Friday 26th July 2019
Right on our doorstep was the delightful medieval old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, another popular stop for visitors on the Romantic Road. The town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber sits in the Tauber Valley and was once a free imperial town and today is renowned for its well preserved old town walls, numerous gatehouses, towers and many historic landmarks.
On any other day we would probably have walked up to the town but the heat wave which was affecting many countries in Europe, including Germany, was still persistent and the temperatures in the high 30’s made a walk uphill a lot less inviting.
So we cheated and took the car, parking in a car park on the northern perimeters of the old town just outside the old town walls.
We entered the old town close to the Powder Tower built in the Middle Ages and climbed the steps to walk along a section of the old walls under a covered walkway.
It is possible to walk the entire perimeter fortress wall on the inside and outside! The walls offer a good vantage point from where you can see much of the town, its buildings, gardens and quaint cobbled narrow alleyways weaving their way between the arrays of colourful timbered houses.
The wall is approximately 3.5 km and you can walk the entire length or exit at several points and explore the town at ground level. A stroll along the wall is probably best taken early in the morning or at sunset. You can find several maps of the towns fortification gates and tower trails, both online and within the town itself and they are ideal to make best use of your time.
At the southern end of the town at the end of the Spitalgasse is the Spital Bastion. It was built around 1586 and has two inner courtyards and a moat. A bridge over the moat leads to the interior door of the Spital bastion.
As well as circumnavigating the town above or below there is much to see within the walls of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Here are some of our highlights, which are by no means exhaustive!
Another way to enjoy Rothenburg ob der Tauber and its history is to take a tour with the Night watchman when most of the tourists have all gone home and soak up the atmosphere.