Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is THE key city on Germany's "Romantic Road".  It is Germany's best preserved medieval walled city and a MUST stay in my opinion.  We spent Monday and Tuesday nights in this fantastic village.

The City Wall of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

This portion of the city wall is right next to our hotel and we would eventually walk the entire wall.

For only 40 Euros you too could take a horse drawn ride around the ancient city -- we didn't.

One of the Rothenburg's City Gates

Klingengasse 9

The Feuerleinserker House built in 1501

We bought a ceramic copy of this beautiful home.

Käthe Wohlfahrt's Christmas Store

DANGER, DANGER...

The Nutcracker enticing you to enter

Käthe Wohlfahrt's Christmas Store

One of Käthe Wohlfahrt's AMAZING rooms!

This store is so big that Laurie LITERALLY got lost in it and could not find her way out for about fifteen minutes.

The hotel on the left was established in 1559.

That was 400 years before the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series in six games, L.A.'s first baseball championship!

A Scrabble "Triple Word Score" if I ever saw one!

Laurie and her hearts

Street Cafes are very cool in this truly romantic city.

The St. Georg Fountain

A personal favorite of course even if they dropped the last e!

The Night Watchman's Tour

The Night Watchman is Hans-Georg Baumgartner who took us on a GREAT one hour night time tour of the city.  He is both very funny and informative, a must when you visit here.

The Castle Gate

Our charming "Hobbit House" accomodations in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

We got the entire bottom floor for our two night stay which consisted of two rooms plus a spacios bath room.

Laurie at he door to the "Hobbit House"

The "Hobbit House's" front room

The "Hobbit House's" bedroom

The City Wall walk

If you are over six feet tall this can be a difficult walk, I only hit my head twice.  I wish they had more cut outs like this one for full figure guys!

An Interesting Roof Line

A lady basking by her Easter Egg tree 

Eating a local tradition, the Dark Chocolate Schneeballen

They love to decorate for Easter

Another interesting house near the "Hobbit House"

The Altar of the Holy Blood

St. Jakobskirche Church

This exquisite wood carving is 500 years old and is 35 feet tall.  It took Tilman Riemenshneider, the Michelangelo of German woodcarvers, five years (1499-1504) to finish it.  It is VERY impressive indeed! 

The Museum of Medieval Crime and Punishment

Having been a Criminal Justice teacher at Rio Mesa H.S. for many years, this museum was another must see spot.  Here we found an entire series of "Shame Masks" that the convicted had to wear around town for their various offenses as a form of ridicule. Each mask was specially made for a specific offense.

The mask over Laurie's shoulder was a "Shame Mask for talkative women, with a long tongue and long ears.  The bell rang upon each turning of the head."

The awe and wonder in a young boy's eyes at his first sighting of a series of medieval executioner's swords!

Can this fit in our carry-on bag?

We're Hungry!

The search for dinner on Monday night led us to this restaurant, "The Louvre", a French named German restaurant serving Japanese cuisine.  We decided this was too big a risk!

This place looked good

We decided instead on the restaurant that belonged to the "Hobbit House's" owner, the Altfränkische Weinstube am Klosterhof.  Now THAT'S a German name you can trust!

Salad for Laurie and Bratwurst for George

Two happy and fully satiated customers

Breakfast

Before leaving Rothenburg ob der Tauber we ate one last time at Altfränkische Weinstube am Klosterhof.  We were seated at a large table with these three lovely ladies who were also on vacation.  On the left is Jane who works in Germany as a teacher for the U.S. Department of Defense.  In the middle is Sue, a high school counselor and on the right is Glenda, a retired teacher.  They all used to work together in Pensacola, Florida and were enjoying a Spring Break reunion.

I can say that you MUST go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber on your next trip to Germany, the Jewel City of  "The Romantic Road" in my opinion!