Rothenburg 3

I have had a grand time perusing our pictures and taking our trip all over again. I still have a few things about this medieval town to show you! Come along to the very first European cathedral I visited.



St. Jakob's Church was built in the 14th century and has been Lutheran since 1544. Most of the grand cathedrals we saw in Europe were Catholic so we definitely enjoyed this one with our Lutheran heritage. The main altar was built in 1466 and has several panels that unfold as it's opened. The ceiling soars above the church. Can you see the gentleman wearing a blue jacket on the right side? He's pretty small in comparison!




These beautiful stained glass windows are originals from the 1330's!!




This church was very different from others we saw with its low arches in the back.



This interesting statue outside the church had its arms extended as if ready to shake your hand.




The outside entrance with its beautiful window.




Down the hill from the church was this most inviting little spot.




This walkway on top of the stone walls takes you along the old wall ramparts, part of the town's defense system, where you can peer out through little slots to see what's happening outside the city walls. The floor boards are well worn and you had to be careful not to bang your head in some sections. We could almost imagine being on patrol and pacing back and forth along here.




The rooflines were pretty amazing. To avoid the possibility of a fire destroying a town with thatched roofs, the town council decreed that tiles must be used instead of straw. You can see where some tiles have been replaced. Look at the middle right side to see where the walkway goes along the town wall.




The sun was going down and giving the town a beautiful glow by the time we finished supper at one of the local inns.




In our very excellent tour book (I'll show it to you later) that Heather and Jonathan had given Bob for Father's Day, one of the recommendations was to go on the Night Watchman's tour, beginning at 8 p.m.. Dressed in period costume, he led us around town for an hour and shared "slice-of-gritty-life" stories of the residents and city life during medieval times. He truly brought the town alive and made learning history lots of fun!!



It's taken me 3 days to tell you about our trip but we were only in Rothenburg for about 6 hours! It was dark when we headed to the hotel for our second sleep in Germany.