Steve Mueller's Digital Scrapbook

Europe 2002

Tuesday May 14
Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Leaving Bamberg, we headed south on the A73 Autobahn to the small town of Forchheim, and took Highway 470 west into the heart of Bavaria. Normally, this interchange wouldn't even be worth mentioning, except that we spent the better part of an hour trying to find Highway 470. German road signs are notoriously unreliable for guiding drivers from a larger highway to a smaller road. Given the language barrier, sometimes the most practical solution is simply to drive in circles looking for the road in question. At one point, we drove through a pedestrian zone. Rothenburg ob der Tauber Eventually, we arrived in what is arguably the most popular small town in Germany - Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg (pronounced ROE-ten-burg, there is no soft 'th' sound in German) is the unofficial capital of the Romantic Road (Romantische Straße), a tourist industry-designated route that connects dozens of picture-perfect medieval Bavarian villages separated by expansive pastoral landscapes. Germany's Romantic Road stretches 200 miles from the baroque-styled city of Würzburg in the north to Füssen, the home of Neuschwanstein castle, in the south. The route is an amalgamation of numerous rural roads, so one must be careful to follow the Romantische Straße signs at every junction. Although it is possible to visit this area by train, service is somewhat infrequent and conforming to the schedules would constitute a severe constraint on sightseeing, particularly if you wanted to see more than a single town. If visitor volume is a meaningful indicator, this aptly named scenic byway is probably the most picturesque route in Germany. It is estimated that the Romantic Road attracts more than two million travelers each year, many of whom regretfully decide that they have time to visit only one of the dozens of historic towns. Almost without exception, their choice is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This was our second visit to Rothenburg. Rothenburg ob der Tauber literally means Red Castle above the Tauber. Despite the fact that the castle collapsed during a 14th century earthquake, the name stuck. The Tauber refers to both the river, situated 180 feet below the town, and the valley along which Rothenburg is located. The view of Rothenburg from the Tauber Valley has no intervening modern developments (highways, etc.), and appears just as it did centuries ago when medieval travelers followed the river to the celebrated town. Rothenburg is a remarkably well-preserved medieval German town. Most of the buildings that exist today were built before 1400. The town prospered from the 12^th to the 15^th centuries because it was located at the intersection of several major European trade routes. After the Thirty Years War, a religious conflict that devastated much of central Europe, Rothenburg became economically depressed and essentially forgotten. For subsequent generations, however, this sudden change of fortune proved to be a blessing in disguise. A lack of prosperity prevented the town from being modernized. For centuries, the citizens of Rothenburg simply did not have the financial resources to demolish old buildings and replace them with new buildings. Virtually all travel documentaries and guide books on the subject of Germany include an obligatory image of this fortified town, sometimes advertised as the "Jewel of the Middle Ages." Rothenburg is a living museum of crooked cobblestone streets, defensive ramparts, and year-round Christmas markets. The Rothenburg "skyline" is a jumble of gable-sculpted red-tiled roofs disrupted by church steeples and watchtowers. Allegedly, the most photographed scene in Germany is a remote corner of Rothenburg known as the Plönlein, which means "little place." Our hotel, the Ringhotel Glocke, is located at the Plönlein. In the foreground of many Plönlein photographs the wrought-iron sign with a bell attached to the front of the Ringhotel Glocke is visible. We also stayed at this very hospitable establishment during our first visit to Rothenburg. Anyone wishing to develop a deep appreciation of this town should spend at least one night. The tourist crush can distract from the Rothenburg experience. At night, the town is almost eerily quiet. Despite the fact that Rothenburg was the 2nd largest German city during the Middle Ages, the historic portion of the town is surprisingly small. A moderately fit person could easily walk the longest (north-south) axis of the town in about ten minutes. The core of historic Rothenburg is the Marktplatz (Market Place), a small square located directly in front of the Town Hall. The Marktplatz is rimmed by patrician houses and full of history. It is also full of many tired, confused-looking tourists trying to decide what to see next. For the tourist, Rothenburg can be overwhelming. The degree of historic preservation in this town is nothing short of remarkable. Rothenburg is not a carefully restored replica, like Frankfurt or Nürnberg. The entire town is an authentic relic from the past. Virtually every structure within the defensive walls is historically genuine, in part, because Rothenburg survived both world wars with limited damage. Some criticize Rothenburg because it caters so thoroughly to the tourist. Admittedly, within the walls, all economic activity is directed toward tourism. There are no hardware stores, gasoline stations, or tanning salons. Those that are more interested in contemporary Europe than historic Europe are simply advised to look elsewhere. For now at least, it is unlikely that the citizens of Rothenburg will construct a tire factory next to the Markplatz to appease those who disapprove of happy tourists. Actually, there is one modern enterprise within the walls of Rothenburg- McDonalds. Although many Americans regard the golden arches as a virus that is slowly infecting the entire global community, the chain is thriving in Europe, mostly on the basis of local customers. Even a visitor as crass and oblivious as myself would hate to see the medieval core of Rothenburg marred by a bright yellow neon sign (think of the havoc it would wreak on my night photography). Fortunately, the Rothenburg version of McDonalds is tastefully subdued. This well camouflaged business, built into a centuries-old building with only a wrought-iron sign to indicate its presence, is the only inexpensive restaurant within the city fortifications that is open after 6:00 or 7:00 pm. Given the fact that our sightseeing patterns rarely made an earlier dinner feasible, we became familiar faces each evening at the Rothenburg McDonalds.
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More Images of Rothenburg and the Romantic Road