Welcome to Rothenburg, Germany!
Rothenburg is know for it's almost perfectly preserved medieval town and the wall that is surrounding it. The town dates back to the 900s! And has withstood the hand of time! They are know for having the world's first Christmas Market. From about 1700-1900s the town literally fell off the radar and slept, untouched.
In the background you can see St. Jakob's Church. A beautiful wonderful church that was built, section by section, between 1311-1484!! Inside they have a cross that is to have a drop of Christ's blood held within it. Not only do they have some of the most detailed wood carvings, but they have amazing stained glass windows. (The green building on the right was the hotel we stayed in - over 800 years old!)
Meet the Night Watchman! He was a riot! He took us on a tour around Rothenburg and gave us the history of what a night watchman did and what the importance of the job was for the city of Rothenburg. The job has been around since the city began, actually the job has been around since Biblical times, and the last night watchman retired in the 1920s. A very important job, indeed!! They were responsible to monitor within the city walls, make sure that all doors were locked, everyone was in their homes, blow their horns if there was a fire, enforce curfew to the the remaining stragglers from outside the city walls, among many other things. The people they saw were drunks and thieves. The night watchman's social status was at the bottom of the food chain. The only two jobs lower were the gravedigger and the executioner. Yikes! Great tour! Totally recommended.
We went to a ton of museums around the city. We went to the City Hall Museum, The Rothenburg History Museum and The Criminal Museum. Our favorite... The Criminal Museum. Hands down!
Above is from The Criminal Museum. It is called a double neck violin. This specific device was used on quarrelsome women. They would each get their necks locked in the top, and each wrist in front of the other. They would be locked and left this way to wander town until they stopped fighting. Kinda makes you wish they still used this.....
It was a great adventure! We had alot of fun and will totally go back before we PCS out of Europe!
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