Going Medieval In Rothenberg (June 10th-11th)

Today ended my journey through Europe with Bethel Choir, and here begins my journey throughout Germany. I have returned to the motherland. Earlier, when I had first arrived in Germany I felt my Germanic blood welling up within me. I felt happier to be in Germany. The closer I got to my roots, the happier I had become. Today was a bittersweet day. I was sad to part with my dear friends from choir, but I was also excited to see more of the country that I had only seen little of.

The day began very chill. I had breakfast and packed up some final things in my bags. By late morning we loaded the buses and drove to the air port. From there we said goodbye to our guide Natalia and our bus drivers. We waited outside for a time and and went into get our tickets in small groups.  Getting our tickets took a really long time. They had very few people working, and the people that helped us were in a sour mood. Once we finally boarded the plane we flew to Frankfurt. Once we landed I said some goodbyes and parted ways. While the choir went through a passport check and to connect with their flight home, I went to baggage claim and waited for my bags. Once I got my bags I located my mother outside of baggage claim and we got into our luxury Skoda car. It was very spacious.

We began our journey heading towards the medieval walled city of Rothenberg. We struggled to find our hotel as we had not figured out how to use the navigation on our dash. Once we found the hotel, we were quite pleased with the accommodations. It was a small local hotel/bed and breakfast. It was a cozy room. We would be in that room/apartment for 2 nights. After we settled in we walked outside of the wall and went out to eat at a place just across the street. I ate this schweinhaxe, which was a fried pork knuckle. It was really good and really crispy.

Gastof Rodertor

When we walked back into town, my sister and I walked along the wall back to our hotel. We walked along some of the streets exploring a small part of the city. After a brief walk we went back to the hotel. I relaxed and journaled.

Rodertor - one of the gates into Rothenberg

Walking along the wall

I'm pretty sure I saw this as a postcard

View from the wall

The next day was going to be spent solely in Rothenberg. We had plans to go to Wurzburg and Nurenberg, but we realized that we would have very little time in Rothenberg because of driving. We began our day with a lovely breakfast made by the hotel owner. He makes the best hot chocolate that I have ever drank. Im pretty sure I drank an entire pot myself. We left the hotel and decided to walk the wall. We were hoping to get all the way around. I don't think we walked around the entire thing, but we did at least half of it.

Above and down the walkway

This went on for a long time

I would not mind having one of these leading up to my house (or castle)

Amphitheater - It would be pleasant to see a medieval play in this setting

Once we left the wall we began exploring the town. We ventured into a park area where we could see the other side of Rothenberg. It was a bit foggy having rained the night before but the view was pretty amazing. I took pictures like these throughout the day, in various lighting situations, and in various colors. 

My dad and I went into the Criminal Museum of Torture. Torture is not something that my mother likes. Being a medievalist, I would appreciate it. I thought it was funny that there were school groups that had come to the museum for a visit and the students were really excited. What 10-11 year old kid gets excited to see torture? My guess is that the spikes and other things like that look cool.

Iron Maiden 

The Spiked Chair - This was used primarily for threats. The sight of it alone elicited confessions. I mean, who would want to sit on this?

Spiked Wrist Cuffs - used for breaking wrists. Twist the screw and it gets tighter

Straw Wreath - was for dishonorable and immoral girls. Women who had to wear this wore it on their wedding day as they were guided through the black gate. These women were not allowed to get married in the church. They were either married outside of the church or in an inn. Not all things were meant to be painful.  

Shame Mask - people who wore this were guilty of  being a pig

Chastity Belt "It's an Everlast" (Robin Hood Men In Tights) - it looks really uncomfortable. It was meant to keep men out and women pure for their husbands while they were gone, although the men probably did not keep themselves from being with other women.

My sister and I walked around while my parents went to go take a nap at the hotel. In my opinion, the best times are when you are exploring and you find things that you did not know where there. If I stayed on the path without stepping off, I would have missed so many things.

lovely garden

If anyone cares at all for Christmas, they have probably heard the of Kathe Wohlfahrt. There are Kathe Wohlfahrt stores all across the world. Rothenberg is where it all began. Here, and in every other Kathe Wohlfahrt stores, Christmas is every day, every hour, and every minute of every year. Outside it was June, inside it was December.

My family has a painting of this same view in our basement

Later that evening my family and I went on the Night Watchmen Tour. This tour is done every night, every day of the year rain or shine. This tour is not done through the city, but rather a lone man. He has been doing this for many years. And let me tell you, this guy makes bank. He makes at least 8-12 euros per person. My tour had around 100 people in it. He said most nights and most groups were around that number. This would not be a bad gig for me.

The Night Watchman pretends that he is one of the 6 Night Watchmen of Rothenberg. Their job is to watch the streets after sun down and blow their horn if they see a fire. A fire is the worst fear for medieval people. Most towns were made of wood. Wood + Fire = Bad News. Anyway, he told us of the history of Rothenberg. He explained that through the Middle Ages Rothenberg was a gem of Europe. It was a major hub of activity. But come the 30 years war in the 1630's, Rothenberg (a protestant city) was besieged by the Catholic Johann Tserclaes who wanted to use Rothenberg to house his 40,000 men. Well the people of Rothenberg did not allow entrance. In a sad turn of events, a soldier walked into the gun powder tower along the wall with a torch, and blew up a section of the wall. Rothenberg then surrendered. The town was plundered, and throughout the rest of the war, Rothenberg let in whoever wanted to use it. Rothenberg thus was left empty and poor which allowed Rothenberg to preserve its 17th century state. This is the reason why Rothenberg is so well preserved. They simply lacked the money to modernize. I personally have never thought of this as a reason why something is preserved. I know that war can cause economic strife, but I never imagined that it would preserve a town for nearly 2 centuries. In fact, it was not until the 1920's and 30's that Rothenberg became the destination for tourists.

Later during WWII, Rothenberg was occupied by a small army of German soldiers. The US air force ordered a bombing of Rothenberg. The officer in charge of the raid would have preferred not to destroy the city. He knew of Rothenberg because his mother had been a tourist and loved the town. Basically, the man feared the wrath of his mother for having destroyed the town. Instead he offered the low ranking officer in charge of Rothenberg to leave and they would not be destroyed. The Germans flex and the US moved in and thus saving Rothenberg from destruction. They also managed to turn out all lights and thanks to some strange weather conditions, Rothenberg was saved from another bombing later in the way.

When the tour was at a close, we passed a pub called Hell. The Night Watchman told us of a story that if someone saw you stumbling around after dark (because you were drunk), they would yell "Go back to Hell." This did not reference Hell itself, but rather the pub. I'm not certain that this is true, but it surely is a good story.