Our final day (and night) of vacation were spent in the adorable town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Which means "Red fortress above the Tauber (river)." This medieval city is very well preserved and completely enclosed behind a wall. Rothenburg dates back to 1170. This was a free city for centuries and allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted. It was during the Thirty Years War that the town was taken over, and Rothenburg was left with very little...including people. Then with the black death, the town became even more vacant which has left a well preserved 17th Century town for all of us to enjoy today. Thanks also to an American and German, the demands of Hitler were ignored, and this city was spared. Damage was done, but people from all over the world sent the town money to make repairs, and their names have been placed on plaques along the wall.
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| The kids are getting their first view over the wall. |
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| I might have to frame this one. |
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| You know...just hanging out ON the wall. |
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| The market place. This orange building is their glockenspiel, and it was really lame. :) |
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| More of those bouncy toys they loved in Salzburg. |
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| A yummy treat that is a favorite in Rothenburg. I give it a six. Belgium chocolate and waffles are way better! |
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| She found her knight in shining armor! |
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| It's just adorable! |
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| The pigeons made good use of the fountain in the town square. |
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| His cool new sword. |
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| Outside the Christmas museum. My mom would have loved this place! |
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| That's a mouthful! |
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| The first flight of steps up to our room. |
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| And the second flight... |
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| We had the penthouse. :) |
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| The Night Watchman Tour. This guy was the best. He told us all about the history of Rothenburg on a night walk around the city. |
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| The little door where people could enter the city after curfew. It was too dangerous to open the big doors to the city, so people would be allowed in through here. But, it was very expensive to come in too late. |
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Thomas in our room. See those tiny doorways...Chris hit his head no less than five times. :)
And, that concludes our Germany/Austria adventure of 2012. Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Wendy |
thanks Wendy, it was like almost being there... you are living the dream girl, well at least my dream anyway!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with all of the cool and fun things you find to do in every town/city. I wish I could travel with you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to share your adventures! I love seeing all the pictures and hearing about your travels. When I went to Germany in 2009 to visit my sister we spent a day in Rothenburg as well. Pretty sure I have a picture with this same large nutcracker :-)
ReplyDeleteHope that Chris did not require stitches, Wendy, after hitting his head so many times! That Night Watchman of Rothenburg looks like quite the interesting character!! I believe I saw him on one of Rick Steve's travel shows.
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