Rothenburg ob der Tauber old city and fortress, Germany

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is the most famous of Germany’s walled medieval towns and the star of the Romantic Road — a near-perfect ensemble of red-roofed houses, cobbled squares and towers set on a spur high above the Tauber valley in Franconia. Founded around a Hohenstaufen castle in the 12th century, it flourished as a free imperial city before centuries of decline effectively froze it in time; that faded fortune, followed by careful preservation and post-war rebuilding, is exactly why so much of the medieval town survives intact today. Encircled by a complete ring of walls and gates and crowned by the towers of its churches and town hall, Rothenburg has become the archetypal image of the German Middle Ages — a place that has inspired film-makers and artists and now draws visitors from all over the world.

What to See

The best introduction is a circuit of the town walls: a covered walkway runs along much of the roughly four-kilometre ring, passing dozens of the surviving watchtowers and the town gates, with free access and sweeping views over the rooftops. The single most photographed spot is the Plönlein, a storybook corner where a leaning half-timbered house stands between the Siebersturm and the Kobolzell Gate. At the heart of the town, the Market Square is dominated by the Town Hall, whose 52-metre Gothic tower can be climbed for a panorama over the valley and the Frankenhöhe hills; on the neighbouring councillors’ tavern, mechanical figures re-enact the legend of the Meistertrunk several times a day. Close by, the Gothic Church of St James (St.-Jakobs-Kirche) shelters the celebrated Holy Blood Altar carved by Tilman Riemenschneider around 1500, while the Castle Garden (Burggarten), laid out where the medieval fortress once stood before an earthquake destroyed it, offers the finest views down into the Tauber. Rothenburg is also known for its Medieval Crime Museum, its year-round Christmas shops and, after dark, the atmospheric tour led by the costumed Night Watchman.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Rothenburg sits in western Middle Franconia, roughly between Würzburg and Ansbach. By train, take a regional service to Steinach (bei Rothenburg) and change to the short branch line up to Rothenburg’s own station, a few minutes’ walk from the old town; drivers arrive via the Romantic Road or the A7 motorway. As one of the busiest stops on the Romantic Road, the town is also served by the seasonal Romantic Road coach. Cars must be left in car parks outside the walls, since the historic centre is compact and largely pedestrianised. Walking the streets and the rampart walk is free; the town hall tower, the museums and the guided tours are ticketed. The town can be extremely crowded with day-trippers around midday, so early morning and the evening — after the coaches have left and the lanes fall quiet — are the loveliest times to explore.