This man might be the most famous man in Rothenburg ob der Tauber! He's the Night Watchman and every evening, he gives an entertaining tour of the city. He's been doing it for over twenty years and he's quite good at what he does. We enjoyed his humor and had fun on his tour. He shared the history of the walled city and told many stories.
Below is one of the main streets in Rothenburg. It's lined with cute little shops and bakeries. I loved the style of the homes and the overall feel of the town.
This is the Town Hall tower (on the white building). It's the tallest spire in the town and is part of the old Town Hall, which is a 13th-century building. Part of it burned down in 1501, so a new Town Hall was rebuilt next to it (the building closest to the square). In front of the buildings is Market Square.
This is St. Jakob's Church. It's famous for it's intricately carved Altar of the Holy Blood.
The church was surrounded with amazing wood carvings, inside and out.
This is considered to be the "most wonderful wood carving in all of Germany." It was impressive. I cannot even imagine the patience and artistic talent that went into creating such a masterpiece! It's 500 years old, 35 feet high and absolutely beautiful.
Below is a scene from the last supper. There's just so much detail!
There were other pieces of furniture carved into wood that decorated the church. I especially liked the one below. The banister and stairs leading up to the pulpit were really amazing.
I've decided I love the way organs look. I'm not such a fan of the way they sound.
The front of the church. . .
This tower is part of the old town wall.
Heading out through one of the main entrances. . .
You can't see it in this photo, but that massive door has a little man-door carved into it. Back in the day, the city gate was closed at night. If you missed curfew, you could possibly bribe the guard to let you back in through the man-door.
Backside of the tower. Notice the scary face close to the entrance.
On the other side of this wall was a cliff. The people used the cliff as part of their fortress so they didn't have to build the city wall as high in that area.
Looking out on the countryside. . .
I loved this view.
Such a cool city. It was almost destroyed at the end of WWII, but there's a story that says an American officer stopped the bombings because he had fond memories of his mother telling him stories of Rothenburg when he was a child. Because he knew the rich history of the city, he halted the bomb raids on this medieval town.
Part of the castle garden area.
This was my favorite part of Rothenburg. . . climbing and walking along the city wall.
The wall around part of the city has been preserved and in some areas, reconstructed. You can walk along about a mile and a half of it. It's great for getting a view of the city and it kind of makes you feel like you're living in medieval times. The height is just a little over six feet, so we were able to walk around without banging our heads.
I loved this.
People donated money to have the wall rebuilt and other people have their names engraved in stones in the wall for donating money for the maintenance of the wall. People from all over the world have given their resources to maintain this city.
This is one of the steep staircases leading up to the wall!
A view from the wall. . .
Rothenburg was a cute little town. We visited the massive Christmas store and found ourselves a nice nutcracker. It reminded me of the nutcracker my mom had when I was a child. When I was little, I wasn't interested in the history of the toys I was playing with. Now I wish I could talk to my mom so she could tell me the stories behind some of her souvenirs from Germany! Every day I was there, I was reminded of her in some way.
No comments:
Post a Comment