Rothenburg ob der Tauber

With Ric in Africa and having been couped up for about a month, I pack up the kids and the car, dropped off the dog and we headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. About 90 minutes away, this little town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe. It still has the original wall around the town and many original houses and buildings. Built in the 1300s, it was a bustling city in the crossroads of a North-South trade route from Netherlands to Spain and the East-West trade route of Paris to Prague. It was abandoned during the 30-years war in the 1600s and left alone for about 300 years. Because no one lived there, it wasn't modernized or changed. In the early 1900s it started to grow again, but with a sense of preservation and tourism is the main attraction now. The town also narrowly escaped bombing by the Americans during WWII.


Here's the town marktplaz:

We visited the Kriminalmuseum, dedicated to the history of crime and punishment in Germany during the Middle Ages.

Locked up:








Germans are all about Christmas and some of the best Christmas shopping is right here. Giant stores with giant displays and rows and rows of ornaments and decorations. If only the exchange rate weren't so horrid, I might have actually bought something.


Last but not least, we tasted the famous Rothenburg Schneeballen (snow balls). Chocolate, cinnamon, powdered sugar. Interestingly, they look WAY better than they taste. And yet, these balls are all over town.