10.31.2016: The Quintessential German Home Town

After Adelshofen, we headed over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - a picturesque old German touristy kinda town.  The name in German means "Red fortress above the Tauber".  (Tauber River)  The old part of the city is surrounded by a red walled fortress with history oozing from its bricks.  The interior of the city is made up of old medieval homes and buildings, and at the center of the marketplace is St. James Church.  The original city dates back to the year 950. 

Throughout the years, Rothenburg was considered the epitome of the German 'Home Town', representing all that was quintessentially German, and I can see why they took so much pride in this place.  The city was also a significant part of the Nazi era, and was eventually bombed in 1945 which destroyed many of the buildings there.  After surrendering the town to prevent further destruction (against Hilter's orders), the city spared further bombings and was quickly restored after the war ended.

We walked around the town a little bit, had a brautwurst from a roadside shop, and bought some German 'Snowball" cookies.  This is supposedly where the snowball cookie originated and they ship them all over the world from here.  So we bought a few to see how they compare to the ones we make at home (I like ours better!!).  We didn't plan to really eat here, but everywhere we went we decided we needed "just a little snack"!

 The church here is incredible - built with intricate details and beautiful sculptures and statues.  There are a few Christmas shops that we decided to walk around in - and realized after about 3 of them that they are very overwhelming!! Sooooo much stuff - all things Christmas!

We spent a couple hours here then decided we should make our way to our next stop before it got too late.

Read this....about the tower in the next picture!