Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Memorial Day Weekend - 2011
Rothenburg ob der Tauber 28 – 30 May 2011
A great Memorial Day weekend – time w/ family and remembering those who have lost their lives for our Great Country!
What is special about Rothenburg ob der Tauber? Well, it is a known as one of the most “German of German cities” in Germany. Rothenburg ob der Tauber literally translates into “Red Fortress on the Tauber”; there are several thoughts on why they called them Red fortresses, but one suggestion is that they had red or “Rot” roofs. There is a rich history of this city that dates back to when the Castle gardens were was first established in 950AD; the city was then founded in 1170. The city itself is surrounded by the original medieval wall, 1.5 miles around. There are two layers to this wall and in some areas an “inner city wall”. Since 1803 the town has been a part of Bavaria.
In the 1930’s Nazi ideologists made many visits to this Medieval Walled town. The citizens in part because they were sympathetic to the National Socialism but also this brought many economic benefits to this city that had been having economic troubles for decades. In 1938 all Jewish citizens were expelled from the town and to this day, there is a small memorial that holds engraved names in the Jewish people who were expelled and a small candle lighting area for those who wish to light a candle for them.
The Town was used for the inspiration of the little village in Pinocchio, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Many Japanese tour the town b/c it was used in a very popular flick called “Sugar a little Snow Fairy”. The town has also been on the cover of several novels.
We truly enjoyed this town.
Getting to Rothenburg ob der Tauber was a feat in itself! We had planned to leave shortly after lunch on Saturday. Don wanted to go to the gym in the morning and so I took the kids out to play just before lunch, try to wear them down before our drive (which was pretty short – just 90 minutes). About 10 minutes after I got to the playground Evan decided to play cowboy on the springy dinosaur… you know those riding toys that have a tight coil spring under them – boingy boingy…. Well, he was wrestling this thing to the ground – lost his grip - he felt to the ground, the dino flung away from him but promptly returned and knocked him in the forehead. Of course he gets up screaming, grips his forehead – I saw the ending of the event. He comes to me for love and then Emma screams, “He’s BLEEDING!!! Sure enough, he was! So I promptly put pressure on it – walking him to the flat, leaving/asking Emma to gather up the toys and the “babies” (which she did great). I pull Evan’s shirt off to use to put pressure on his wound, it works much better than the palm of my bare hand! Funny, he was more concerned w/ people seeing his chest/torso than his head then! Once we got in our stairwell he was good to focus on his pounding head!
I got him upstairs and stopped the bleeding, but the wound was deeper than I was comfortable with. It was a pretty clean cut, but still very deep. I called the German version of 911, which is 117. Into our parking lot come 2 MP cars speeding in, really
w/in about 5 minutes of my call. Very fast! Shortly behind them were the Firemen, first response guys… They were going to bandage it up and have us head to the clinic. OK, what clinic!? I had no idea at the time of where to even take him and they were of no help. Thankfully, the German ambulance was w/in 5 minutes of this so we waited for them to assess. The paramedic, Yulee – a guy – was not comfortable w/ that and Evan (and I) got to ride in a German Ambulance to the German University Hospitals Emergency Klinik… they glued his cut together and off we were in less than 2 hours of the beginning of the event! Seriously! This happened about 1210 and we were home by ! Very quick, efficient and kind!
Thankfully, Evan did not show any signs of a concussion. By we had left for Rothenburg… what an ordeal!
Once we arrived at our destination we parked, checked into our pension (pen z ee on), we had a great room! The name of the place is called Pension Becker. This Pension was just inside the city walls, just one block in and well within walking distance of the entire city. We had room for all – we rented a family room which had 2 rooms w/ a private bath. Many guesthouses, pensions, cottages and “hotels” have shared bathrooms – we have been fortunate enough to be able to rent rooms w/ private toilets/showers/WC/bathrooms – whatever you wish to call them. We had 1 double, and 3 singles… there was an additional trundle under one of the beds, but Sarah and Grace did fine sharing a bed – they are both short! J
We got our things unloaded; which has gotten less and less w/ each trip! I had 6 peoples worth of clothing for 3 days in 1 small suite case! We pulled out the sit/stand stroller and headed down to the center of town for dinner. We ate at a restaurant that Don has eaten at a couple times now- The Gasthof Greifen. It was a neat little place – I snuck a peek in their kitchen and LOVED it! They thought I was a bit silly when I asked to take a picture of it, but that is just me. The kids had their all time German favorite Schnitzle, I had a German Meatball – which truly was just like something my Grandma McGrath would have made!, Don had Wild Boar Goulash. After dinner we stopped at a little café for a Schneeballen. A Schneeballen (sh knee ballen) is a fried ball of egg pastry topped w/ sugar, cinnamon, chocolate or some other sweet topping. They are a popular treat here in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I have seen them since at different venues…but it is even written in the guides to try this little tasty treat when in Rothenburg ob der Tauber…so we did –
My verdict – it tasted like fried pie crust topped w/ cinnamon sugar. Not bad… but not my favorite dessert. I have really found w/ our travels the most favorite type of dessert is Italian Eis, which is ice cream for the folks back home. Yes… Eis is the choice in every place of business. It is not to say it is not good… they are. But I have been shocked there is very little choice in dessert so far in Europe.
