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| We arrived September 4th and walked through the streets of Rothenburg, fighting jetlag to discover what this little city had to offer. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is an authentic medieval village, including the original city wall. Here are a few glimpses of the city, including the city hall, a church with a street passing underneath it, and some typical picturesque streets and alleys. |
| Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany September 4th, 2004 |
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| The city hall was the site of many festivities to celebrate the Meistertrunk, the mayor who drank 3.25 liters of wine in one chug to save the city from being burned. By invading French troops. |
| We unknowingly picked the best weekend of the year to visit Rothenburg. Besides the Meistertrunk festival with plays, music, and other re-enactments, the day we arrived was the also the day of commemoration when the city was partially burned by the man who guarded the gun powder. He accidentally checked on the the powder tower at night - with a torch. Fireworks and smoke re-enacted the event. |
| These "soldiers" marched around the city singing a song about their battles and their return to the city. They stopped at various locations throughout Rothenburg to sing and receive wine and food for their efforts. Other residents in full costume served the food and then treated us with music (below). |
| No trip to Rothenburg would be complete without a visit to the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum, We suggest ,however, attempting this only after getting over jetlag - otherwise this is where they put you. |
| Our train was delayed a few minutes because this steam engine came rolling into town. You can see the engineer shoveling coal on the right. |
| Once the tourists all left, we had nearly free reign of the city wall. It's larger than we thought! Here Marianne is at the wall looking out over the valley with the Tauber River running down the middle. |
| If you arrive in Rothenburg and the residents tell you to "Go the Hell!" consider it a good recommendation. Hell is a quaint restaurant that stays open late with foundations from the early 900s AD. |
| Above is a view from our flour-mill-converted-youth-hostel (on the left). We started our wall walk here. The erosion of the stone steps below illustrates the age of this structure. |
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| Now it's back to the Youth Hostel: Marianne and her 7 female roommates and Doug with his 3 male roommates. No worries - we didn't sleep much! We made it through our first day!!!! To continue your virtual tour, follow the links to the cities at the top or bottom of this page, or simply click next |
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| Rothenburg |