Markus Tower

After a big breakfast in the castle, we were off. Even though it was a little rainy, very overcast, we decided we'd go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg is a very beautiful town. It's often described as "fairy tale like" and so on. It gets a lot of tourist traffic, a lot of vloggers, a lot of influencers on the Instagram. It's a favorite of famed tour guide book writer Rick Steves.

It also gets a lot of hate. It's inauthentic. It's not a "real Medieval town" as a lot of the Altstadt was flattened in World War II. Not to mention other times. It's too "touristy", just busloads of them. FAH! You should go to the real medieval towns: Iphofen, Nordlingen, Dinkelsbuhl...

But it's GORGEOUS. This has been the best looking town we've been to. Yes, it got pretty crowded with tourists as the day went on. But then again, we too, are tourists. There's a reason it's so popular with the Instagram and vlogging crowd, the tour operators, even as I said, Rick Steves who built his brand on going to non-tourist industry "backdoors". We liked it, a lot, so prepare for a lot of pictures.

Rothenburg originally was a castle site above the Tauber River. The first castle was built by the counts of Comburg-Rothenburg beginning in the late 900s. After the line died out, who should take it over in 1116 but the Hohenstauffens-- yes, them again. At least it wasn't the Hapsburg...

The town itself was founded in 1170, a market square and the church of Saint James (in German: Sankt Jakob). In 1274 the town was given the rights of a Free Imperial City, meaning it had no obligations to local nobility, by King of the Germans Rudolf of Hapsburg. HONESTLY-- I can't get away from them. They instituted three large trade fairs, and the money rolled in.

Everything was going along, until the Thirty Years War. Catholic forces surrounded the Lutheran town, and the inhabitants were ready to resist. What happened, or so the story goes, the town council tried to bribe the leader of the attacked force, the Count of Tilly, with a huge drink of more than three liters of wine. Tilly said that if anyone could drink it in one go, he'd leave the town in peace. So the mayor did it, and the town was saved. HURRAH!

Not true. They quartered in the town, and by the time they left, it was much worse for the wear. It's a good story though, and is remembered every day at noon on the glockenspiel at the Rathaus. See shortened and badly shot video below.

As with all of these Free Imperial Towns in the region, it was given to Bavaria in Napoleonic times, there to remain until this day.

So some pictures around the town, from our arrival in the morning. The first one is a very famous Instagram spot, you also see it in the you tube travel videos: the Plonlein. We came passed it on the way in and I took a picture, but had no idea that's what it was until we went looking for it later. D'oh!Read more