Anyhow, we really were tired after the long day of trauma, drama, ER, drive, walk, dinner and Schneeballen. So, we sauntered back to our room and crashed for the night – it did not take long for the little ones to dose off!
As usual, the kids are up early and poor Don does not get the choice to sleep in – it just does not happen when we travel. So… no matter the time those sweet blessings of ours go to sleep – the latest we normally sleep is 0700! J At least one cannot say we sleep our days away (my mom used to say this to us growing up!)
We got ready and headed to the dining room for our German Buffet. It was different to say the least. German’s typically eat a very light breakfast, a heavy lunch and a light dinner. For breakfast each morning we had an assortment of cheeses (no not American), deli like meats, including Salami (yum!), Brötchen (we call them rolls), corn flake cereal, granola cereal, yogurt, milk and juice. There was also an assortment of jams/jellies. The Germans will take the granola cereal and add plain or fruited yogurt on top, maybe top w/ a dab of honey. They typcially do not add milk to their cereal like we do. It is pretty good and very filling and also very healthy! The owner was very kind and generous and offered hot choco to our children. They thought this was devine! Hot chocolate with their breakfast! We have to remind them that just b/c we do something on vacation does not mean it turns into an everyday thing… that is what vacations are for…to get a break from life and do things a bit different. Don enjoyed his coffee and I my coke zero. Hehehe
After breakfast we, of course, made a stop back at our room to use the WC (remember that is water closet or toilette) before we started our day. We headed directly down to the Kriminal Museum (criminal); 4 floors of torture This was fabulous! The had on display all the various sorts of equipment that was used throughout the medieval ages to torture people with! We loved it, w/ the exception of Emma. Sweet Emma has a pretty weak constitution when it comes to any sort of blood or gore and it bothers her to know that people were hurt. I can understand that – so we didn’t force it upon her…too much! She looked at the ceiling and floor and my side a lot during our tour. If there was something of really cool interest I pulled her in. You can see a complete viewing in the pages to the right – many are truly facinating! Included in this museum were stretching contraptions, execusioners swords, whips, masks of shame, spikey foot clamps, etc.
We all had to be "locked up"
A form of a Stretcher...
Kids found it odd that they would cage someone in here and dangle them over fire or dip them into boiling water... some cages like this were just used to keep criminals on display
The Iron Tie
You can see a picture in the bottom right on how this contraption was used
They would put these on the criminals arms and clam them! Yikes!
They would put these a person who had done some wrong doing... then they would be shamed b/c they could not sneak up on anyone and everyone in town would know they did something wrong.
Mask of Shame
In this mask there was a whistle in the tongue...every time the person breathed it would whistle!
Double Necked Violins
These were used to bind 2 quarreling women
They would have to wear this contraption until they could get along!
After the Kriminal Museum we headed to St. John’s Church to take a look inside. It was nice, but not much really. The bells sounding this particular Sunday morning were fabulous! There is nothing like an entire small town w/ several churches ringing their bells in beautiful harmony. I was a bit sad when it all came to an end. – Thankfully we only had 1 toilette brake at this museum. Notice it is behind the Iron Maiden...
Iron Maiden...
Though it is thought to have been an instrument of death - it indeed was not.
Was made to hold the women!
Notice, this is at the end of this museum...Emma was not tickled! :)
By this time we were getting close to lunch time, but we stopped in a Knights shop to look at some pretty cool looking knight uniforms and medieval garb. And of course all of the stores have a little bit of their stock dedicated to the children. We promised the older ones we would get one thing on Monday before we left. This way they could truly make a decision over all they had seen instead of having ‘buyers regret’.
On our way through the marketplatz we stopped and picked up some fruit to munch on and to eat with our lunch. We ate lunch at a quaint little bakerei, Brot & Zeit. Evan has
come to truly enjoy a good European Sandwich, while Emma still turns her nose up. We have come to realize that a roll w/ a few tablespoons of peanutbutter are the best thing for the little ones. The really neat thing about eating in Europe (at least to Don) is that it is completely acceptable to have a good beer with your lunch. So…he does often when we travel, and today was no exception. It facinates and excites me that I can purchase 5 sandwiches, 1 coke light and a beer for less than 15 euro! It is also amazing how often children need to use the toilette! But this particular place probably had the best looking and the coolest hand dryer. It was a Dyson – and it blew the water off like nothing I have seen. Love it!
