Rothenburg ob der Tauber - September 12-15
Thursday September 12 - Our first stop this morning was at the Hotel Gasthof am See, on Lake Forggensee. It was a cold, cloudy morning, and the lake was beautiful. There was a church and cemetery next to the hotel, and we explored that for a while. What’s with all these cemeteries on our trip?
Today, Bill and Karen got to experience the German autobahn for the first time as we headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I think Bill was surprised when I was traveling 140km (84 mph), and a car flew by us like we were standing still. Our GPS brought us right to Hotel Sonne, but we didn’t know it. We were at the back side, and there were no signs. A quick exploration on foot, and we soon found our bearings.
The hotel was fabulous. It was located just down the street from the main square. Our rooms were next to each other, in an area that was separate from the other rooms in the hotel. After checking in, we ventured out to explore the small town within the walls. Our first stop was Waffenkammer, a small shop with lots of unique items. There were suits of armor, knives, clothing from medieval times and lots more. There was even a small tavern in the basement.
As we continued walking, we came across the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas Market store. She actually has two stores, across from each other. If you can’t find what you want related to Christmas here, you’ll never find it. The stores are amazing!
Friday September 13 - Our first morning in Hotel Sonne, Jeri and Blaine headed down for the breakfast buffet. We were greeted by Arleta, the owner of the hotel. She led us to a table by the window, where we noticed a placard on the table which read Familie:Canfield. What a nice touch. Bill and Karen soon joined us as we made a plan for the day. Arleta had suggested a walk on the wall surrounding the city, so we headed out to do that.
Dating to 1142, these walls of stone protected the young trading center here and a royal castle. Rothenburg expanded to become the second largest city in Germany by 1400, partly due to its security within the wall. Walking the 2-mile-long wall today gives you a roof-level view of Rothenburg. You see the jumble of wooden gables and steeples that tower over the streets.
After our wall walk, we stopped at the local grocery store down the street from our hotel. Blaine wanted to buy some Baileys to add to our coffee drinks. Blaine also purchased a mini lemon schneeballen (snowball in English) from the Brot and Zeit bakery, also down the street from our hotel. Blaine and Jeri had tried these on our previous visit in 2010, and we remembered them as being dry and flavorless. If you look at the schneeballen, you expect them to be soft like a donut, so I guess that’s why we were disappointed before. Blaine found the schneeballen to have more flavor than before., but it was still pretty dry. We found a table outside our hotel and ordered some cappuccino drinks, which we spiced up with Baileys. A nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon.
We had a delicious dinner at Hotel Sonne, where we were waited on by Arleta’s daughter, Isabella. Like her mother, she did a great job. Very friendly and outgoing. We finished just in time to head over to the square for the Night Watchman tour.
Each night during the tourist season, with his eyebrows frozen in a raised position, Hans Georg Baumgartner, the night watchman listens to the clock tower clang nine times. Then he winks, picks up his Hellebarde (long-poled ax), and lights his lantern. He looks believably medieval in his black robe, long curly hair, and scraggly beard. But the twinkle in his eyes admits, "I'm one of you."
With an insider's grin he begins: "It was a bad job, being medieval Rothenburg's night watchman — low esteem, low pay, dangerous work. Only two jobs were lower: the grave digger and the executioner. Yes, this was a dangerous job. All the good people were off the streets early. He would sing the 'all's well' tune at the top of the hour through the night. You didn't want to hear the night watchman at three in the morning, but you were glad he was still alive.
As we were heading back to our hotel, we discovered am art exhibit by the town square. There was American music emanating from inside, so naturally we had to investigate. What a fun way to end the evening.
Saturday September 14 - Karen got up early to buy some schneeballen. Blaine had only purchased a small mini the day before and Karen wanted to try some with her morning coffee. She bought the big ones, so we had to cut them up. They were not as dry when you dip them in your coffee, but still not as good as a maple donut or two!
After breakfast, we walked to the Medieval Crime Museum. The museum is one of Germany`s most important collections of legal history. The highlight of this museum is its exploration into the unusual law enforcement techniques used by local rulers in medieval and early modern times, such as torture instruments, shame punishments or instruments to execute corporal punishments or death penalties. Numerous displays, as well as original documents, seals and law books from the 13th - 19th centuries show the development of law in past centuries.
Some of the punishments were pretty funny and others were downright sadistic. The shame masks were probably one of my favorites.
After seeing those exhibits, we needed some refreshments. It was time to hit our favorite little wine bar, Reichsstadt-Vinothek weinglut glocke. (which means Imperial city wine shop weeping bell) A mouthful. Did I forget to mention we had visited this place our first day in Rothenburg?
Sunday September 15 - We packed our bags, went down for breakfast, and then off to our next adventure in Bernkastel-Kues.
