Rothenburg

[Apologies in advance for the seemingly excessive amount of pictures on this page]

After Regensburg, we thought we would take a break and relax at our resort and do some laundry (I do hate bringing dirty clothes home). While waiting for our clothes to wash and dry, we perused the guide books to determine our next destination. Reading about Rothenburg, we learned that there was a nightwatchman's tour that should not be missed. So much for our break; we packed up and headed NW.

Rothenburg is an incredibly well preserved medieval city that is completely enclosed by walls, and the only entry is through one of its many tower gates. Having learned our lesson in other cities, we refused to listen to the navigation system's (and the hotel's) instructions to "Follow the next right," which we could clearly see would take us on a tiny road inside the city gates. Ignoring instructions to "Make a u-turn as soon as possible," we resolutely parked outside the city and walked in, dragging our bags behind us.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber (on the River) was a prosperous city on a major trade route. However, its excellent location also made it a constant plundering and pillaging target during the Thirty Years war between the protestants and catholics. It was also decimated by the plague. From these events, it never recovered. Because it never recovered, it never modernized and rebuilt and, thus, it retains its medieval city architecture.

We did take the nightwatchman's tour and one of the stories he tells is of the city's near destruction by the Allies during WWII to prevent the city from being occupied by German forces. After Allied bombing had destroyed part of the city, a high ranking US military official learned that further destruction was planned. Having heard fond stories of Rothenburg from his mother, who had once visited the city, he intervened. Instead of destruction, the city was given a choice to allow Allied forces to enter and occupy the city in advance of the German's arrival; they accepted the deal. The part of the city that was destroyed was repaired with donations from people all over the world--their names are located on plaques on the repaired city walls.

Everything in Rothenburg is picture-worthy and we took an insane number of pictures.

Rothenburg is also famous for the Heiligblut (Holy Blood) altar, which houses a cross of crystal that is said to encase a drop of Christ's blood.

Beneath the cross are detailed carvings of Christ with his disciples. Judas, with his bag of gold, is the central figure. His figure is removable, and he is removed from the sculpture for the three days prior to Easter.