldiers during WWII. I think he was expecting more war related items.
After the museum, Mom and Stacy did some marathon ornament shopping, while Jim and I waited outside at a café.
We decided to climb the city hall tower for some great views of the city before filling up on some more Flammkuchen and heading to Frankfurt. We decided to take the scenic route to Frankfurt along the Romantic Road which weaved through picturesque German villages and countryside. We got lost a few times due to construction and finally stopped at a gas station so that we (we being Stacy and me because Jim is vehemently opposed to asking for directions) could ask for directions.
Headed in the right direction, we stopped in Wurzburg for a tasting of Franconian wine and a late snack. I’d like to go back to the city for a longer visit because it looked really charming. Unfortunately, it was already late so the palace which is considered the Franconian Versailles was already closed for the day along with most of the other sites.
We ended our 2 week tour of Northern Europe in a Ibis Hotel about 5 minutes from the airport and across from a strip mall. Scenic it was not but it was very convenient for an early flight the next day.
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