Romantic Road Gem

Along the Romantic Road, there are many picturesque villages, but budget your time to spend a night in Rothenburg. We most enjoyed just strolling the town and its walls. The red roofs, the cobblestone streets, the spires, and the scenic countryside on the west side of town make beautiful pictures and memories. If you can stay the night, be sure to do the walk with the night watchman.

Quick Tips:

Don't try to drive in Rothenburg. Many streets are narrow, and you can end up trying to turn around in a very tight situation. There are parking lots all along the wall. P5 is free, and the others cost EUR 4. If you have a hotel reservation, you can park inside the wall.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is the best way to get around the old city. Nothing is more than a 15-minute walk from the Marktplatz, and the train station is only a few blocks outside the walls. There are horse and buggy rides--EUR 30 for 30 min. in a private tour, or EUR 5, if you don't mind sharing with others.

The Goldenen Rose offers simple and comfortable rooms at a great price in the Old Town. It is run by the Favetta family, and everything is well kept. For only EUR 46, we had a double room (two twin beds) with a bath (shower only) in the main part of the hotel. Not all rooms have a bathroom. Our room overlooked a pretty courtyard. The first night we were there, it was hot, and there is no air conditioning. With two windows in the bedroom and one in the bathroom, it cooled off enough to sleep. The next night was so chilly we closed the windows.

Breakfast consisted of bread/rolls, thin lunch meat, thinly sliced cheese, a little fruit, juice, and they even brought cold (well, cool) milk for me. Tea and coffee were available.

Everyone was very kind and helpful. Henni even found some ice for my husband the first night we arrived. He was not in the best of moods after our long flight from Houston to Zurich, and then the drive to Rothenburg in a five-speed manual transmission, which he had not handled for many years. She calmed the troubled waters with some ice for the Dr. Pepper he had brought from home!

They lock the street door at 9pm, but you are given a key to enter at a side gate in the alley. They provided a parking place one street behind at no extra charge. We would definitely stay here again.

Take a look at their website Gasthof zur Goldenen Rose for pictures and current prices. When I tried to make a reservation by e-mail, I received no answer from them. In frustration, I finally called to discover that they had tried to answer me several times, but my computer kept kicking back their e-mail—something in my security settings, apparently, because this also happened with a place in Switzerland. So, if you don’t hear from a place out of the country, you might want to add their e-mail to your address book so it will for sure come through.

Typical German food is served here at a reasonable price. This restaurant is in the Gasthof zur Goldenen Rose, but anyone can eat here. There are two small dining rooms and a larger shady patio.

I had pork roast, which was very good. The potato dumplings were new to me, and I wasn't crazy about them, but that's not to say they weren't good. My husband had a sausage dish. We ate for less than $30 US with no alcohol. The desserts sounded good, but we had no room.

Families are welcome here. At the neighboring table was a family with a toddler, and the staff was very accommodating.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Th-M, lunch only on T, and closed on Wednesday.

The downstairs of this establishment is a bakery, which also sells sandwiches. Upstairs is a cafe where you can be seated. We bought excellent sandwiches and soft drinks in the bakery and ate them as a picnic elsewhere.

The bakery sells the Rothenburg schneeballs--a pastry somewhat like deep-fried pie dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. In my opinion, only fair, but you must try one. They also sell ones with other flavors added--chocolate, etc. I noticed people would sometimes come down from the cafe upstairs to choose their dessert from the many scrumptious offerings in the bakery cases.

Each evening (April-Dec.) at 8pm, the Night Watchman appears in Market Square with his lighted lamp, ready to take visitors on a 1-hour tour of Rothenburg in English. As the group winds its way through the cobblestone streets of the medieval town, he tells of medieval life in Rothenburg in a humorous way. He is willing to pose for pictures. He also sells videos and other souvenirs. Payment of EUR 5 is on the honor system at the end of the walk. No reservations needed; just join the group waiting in Market Square.

