Rothenburg ob der Tauber Local Customs

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We didn’t leave our German shepherds in the car and brought them for a walk along Rothenburg. Zharden and Zarina fom Irin Hof were very glad and enjoyed this beautiful town with us. I couldn’t take them in the Museum and to the top of the Rathaus Tower. They had to wait for me with Irina and were happy when I came back safely.

Like in many other German cities a lot of people admired our dogs and tried to speak to Irina about our dogs in German, then in English, Italian and even in Russian. There were a plenty of German shepherds fans but many people who simply liked dogs. What a pleasure to communicate with such people about our lovely dogs even if we don’t know German…

You can watch my 1 min 17 sec HD Video German shepherds fom Irin Hof in Rothenburg ob der Tauber out of my Youtube channel.

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One of the aspects of travelling that most people enjoy is tasting the local dishes. Here I must confess about having a hindrance - I am rather conservative (should I say cowardly?) as it comes to new food. That's why during my trips to Asia I feed on chicken, rice and vegetables. Sea food is not for me, nor is any new dish that I don't know the ingredients of... What shall I do? Nobody is perfect.
However, one of the things I cannot resist are sweets. I love most of the cakes, pastries, etc. That's why looking at the shop windows of Rothenburg's confectioneries and bakeries made my mouth water. I simply had to try a schneeball - sort of a doughnut. They are formed by taking long thin strips of dough and rolling them into balls, which are then fried. Some are covered with powdered sugar, some with chocolate and there are also lots of others. I tried the one with chocolate - not bad, but what definitely put me off was the problem I had with eating it - it was too big and round to bite without having the smears of chocolate all over my face.

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Grap a snack...........take a sandwich with a saucage inside, it's called ' Bratwurst mit Brot '.

But ...be careful,.........cause in the winter the roads can be very slippery because of ice and snow. While eating and walking at the same time, you could slip..........and the saucage could escape from the sandwich...and you don't even notice it.
The next bite you want to take...........is from an empty sandwich ! :-)))

;-)) It happened to Andrea !!

The story goes that in 1631, during the Thirty Years War, Rothenburg, was about to be overrun by a Catholic army. Just before the carnage was to begin, the Catholic general offered a deal. If anyone could drink a three-liter jug of wine in one gulp, the town would be spared.

Rothenburg's mayor grabbed the jug, chugged the wine in one gulp, and slept for three days while the town rejoiced. This Meistertrunk moment is immortalized in the clock on the Councilors' Tavern on the Marktplatz. Several times a day, crowds gather to watch the clock's figures reenact Mayor Nusch's sacrificial gulp for his people.

One of the unfortunate things about the rediscovery of Rothenburg as one of the most well-preserved medieval towns, is that tourists have decended in a major way on the town.

Special requests (dressing on the side, french fries instead of sauerkraut) are not an accepted part of dining out, as it is in the states.

Before you enter the medieval crime-museum "Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum" you may see this special wagon in front of the house : It was used for the transportation of prisoners in the old times. I remember to have seen such a wagon in spooky old movies , but to see it in Rothenburg was even more impressive.
These wagons may be seen without the need to get inside of the museum !

This is a nice local custom of the area that I saw at eastertime: All of the fountains in Rothenburg were decorated at easter time with long girlandes of colored eggs forming a crown on top of the fountain.
This is the fountain in Roederstrasse, close to Markusturm and I saw also plenty of more fountains decorated that way !

When you are walking on top of the medieval town-wall of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, you will see plenty of such inscriptions with the names of people who gave a certain amount of money as a donation for the restoration of the wall.
Some of these inscriptions have even added e.g. 15 meters ect., when their donations were big enough for the restoration of such a large part of the wall.
b.t.w.Hedwig-Courths Mahler was a popular german novelist, writing books about broken hearts and true love umong noble people...