Catching the morning train out of Bacharach, we left the Rhine River behind. Its upstream path continued south to its birthplace in Switzerland; our path swung to the southeast.
In Germany (other European countries, too, I suspect) you can get almost anywhere by train, even to smaller, out-of-the-way towns. The smaller and more out-of-the-way your destination is, the more times you might have to transfer to get there. The next leg of our trip required six hours and five trains to travel from:
- Bacharach to Mainz,
- Mainz to Frankfurt,
- Frankfurt to Wurzburg,
- Wurzburg to Steinach, and finally,
- Steinach to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
A few blocks from the train station we walked through one of the towering gates into what Rick Steves calls “Germany’s best preserved medieval walled town.”
the Sieberstor (left) and the Kobolzeller Tor (right) built in the 13th century.
So, how is the name of this town pronounced?
It may be hard to believe, but between 1150 and 1400, Rothenburg, located on a major trade route between northern and southern Europe, was Germany’s second largest town. The Thirty Years’ War and a subsequent plague eventually left it languishing.
Today Rothenburg is a very popular tourist town. If you go there you will undoubtedly encounter busloads of people from all over the world. Most tourists arrive on day trips from larger cities and don’t spend the night in Rothenburg. So, before the buses arrive in the morning and after they leave in the evening, you’ll have a very quiet town to explore.
After a day of departures, arrivals, and transfers, we finally reached the Gästehaus Familie Gerlinger at about 6 PM. Though tired from sitting all day, we put our luggage in our room and went for a walk around town.
(Click on any photo to enlarge, then use arrows to scroll through the images.)
The streets, many of them narrow and winding, are lined with colorful buildings frequently festooned with flower-filled window boxes. Since large sections of the old town are completely off limits to automobiles, it’s easy to enjoy a quiet, smog-free walk.
We arrived in the town square at about eight o’clock, just in time for the ringing of the clock tower. As the clock rang, the doors on each side opened up and reenacted the following legend:
In 1631, during the Thirty Years’ War, the protestant town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber was seized by an army led by Count Tilly, a Catholic. Though the citizens begged for mercy, Count Tilly planned to destroy the town. While at the local tavern, the town offered him a huge tankard of the best local wine. The Count said that if anyone could consume the entire tankard (0.85 gallons) in a single drink, he would spare the town. The mayor, Bürgermeister Nusch, agreed to the challenge and successfully drank the entire tankard of wine. The Count was impressed and, good to his word, left the town unharmed.
The story was interesting but the ringing of the clock was not very impressive. You’d be better off spending your time in a local tavern.
Speaking of local taverns, we wanted to find one with a TV showing the World Cup match between Germany and Argentina. It was very easy to find a tavern with a TV, however, it was very difficult to find one that had any available seats! The first couple of places were very crowded, but we eventually found one with two available seats at a small table near the door. We could see the TV from there as long as two women at another table were not leaning together to talk. When we couldn’t see, the noise level easily let us know when the German team did something good.
We ordered beer and food and enjoyed the spirit of the crowd. Germany was only winning 1-0 for a while, but they came on strong in the second half and won 4-0. Soon, honking cars full of flag-waving and banner-carrying revelers filled the town square. Apparently cars are allowed on the streets of Rothenburg when Germany wins a World Cup game!
Two police officers kept stopping cars with people sitting in the trunk or in the windows. Everyone had to sit inside a car before they would let it continue on its way. I couldn’t believe how long this went on. Rothenburg is a very small town; where did all the loud happy people come from? This wasn’t even the final championship game. Imagine how wild and crazy a victory celebration would be then!
I just hope there’s a lot of cheering and many victory celebrations in Lambeau Field next year!