Germany's Most Complete Medieval Town — two kilometres of intact city walls encircle half-timbered houses, a Christmas market that runs four weeks in an already Christmas-obsessed country, and a 16th-century story of a mayor who drank a 3.25-litre tankard to save his town
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is the best-preserved medieval walled town in Germany — two kilometres of unbroken city wall (with wall walks open to visitors) encircle an old town of half-timbered houses, gabled burghers' mansions, and cobbled lanes that have changed little since the 17th century. The town avoided wartime destruction almost entirely — an American general famously spared it from a devastating artillery barrage in April 1945 after a local official appealed in person at a critical moment. The Marktplatz, with the Renaissance Rathaus (Town Hall) and the Baumeisterhaus, is one of the mo…
Rothenburg was founded as a Hohenstaufen imperial fort in the 10th century and grew into a Free Imperial City under Emperor Rudolf I in 1274 — autonomous and answerable only to the emperor, outside the jurisdiction of any prince or bishop. It reached its peak population of 6,000 in the 15th century, when wealthy cloth merchants and imperial politics made it one of the most prosperous small cities in southern Germany. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) devastated the town economically — the sack of 1631 (and the Meistertrunk legend) ended its prosperity, but also froze its development. Unable t…