June 27, 2006

 Day 6

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Rothenburg, Germany

Breakfast in Germany

This is our first whole day in Rothenburg.  We got a late start today, partly due to jet lag but also because of the thunderstorms.  Now I see why it is so beautiful here because it rains quite a bit --  it reminds me of Knoxville, TN.

After having our complimentary breakfast at the Hotel Gerberhaus which consisted of ham, cheese, fresh fruit, homemade rolls, and cereal, we took off on foot for the Kriminalmuseum, which is a medieval crime museum.  Rothenburg is a medieval village, with the oldest building in town dating back to 900 AD (which is where we’ll eat dinner tonight).  Touring the crime museum, I can imagine that there wouldn’t have been too much crime here as the criminals were dealt with swiftly and severely.  If they were convicted of their crimes (which they usually were due to the confessions made while being tortured), the criminals’ sentence is carried out that very day, with all of the town folks in attendance.

While at the Kriminalmuseum, it started to rain again so we waited for a break in the weather.  Once the sun came out again, we started our walking tour of the town and found the restaurant recommended by Inge where we would eat dinner tonight.  It has an unusual name Zur Holl, which translates “To Hell”. 

We continued on our tour to the Reichsstadtmuseum.  This is a medieval museum that used to be a convent.  It has a large collection of armour and weapons used during the middle ages.  Every sort of weapon is represented:  swords, daggers, halberds, pistols, crossbows, and rifles.  Armour is on display from the “Maximilian period (c. 1520) as well as from the Thirty-Years War (1618-1648).  I don’t know how the men were able to move let alone battle when they were wearing the full body armour – it looks so heavy.

The doorway to hell (Zur Holl)

After our museum tours, it was getting to be dinner time so we made our way back to the restaurant Zur Holl (“To Hell”) for dinner.  We ate outside and we both had Teufelsspiess mit Salat und Brot (skewer of steak, pork and roasted veggies with salad and bread).  It was delicious.  After dinner, we joined up with the Night Watchman and followed him throughout the town as he told stories of the history of Rothenburg. 

This was a long and wonderful day and we were looking forward to sleeping in our king-size bed which had no top sheet, but individual down comforters and pillows.