Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany - Bavaria - Drei

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Rothenburg, a German medieval walled town.

In a previous posting I wrote about the clock tower story, but more interesting than watching the clock is watching the people watch the clock.


Inside St. Jakob's Church is the 12 Apostles altar from 1546. It is permanently left in its open festival-day position.

Inside St. Jakob's Church is the 500 year old "Altar of the Holy Blood" by Tilman Riemenschneider.

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During the day Rothenburg is busy with tourists, but Catherine and I spent the night and practically had the town to ourselves.

Examples of Schneeballen, a Rothenburg specialty that is a terrible tasting pastry.

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany - Bavaria - Zwei

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Rothenburg is a pleasant medieval village. Here Catherine pretends she has her own motorized bike.

Catherine and I took a tour of Rothenburg with Hans Georg Baumgartner, "The Night Watchman".



A closer look at the town clock that commemorates the event in 1631 when the walled town was under siege from the Imperial forces of Count Tilly. Count Tilly told the city that he would spare them if anyone could drink a tankard containing a gallon of wine in one drink. The mayor successfully took the challenge and the city was saved. The clock also has a sun dial above the regular clock.

Catherine and I always got a kick out of seeing the little "Smart" cars in Europe.

This is what it looks like when you don't have a tripod and you put the camera on the ground to take a picture. At least it is a picture of the two of us in Rothenburg.

When we were driving to Rothenburg we saw a breed of cow we had never seen before. When we were in Rothenburg we saw the truck below with a drawing of this cow and I was able to do some research to discover that this region of Bavaria has cattle from the local Hohenlohe breeds of Limpurger, Fleckvieh and red-yellow Franconian

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You can see part of the medieval wall that protected Rothenburg.

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany - Bavaria

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a well-preserved medieval walled town. The name Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a shortened version of Rothenburg oberhalb der Tauber that means Rothenburg over the Tauber. That is because the town is located on top of a mount overlooking the Tauber river. The name Rothenburg comes from the German words Rot (Red) and Burg (burg, medieval fortified town), referring to the red colour of the roofs of the houses which overlook the river. Rothenburg is the inspiration for the village in Walt Disney's story of Pinocchio. Most of the surviving buildings in Rothenburg were built in the 1400's.

View of the skyline of Rothenburg.

Catherine pretending to be sleepy.

Catherine and I had a small, but very nice room at the Hotel Kloster-Strüble.

A famous street in Rothenburg at Koboldzellersteig and Spittalgasse.

Part of the wall around Rothenburg.

We had a very nice dinner at the Hotel Kloster-Strüble.

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This building is the Ratstrinkstube, and it contains a clock which re-enacts the historic meistertrunk daily. According to legend, the meistertrunk commemorates the event in 1631 when the walled town was under siege from the Imperial forces of Count Tilly. Count Tilly told the city that he would spare them if anyone could drink a tankard containing a gallon of wine in one drink. The mayor successfully took the challenge and the city was saved. The clock re-enacts the event hourly.

Town Hall Square of Rothenburg.

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Murten, Switzerland - Part II

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them. A town wall that encircles the town provided protection. The almost entirely preserved wall, the only one in Switzerland which you can walk all the way round, has offered visitors a great view of the nearby lake and the roofs of the Old Town.

Lake Murten with its swans.

The medieval town of Murten on the south-east bank of the Lake Morat has preserved its original appearance, with the alleyways of the Old Town and the shady arcades. In the evening, you can watch the sunset over the lake, with great views of Mont Vully and the Jura.

We had a nice dinner at the Hotel Murtenhof overlooking the Lake Morat.



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