Cheers...
You can see Emma is not all that thrilled about her sandwich :)
Sweet little things..
Love the atmosphere here!
After our lunch we meandered over to the Puppen- und Spielzeugmuseum, AKA the Doll and Toy Museum. Here we saw the largest toy collection, of this kind, in Germany. They had over 800 dolls dating back over 200 years! Several of the collections were still in working condition and of course, you pay a nominal fee of 50 euro cents and they will play for you – which of course we paid- and the children loved it! The museum itself was situated in a 15th cent. house. They had left a couple rooms in their original setting – which was facinating for all of us to see. You could see the walls were not even close to being straight and seemed to come in on you. Very interesting. Toilette brakes? – only 2 in this location!
Sarah and Gracie watching the Carousel go around
...only 50 euro cents...
but worth it to see their expressions and joy!
Sarah just enjoying the dolls in the doll house here
From the Doll and Toy Museum we headed over to the City Vaults, also known as the Historical Vaulting and state Dungeon. This was quite interesting! They had a little museum of various artifects that were interesting, suits of armor, canons, probably the larges muskett we have ever seen. But then… there were the stairs, or the vault, that lead down to the dungeons! The stairs down were pretty steep, but duable for all ages. It smelled like old musty basements, damp, cool, and very dark (or at least they would be if the lights went out)! Witin the dungeon they had 3 prison rooms, all windowless. In the main area there was an original torture contraption as well as various tools along the wall used for obtaining information from people. They had 2 rooms open for you to go in..the kids got a kick out of it but sensed the seriousness of this if a person had been accused of commiting a crime. Evan and Sarah thought the whole experience was awesome. Emma, well she is bit weak when it comes to the thought of torture…she found it interesting, but wanted no part of the various contraptions.
This lock was about 5 inches... huge
Don is pleased about the Gun...
Steps leading down to the dungeon
First area where the "keepers" spent their time
Inside an original dungeon cell
Models... wonder what they did?!
Torture contraptions
On our way out...
Locked them up!
From this point we strolled across the street to Käthe Wohlfahrt. This is one of the most well known and very expensive Christmas shop in Germany. My mom would have LOVED it! They had so many various Christmas orniments, some more original than others, but all were very pretty…and pretty costly too! I read somewhere than there were over 30,000 different kinds! I would believe it. We chose to not go into the Christmas Museum – the store was enough. Within it we saw a Christmas Tree that stood taller than any I have seen. They also had Nutcrackers at least 10feet tall… of course there was no picture taking allowed in these areas – but in the front Sarah stood under a rather large one and enjoyed it all the same.
We then walked down toward the Castle Gardens. On the way we stopped at TeddyLand, Germany’s largest teddy shop w/ over 5000 teddy bear items… Emma loved
it! By this point, Gracie was sleeping and Sarah just wanted to hang out w/ the HUGE SOFT teddy bear at the front door. While we were waiting a group of very nice Japenese tourists just thought our Sarah was too precious and asked to take her picture, actually several. But truly, who could resist those sweet blue eyes! The funny thing is, this happens to us everywhere we go over here – specifically w/ the Japanese. They want to take our pictures – of the kids, as a family, with themselves in our family! What a strange concept. They are picture takin’ fools! But they are always very thankful, in their language of course, and so facinated w/ our kids.
As we walked out the south gate to the gardens the scenery changed and became much more relaxed. Lots of greenery around and a soft warm breeze – if I had brought a blanket I think I would have layed down and took a nap myself! But – we didn’t. The kids walked part of the lower wall w/ Daddy and I strolled around w/ sleeping Grace. Funny thing – we are halfway down the gardens and guess what the children need to do!? Goodness! So we finish our stroll –with lots of pretty shade. We had contiplated walking down to the old Castle itself, but it was much too far for all of us to take and the path was not stroller friendly. The kids were disappointed – but we will see many more fabulous castles. This was not all that great – as we could not even tell where it was.
St. George's Fountain
Holds 1000 liters, is 8 Meters deep.
Could she look any sweeter??
This stone commemorates the so called "Rintfleisch Pogrom" which nearly extinguished the Jewish community in July 1298.
Notice, the mask... This is where they poured Hot Pitch!
Stairs that lead to .... all closed off now!