Rothenburg Night Watchman.

This magnificent Gothic place of worship is Rothenburg’s main church. Built in the 14th century as a Catholic church, it was once a stop on medieval pilgrimages to Santiago. However, it became Lutheran in 1544. In front is a beautiful altar with the 12 apostles. Behind it is a large painting of Rothenburg’s Market Square in the 15th century.

Stairs in the back of the church lead to an exquisite work of art—a wood carving, Altar of the Holy Blood. It was commissioned around 1500 to hold a relic—a capsule of rock crystal which supposedly held three drops of Christ’s blood. The scene is of the Last Supper as Jesus gives Judas a piece of bread. It is true to the Biblical description. Photos on the wall show how Judas can be removed from the scene.

Outside the church is a scene of Jesus praying at Gethsemane. Most of the statues outside the church are copies. The originals are housed in the city museum.

Organ concerts are held some evenings, but not when we were there. Apparently, the church’s organ is quite famous.

This was one of the prettiest churches we saw, in my opinion. Being Protestant, I enjoy the clean architectural lines and beautiful windows more than the gold and curlicues of other churches and cathedrals.

EUR1.50. Open M-S 9am-5pm; shorter time on Sunday. Be sure to pick up the informative free brochure in English.

At the entrance to the museum is a ducking stool used to punish bakers whose bread was too light. Inside is a fascinating collection of 1000 years of legal history—instruments of punishment and torture, documents, seals, illustrations, etc. The instruments of torture and execution will really make you shudder, but some of the punishment masks people were sentenced to wear for the crimes of gossip, etc., can’t help but make you chuckle.

The museum is four stories; follow the yellow arrows to get through. Many exhibits have English explanation.

Admission EUR3.50. Open April-Oct. 9:30am-6pm. More info at Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum.

In around an hour and a half, you can walk the wall of Rothenburg. That includes some time to take pictures and just enjoy the view. Fill your eyes and memory with red roofs, towers, the river, and the scenic countryside. The walkway is covered, fairly smooth, and even has a rail, so it isn’t precarious at all. There are so many photo options; take plenty of film if you are a photography buff. Along the way, there are special bricks with names of donors who helped rebuild the bombed portions of Rothenburg after WWII and those who help maintain it.

We were in Rothenburg at the end of May, and the wall was not crowded at 8:30 AM. We started at the Spitaltor end, as we stayed near there. The best fortifications are there. There are numerous towers along the way, but none were available to climb. The Rodertor Tower is sometimes open. The only negative was sometimes the smell of urine and beer bottles left behind by visitors who hadn’t been there for the views.

The shopping in Rothenburg is just plain terrific, but if you love Christmas, don’t miss the Kathe Wohlfart Christmas Village. The two main stores are across the street from each other on Herrngasse, but there are several other little specialty shops scattered around town.

The main store on Herrngasse is a Christmas wonderland with thousands of twinkling lights and Christmas ornaments to fit any décor and budget. Ornaments are all sizes, shapes, and colors—even orange! Prices range from EUR 4 to 25+. Although the many nutcrackers are factory-made, they are all made in Germany. You will find everything connected with Christmas here—crèches, linens, nutcrackers, hand-blown glass ornaments, wooden ornaments, etc. I could have spent hundreds of dollars on ornaments alone!

A clerk will hand you a little basket as you enter the store, and, unless you are Scrooge himself, you will spend. Some say the prices are high, but I didn’t find such a selection anywhere else.

I did buy a cuckoo clock at the Clock Shop on Spitalgasse. It had a large selection of well-made clocks. The clock casing was carved in the Black Forest, while the works are Swiss. Frau Stahl was very helpful in showing us how to set up the clock when we got home. The shop shipped it to our home, and it arrived in perfect condition. By having the clock shipped home, you don't have to pay all the VAT, which covers the shipping.

Open M-F 9am-6pm, Sat. 9am-4pm. The store has a website--Kathe Wohlfahrt.