Day 19 - Friday, May 16, 2025 - Rothenburg ob de Tauber and Wurzburg Germany

By Ellen Outten

 

The medieval town of Rothenburg ob de Tauber 

Today I took a separate, different tour than Wayne took. My tour left at 9:30 am

We took the back roads through the Bavarian countryside with our guide pointing out various aspects of life in the little villages. There are vast fields, crops like corn, wheat, canola are being grown. 

There are no farmhouses in sight. For protection in the middle ages, people lived in small villages close to each other to assist during frequent battles. They would not live outside the villages on their farms as they would have been susceptible to harm without support needed to ward off marauders.

We arrived at Rothenburg ob de Tauber at about 10:30. The city was founded approximately 950 AD. . Our guide walked us through this medieval village. It is one of only four towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls.  

The walled city of Rothenburg 
Entering the town



Some of the street views












We stopped by the church but did not go in.  Some of our group did on their free time, but I didn't.




The walls date to 1142, and are made of stone and protected the trading center and a royal castle. Rothenburg expanded to become the second largest city in Germany by 1400, partly due to its security within the wall.

The walkway is 2-mile-long and gives you a roof-level view of Rothenburg. You see the jumble of wooden gables and steeples that tower over the streets.

After climbing up, this is the walkway that you travel 






You have to climb up a stone staircase and then you can actually walk around the city. The citizens could fight off invaders. There was even people who held the job of night watchmen. They locked up the gates each night to make sure the town didn't get invaded.

Rothenburg was a free imperial city from the late Middle Ages to 1803.   In 1884 they could wage war, make peace, and control their own trade, and they permitted little interference from outside. 

The town was heavily Protestant and during the 30 Years War of 1631, the Catholics defeated them.  The Catholic troops left the town poor and nearly empty, and in 1634 the bubonic plague outbreak killed many more townsfolk. Without any money or power, Rothenburg stopped growing, thus preserving its 17th-century state.

It looks, today, just like it did in the 17th century.  Building codes help as no one is permitted to fix the outside NOR THE INSIDE without permission.















We had lunch in a restaurant in town and then had two hours of our own to explore.

Our lunch place 

This was a cabbage roll filled with pork and mashed potatoes 

I found a quilt store and while the fabric wasn't interesting, I bought a few fat quarters.  The I went for a walk on the path , up on the highway walls of the city.

A little shopping afterward and it was time to get back on the bus.

Wayne told me I had to go into a store, Kathy Wohlfahrt, a Christmas store.  It had every imaginable ornament you could imagine.



A butcher's window.  They boast 300 different sausages.

Our day wasn't over yet.  We drove back to Wurzburg on the autubon (no maximum  speed limit) and made it in under an hour to the 18th-century, Wurzburg Palace. 

The former residence of the Würzburg prince-bishops is one of the most important baroque palaces in Europe. It was begun for Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn. The shell of the palace was built from 1720 to 1744 and the interior completed in 1780. 

On March 16, 1945, only a few weeks before the end of WWII, an air raid destroyed 90 percent of the Würzburg old town. The Palace was almost completely burnt out.  From 1945 to 1987, the building and its interiors were reconstructed to their current state. The rebuilding cost about €20m

We received a tour of the palace with our guide. I have to say our guide today was absolutely amazing. Born in the area, she took a job with Siemens and moved to Atlanta where she met her husband and lived there raising her kids until she was needed here in Germany to take care of her parents. She spoke very well even with her heavy German accent and there wasn't a question she couldn't answer.


















Our guide called this the OMG room. Filled with mirrors and gold leaf.


Finally back to the ship, and a short rest before dinner and bed. 11,000+ steps today and my knees know it.

I'm expecting an easy day tomorrow.  Only a 1 hour tour of Wertheim Germany and we sail at 2:45 heading for Koblenz.






  



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