This was our full day in Rothenburg. It was raining a bit at the
beginning of the day. We hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, so Sara
bought one. We started by going to one of the big
Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas stores which
the town is known for. This store had a huge decorated Christmas tree
inside -- probably 30 feet high -- and a Christmas pyramid of about the
same height. This pyramid was a large version of smaller pyramids which
they sell. They have candles around the outside. There is a center
column which has fins at the top which turn when the candles burn. Then
both the center (turning) part and the outside are decorated with a
nativity scene or angels or whatever. We ended up buying one later in
the day, pictured here.
After this we went to the medieval crime and punishment museum. Most
of the museum was showing the different ways which were used to punish
people a few hundred years ago. A lot of it was stuff I already knew
about (like the stocks), but there were some new ones too: the
"neck violin" is a piece of wood with a hole for somebody's
neck, and two more holes in front of it for their arms which get held up
in front of their face -- the three holes are all in a straight line.
The "double neck violin" puts two of these together and is
used for two people, so now there are six holes in a line and the two
people have to look at each other, but their hands are immobilized so
they can't actually fight. This was apparently used for quarrelling
women who would have to wear it until they made up. Another favorite
were the "masks of shame" which people would be forced to
wear. These metal masks were made to look like something matching the
crime that the person was being punished for.
Rothenburg has a legend (Meistertrunk) about how its mayor saved the
town: the city was reportedly overtaken at some point, and the attackers
were about to do the "rape and pillage" thing. But the mayor
made a bet with the leader of the intruders; if he could drink the
entire contents of their welcome cup of wine (over 3 liters -- about
¾ of a gallon) in one drink, they would let the town go free. He
succeeded, so the city was saved. Apparently this legend isn't actually
true, but several times per day the clock in the town square reenacts
the event, showing the mayor (to the right of the clock) drinking the
full cup as the leader of the attackers (on the left) looks on. This
reenactment isn't terribly impressive, but the story is good.
St James cathedral (St Jakobs in German) was rather interesting. The
front of the church is actually built over top of the street below,
although you don't really notice that from the inside.
I had never heard of "The Coronation of the Virgin Mary"
before, but like many of the churches we saw on our trip, they had an
altar for it (picture on the right). Another altar, located in the
back of the church behind the organ, was "The Altar of the Holy
Blood". This supposedly contains a drop of Jesus' blood. I'm not
quite sure how they learned that it was Jesus' blood. We weren't able
to get a decent picture, partly because a tour group came in just
after we got to it. I think the guide would have invited us to stay
and listen, except the tour was in German.
We did get a picture, but bought some postcards which showed a better
view. Unfortunately I can't scan those in due to copyright laws, so
you'll have to survive with our picture (on the left).
Another item Rothenburg is known for is the "Rothenburger
Schneebälle" (snowball). They take strips of pastry about an
inch wide and form a ball about the size of a softball. They come in
several different flavors. We tried cinnamon and amoretto. Okay, but
not something we'll be adding to our recipe box.
We also saw the Franciscan church, which is (I think) the oldest church
in the town. It wasn't nearly as fancy as St Jakobs, but it was nice.
They had a little nativity scene outside which we liked.
There used to be a castle in the city, but it burned down. Now there
are gardens in its place (called the castle gardens). They weren't
particularly exciting during the winter. We were also able to walk
along part of the city wall, which was fun. I don't think it would
have made a very good job though.
We had dinner at a little restaurant around 6:00 PM. This is rather
early by European standards, and we were the only ones there for the
first 20 minutes or so.
After dinner we went on the "night watchman's tour". The
city used to have night watchman which would have to go on their rounds
every night to make sure everything was okay. Now it is a tourist
attraction as the "watchman" takes people around with him and
explains (in English) what the city would have been like a few hundred
years ago. It was funny and informative. The current night watchman is a
bit more high-tech than the originals -- he has his own
web page.
