Medieval charm on Romantic Road

Rothenburg ob de Tauber

A medieval town trapped in time.

Rothenburg ob de Tauber is a small well-preserved medieval town in Germany. Towns in the medieval ages were surrounded by long and high walls, to protect them from their enemies; Rothenburg ob de Tauber is still protected by its walls today. During the the 1150 to 1400 century, this town was well known and important on the trade route along the now famous Romantic Road. It lies between Frankfurt and Munich and is buzzing with tourists all year long, especially during the summer.

Rothenburg survived the war because its political influence was lost centuries ago, and therefore had little importance on its outcome, which is why it was never attacked and still preserved from the Middle Ages. According to my travel Guru Rick Steves, it was worth the trip and deserved a nights stay to avoid the day tourists. After arriving I wasn't sure if my guru would be right on this one.

After arriving at my near-empty hostel, I settled in and went out to explore the city. It was about eight o'clock, but the sun was still out and by now I was used to bustling cities that didn't die down until after one in the morning. Expecting to see a little of that, I found out just how small Rothenburg ob de Tauber really was. I walked for about five blocks before I saw another human being. "Oh thank god," I thought to myself, " I'm not the only one in the town."

Most of the shops were closed and the streets were quite with an occasional car passing through. The old cobblestone streets amplified the echos of feet hitting the pavement making the town seem a little spooky at night. The sun was starting to give way as I arrived at the Market Square - the center of the town with the historic town hall and tower. Streets were barely lit by small dated street lamps worthy of the towns architecture. The "night watchman" was in the middle of his Nightwatchman Tour (which I recalled reading about in my travel book), as he held a single light for his "followers" to easily see him. Strangely it almost looked like a cult following their leader to the next mob attack only with middle-aged tourists using cameras as their weapons. I walked around for another hour, then called it a night.

The next day I was one with the other tourists. By the time I got back into town, all the tour buses had arrived and the place was swarming with people flashing their cameras left and right. I joined a tour guide to learn a little about the history of Rothenburg. Was it fascinating? Yes, but could I repeat it back to you? Probably not. It was fascinating to find out about how the town expanded its walls and the infamous political power struggles they used to have when they had power. Legend has it that back in 1631, the town was attacked by the Catholic army and when the mayor approached the general in a plea, they made a deal that if the mayor could drink an entire three-liter tankard of wine, the town would be spared. And so he saved the town by drinking his way out of it. True story? Still TBD. The outline the wall made around the city was also quite interesting, it formed the shape of a head with a large nose and open mouth.

Later, I trekked to Saint Jakob's Church, a Neo-Gothic style church with one of the best wood-carved altars in all of Germany. By now I've seen a million churches, but I have to say that the altar was quite impressive. Did people really hand-carve all that wood and stone back in the day? The patience of people from the former centuries for the sake of quality and beauty is truly amazing and it still boggles my mind.

To sum up the rest of my day, I had myself a Schneeballen treat or "Snowball," basically fried dough shaped in a ball and covered in sugar or chocolate. It looked pretty good in the window and was a somewhat satisfying treat.

Oh and how could I forget the Germany vs. Australia game, where the Germans beat the Aussies 4-0 and the local Germans in Rothenburg got crazy and paraded around the streets honking horns and waving flags. I wish I could be in Europe during every World Cup.