That is what Hitler called Bavaria’s medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. (Red castle on the Tauber; a river). It’s beauty has withstood 900 years of history and even mostly survived the second world war…by a little bit. Or maybe he called it that because the town was fervently supportive of the Nazi party. Rothenburg was my stop after Nuremberg, a small village of a few thousand people. It is one of the few remaining cities in the world still with a full defensive stone wall still around it. It also happened to be the suniest day yet I’ve seen here so far.

It is by far the prettiest town yet, and probably my favorite city so far. I wandered around for most of the day, though stopping at the middle ages criminal museum. Seems like a requirement in every European city to have one.

I am staying in a 260 year old hotel right in the heart of the city, literally right next door to the German Christmas museum and shop which in itself is a ridiculously heavily themed maze-like Christmas Store with more themes and decorations than a Disneyland ride.

Just on the outside of town is an eqully old double layer arched bridge. But instead of peasants and trade wagons, it s now crossed by tourists and Mercedes Benzs. The churches, and smithing house so much stuff!

There’s so much more to say, the city has such a rich and interesting history, having been a very wealthy town at a very lucrative spot between major intersecting trade routes, to how the city was conquered in the 1400s, to the amusing way the town was…mostly spared total devastation in WW2. Wikipedia only scratches the surface, there is much more to the stories, as I found out taking a night tour of the town with the official town Night Watchman who walks dressed…and armed with a real weapon the way they used to. He gives tours of the city with usually smaller groups…my group just happened to be a very very large tour group. I recorded a short clip of one of his stores while we walked around. You can even walk along the guard wall, though you can’t look out. Most of the buildings in town are the originals from the 1400s. Outside the wall is a modern city, but it is still a very small town compared to others. I feel like I could spend several more hours typing everything about this town, but I would lke to keep my thumbs intact.

Video of night watchman: https://youtu.be/JgZs1uUnzII
View of valley on southern edge of town: https://youtu.be/hlexmY4UB1w
A walk along the wall: https://youtu.be/WaZOAG4M7Go