By this point the kids were ready for a little pick me up, so we stopped and got some Eis (German for Ice Cream). The Eis was truly good! Emma chose banana and thinks of Grandma D. every time. We sat on the square steps of the Town Hall and ate our Eis, enjoyed the foot rest and then I turned around and saw a spiral set of stairs! I didn’t say anything at first… but then I could not resist. People were heading up and I just had to see where it lead! The kids were all game for the climb too – though I think Don was a bit reluctant at this point. These cobble stone streets are rough on the feet, legs and back – at least if you are older than 40! (heheheh – just kidding – mine were hurtin’ too) The stairs were very facinating. Not a one was even in height or width. Though I don’t know if this is true for all spiral stairs build back in these days – but it said that they are built uneven for tripping up the sword fighter that is going up forwards – not only does he have to fight w/ his left hand mostly, the uneven steps do not help w/ his balance – giving the advantage to the one going up backwards.
The 1st set of stairs in middle...
The tower that the kids and dad climb is the one on the
left in middle...all the way to the top!
At the top of the stairs was a huge empty room that lead to some stairs to the Tower of Town Hall. We decided Gracie just could not make it – so I took her back down as Don took the other three up the tower. He really thought he would have had to help Sarah more but she was a real trooper –truly keeping up w/ the big kids and very pleased with herself for doing so! Don said she backed up a little bit at the very top – when you climb the ladder to the tower platfrom. This is the tallest spot in the entire town and the kids loved it! Sarah was very excited. Gracie and I watched them from below – Sarah saw us, but none of the others did.
Again, from a different angle, the tower the
kids and dad climbed is on the far left
We walked around a bit more – considered going into St. Jacobs Church there – but they charged a fee and we were not that interested in it’s architechure. It was huge and very pretty – but we liked our euros better. By this point it was time to find a place to eat – Don was not much in the mood for the bakerei again, so we stopped at a different place to
eat. Had I to do it again, I would have walked out. The food was not bad – but the attitude from our server was not at all acceptable. While we waited for our dinner, sweet Evan had fallen alseep and as his had fell back and slapped the back of the WOODEN bench he was jerked awake! Poor thing! He took it pretty well for being so very tired. Thankfully, we starved the kids all DAY and they all ate very well!
City Councilors' Tavern
At 12noon, when the bell chimes 2 "men"
open the windows and start drinkin'
very cute!
By this time – it was time to head back to our room for the night – it did not take long for them to all fly off to la-la land! Including me! Phew… looking back we sure packed a lot into one day! Don thought we would get through maybe 2 things… I am pleased!
On Monday, I had hoped we would have been able to sleep in a bit. We did so much on Sunday! But no – the little ones had us up by 7, we were dressed, fed, pottied, and checked out by 0930 and on our way down-town.
We had planned out our day prior to retiring Sunday night…so off we went to the wall to get the kids’ pictures then over to the Old Forge. This was unfortunately on the map – but closed and is now a residence. Oh well…
We walked toward the Kobolzell Gate and Romantic Street. On this street is Plonlein (Little Square), Plönlein is apparently the most photographed spot in the world. This is said to be the most charming medieval sight in Germany. On the right of this fabulous house is another Tower Gate and on the left is the Kobolzell Gate.
As we walked to the next museum on our list we found Emma a souvenir. She had been on the lookout for a porcelain German doll. Many stored had them way over-priced; 35 euro and up. After several shops we found a beautiful porcelain doll, w/ a soft body for 9,95 euro! She got herself a little German Heidi Doll. And loves it! Evan had his heart set on a geode he had spotted Sunday. Thankfully, that one did not break the bank! Sarah and Gracie ate theirs. Before we went too much Don had plans to stop by a meat shop. Yes… a meat shop. He wanted to stop at this store 2 other times and it was closed. So, it was open – he went in and loved it! For his fraternity brothers this would have been a Meat Fest Dream! :) …
Kitchen from 1300s..stove w/ a huge chimney
We walked over to the ImperialCityMuseum. This museum was completely off the “beaten path”. But it was quite fascinating. This is Rothenburg's heritage museum. It is located in the former Dominican Priory. From 1258 until 1544 (the reformation) nuns of the convent resided here. The collection was magnificent. The largest collection of swords we have ever seen. Pictures could not be taken, but have been able to find a few. In addition the weaponry collection we were able to see an original priory kitchen dating back to around 1300, and is apparently the oldest kitchen in Germany!…it was fabulous! They had several rooms – truly too much to discuss – most of it was for Don. This is right up his alley. If you were so inclined to see the collection we saw – this is a pretty good website - http://www.reichsstadtmuseum.rothenburg.de/index.php?id=157 .
