Day 4: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Today we ventured outside of Munich to the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 3 hours northwest by bus. Cities that still have their medieval walls are hard to come by in modern Germany. In fact, Rothenburg is the best example of a medieval walled city in existence. But, it wasn't easy to earn this distinction. Rothenburg was a very large (by medieval standards) and prosperous trading city from the middle ages through the early 17th century. It had the distinction of being a Free Imperial City. This meant that Rothenburg enjoyed privileges that other cities within the Holy Roman Empire did not. Rothenburg was allowed to have its own currency, its own weights and measures, and its own court of justice. The citizens of Rothenburg were free to rule themselves and owed no allegiance to a nobleman, and did not have to pay feudal dues. This prosperity came to an abrupt end during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In this disastrous conflict, one of the true monsters of European history, Protestant Rothenburg found itself at the mercy of its dominant Catholic neighbor, Bavaria. The Bavarian armies of Duke Maximillian sacked the city of Rothenburg three times. Outbreaks of the plague finished the job. By 1648, up to 6 million people were dead all across Germany, and Rothenburg had lost over one half of its population. The city would never recover its economic importance. As cities like Paris, Munich, and Vienna tore down their city walls in order to accommodate swelling populations during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, Rothenburg left its walls in place. City walls, a necessity during earlier times, now became the mark of economic failure.

That economic failure has turned modern Rothenburg into a major tourist attraction. Tourism really is the only industry in the city now. It can be very difficult now days to escape the touristy, commercial feel of modern Rothenburg. Most of the famous Christmas stores of Rothenburg are now owned by the giant Käthe Wolfarht Company. After allowing the group to explore a bit on their own, I got them out of the touristy areas by escaping the city walls. We took a hike outside the city walls near the old fortress park, a high finger of land at one end of this crescent shaped city. In the middle of the crescent are the beautiful vineyards of Rothenburg. The grapes aren't quite ripe at this time of the year, but the lavender was in full, fragrant bloom. Our hike continued to the bottom of the Tauber River Valley to an old church next to the river, continued under the old medieval bridge, and up the other side of the crescent to a back door in the city walls. We ended our excursion with a short walk on top of the city walls back to the main market square to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner.




Tomorrow, we travel to Dachau (postponed to allow for more time in Rothenburg) and then to Saltzburg, with a stop at Ludwig II of Bavaria's palace Herren Chiemsee.


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