September 14, 2013 -- Schnee Ball Land

September 14, 2013 -- Rothenburg

Chris flew in from the U.S. in time to get in a car and head off with us to Rothenburg.  After 2 plus hours and a fair amount of traffic (otherwise known in Germany as a Stau), we checked into our hotel, The Eisenhut.  As it had done much of the time Phyllis and Jack arrived in Germany, it rained.  Since the motto in Germany is "never bad weather only bad clothing"  we donned our rain attire and headed out.  For those of you who do not know, Rothenburg ob der Tauber ("the red castle on the Tauber") to quote Fodors "is the medieval town that even Walt Disney might have thought too picturesque to be true, with half-timber architcture galore and a wealth of fountains and flowers against a backdrop of towers and turrets." (Fodor's Germany, p. 193).

We walked around the quaint German town and stopped into a Schnee Ball shop.  Rothenburg is famous for its Schnee Balls -- essentially dough that is cut into strips, placed in a metal ball and deep fried.  After they are done, they eject various fillings into them.  There are pictures below of a man making them.  Needless to say, I went back and purchased a dozen.

We went out to dinner early so that we could go on the "Night Watchman's Tour."  A gentleman, with a talent for theatrics, takes you around the city and gives you its history.  He is very entertaining and despite the pouring rain, we really enjoyed ourselves.  He tells a story during the tour of how Rothenburg survived destruction during World War II.  He explained that the war was almost over and the Nazis held Rothenburg.  The Allied troops were on the doorstep and actually bombed Rothenburg. However, given the rain and cloud cover, the city did not sustain much damage.  The next day, however, the Allies were going to have another go at it. By chance, the Assistant Secretary of Defense John McCloy spoke to General Devers who was in charge of the Rothenburg operation.  Devers explained that they were about to bomb Rothenburg again.  McCloy told Devers to take Rothenburg BUT NOT to use artillary.  It turns out that McCloy's mother had visited Rothenburg years ago and loved it.  McCloy grew up with pictures of the town in his home and did not want to see it destroyed.  Hitler's generals, on the other hand, were told never to surrender a city.  But, when Devers contacted the Germans to ask that they surrender, the Nazi general was away for a few days.  Instead, there was a major in charge; Major Thömmes igored Hitler's order to fight to the end and surrendered the city.  As such, Rothenburg survived.

After dinner and the tour, we had a little gelato and then headed off to bed.

Schnee Bälle

Stadtpfarrkirche St. Jakob (Parish Church of St. Jacob)

Famous sculpture by Riemenschneider -- Heiliges Blut (Holy Blood) Altar;
Above the altar is a crystal in the cross that is said to contain Christ's blood

Riemenschneider sculpture 

The infamous Night Watchman

Otherwise know as Hell