During our walking tour I peeked out a window and spotted a speilplatz (playground)! We asked the ladies on the way out how to find it. She did not speak of lick of English. But – with the use of a map and my very limited ability we found the playground! Oh, what a glorious sight for these kids! Well worth it for them! Funny, you can have the worst of playground, but they will find the best of it!
Sadly on the way back poor Gracie slipped from the standing portion of the stroller and scuffed the back of her head. Poor thing! She was OK, just a small abrasion, but we watched her none-the-less.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a small diner. Kids ate their best meal here… Pizza! I had a veggi pita and Don some gyro wrap…all was very good! After this we promised the kids one bit of Eis before we headed to our last stop and then onto home. I found a little shop that sold some German style Doilies. I have seen them around, but they are just so pretty – and they were very reasonable.
The last museum we stopped at was a hit! It was The Old Craftsman’s House. This house was built in 1270! We were able to go inside and the kids loved it! Don and I find it so interesting that our kids truly seem enthralled by history that they can see and put their hands on. Their favorite saying is, “is this from way back then?”… In this house was a collection so wide it truly gave you insight as to how they lived and worked “back then” in the Middle Ages. The house contained 11 different fully furnished rooms. One of the rooms was the children’s rooms – not bigger than our laundry room and it contained 2 small toddler like beds and a craddle, it is said that 10 children shared that room!
The Kitchen in Old Craftman's house
The Loom...
Sarah posing with the Toilet... :)
Back side of the 740 year old house!
Bedroom/living quarters for Grandparents
No closets...they use Schrunks
Master Bedroom
General living quarters
We had a blast with this weekend. We thought at first we might have booked one to many nights for this town – but I think it was perfect. There was not one thing in this town we did not hit that we didn’t want to see. We can walk away without saying, “man- I wish we would have had time for ____.” We walked back to the car, loaded up, made a potty stop before we got in and off we went. We got home by – almost exactly 48 hours after we arrived in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Wow… what a great weekend with our family!
Lesson’s learned…
Look for playgrounds or research local playgrounds prior to a visit at a hotel.
It was a great weekend and well planned :)...
Pictures will continue instead of individual page...
1 suitcase... 2 nights...2 days...6 people!
Emma making her bed "like home"
Evan... just happy to have his own bed
Our room key...
our setting out day 1... the entry gate/tower behind them
our room is off to the right...
this street is the one we used to go into town
Romantic Street - we ate at the little green place off to the left -
all the streets in this town were cobble stone
Kriminal Museum
Evan wanted to get in the cage - Emma wanted no part of it!
Torture chair
Stretching table
Stretching Ladder
one of few windows in this basement...
they certainly didn't want anyone to get out
These plaques were all over depicting various Biblical scenes
Chair that held a person's arms down and legs as well
Not quite sure if this was used to clasp their skull or neck
another stretching device
Official Seal
Mask of Shame...with the pig snout for the mouth...
the person wearing this acted like a pig
A Shame mask...
another form of toilet...kids loved it! They got to sit!
Executioners Ax
A Night Watchmen's Horn
Straw Veil...the woman would have to wear this on her wedding day
as a sign of unfaithfulness and often not be be
married in a church, but an inn.
Cage w/ Evan's head :)
Used Evan as a size comparison for the sword
Executioner Swords - we didn't Tell Emma
A depiction of how children were disciplined at school
More swords
Whips
Amazed with the locking mechanism
The Rich Crown
The City Councilor's Tavern...see the men "drinking'
Cafe/ Bakerei where we ate lunch
Gate that separates the older part of the city from the newer part
A beautiful old Inn
Love the architechure... here is an old well
One of the many doll houses in the doll museum
Old riding horse
Play apotheke or apothecary set
Gracie and Daddy Enjoying the moving toys - another 50 euro cents :)
being silly after the dungeon
Dad... yet another picture for you...
Thought of you and all the times you swore you were going to need to buy us girls a Chastity Belt
Gate and Tower leading into the Castle Gardens
St. Jacobs Church
Sleeping Beauty...
out cold!
Kids on stairs leading upto the walkway around the wall
Stairs were REALLY steep!
Kids on the wall...OK,
we did not like taking this pix!
But big Brother was there and Emma was holding Gracie - tight
Look how big those steps are compared to her!
But she had to do it by herself!
The Old Forge
A great picture of this house
Kitchen
Playground...Love how they built it to blend w/ wall
Merry Go Round table!
Just outside the City Wall
1300's Kitchen
Sink! Yes a sink in a 1300's kitchen! How fabulous!
Marketplatz
Yes...this is a toilet!
Thank you SO much for spending "time" with our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment