Day 4 – Rothenberg and Munich

9/14/2006 – Day 4 – Rothenberg And Munich

Heading east we are on our way to Rothenberg and as we go through the countryside, we see this castle on the hillside.  I can imagine the owner sitting up there on the hill, overlooking their land and the cattle on it.  It is like traveling back to the 1500’s.

This time a village goes by.  It is interesting that many of the houses and villages have remained this way for hundreds of years.  The only thing that has modernized is probably electricity and plumbing.

We are in Rothenberg.  In 1535, Rothenberg along with a couple of other small nearby villages became an Imperial Fief to the Lords of Hirschhorn.  We enjoy it now as one of the medieval cities still intact.  This is part of the outside wall surrounding the town.

Walking around town, I realize that I’ll be taking many pictures.  I could take pictures of the streets all day long, but we are only here for a certain amount of time.  Here is one of them. 

I am fascinated with this town.  Check out the fork in this road.  The left heads up and out the town gate while the right road heads down and deeper into town.  Notice the store signs.  The symbol on the sign indicates the stores purpose.

Continuing around town, we pass through a number of arches and gates in the old wall. 

Statues depicting Saint George’s heroism can be found across Europe and the one here in Rothenberg was erected in 1446 which is perched high above the Marktplatz (market square) fountain. 

All around town they still have a number of the stone water troths some still have the water pump like this one.  Flowers adorn the troth for display since horses do not actually run around town any longer. 

During our wandering around town, we came upon a torture museum.  There were all sorts of apparatus, an iron mask, a full suit where spikes could be pushed through holes, and this cage that could be dunked into water.  Ah, the good old days.

Continuing to travel around it is not difficult to imagine that swashbucklers like the 3-musketeers used these narrow alleyways.  Carmen is playing the damsel in distress waiting for me to come rescue her. 

I had to take a picture of the roofline of this building.  Look at the window dormer.  The roofing tiles curve up and around the window framing.  Interesting, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this before. 

In this store, we finally find beer steins.  What size do you want, pint, liter, boot, Gallon?  There were many different steins and motifs, where do you start?

Our travels around town eventually bring us to the central square where it appears the municipal building is located.  Check out the towers and roof line.  While we were there, we even saw a few people came out in period costume complete with hats, vest, and walking sticks.

Can you believe the architecture in town?  Look at the clock tower bridge over the pedestrian walkway. 

On our way out of town, we travel down yet another narrow roadway leading through the town.  The two houses on the left have a flower window box at every window.  It’s a good thing we are leaving shortly for Munich because I’d be taking more pictures of streets and buildings.

Our time in Rothenberg is done and we are now on our way to Munich, which is about 350km or a 4-hour drive away.  Once in Munich we make a stop at Nymphenburg Palace one of the premier palaces in Europe.  This was once the summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria.  The front is 2,073 feet in width, even surpassing the Palace in Versailles, France.

The commission of the palace started in 1664 with the central pavilion completed in 1675.  The palace gradually transformed over the years with various pavilions built up through 1758.  King Ludwig II was born here in 1845.

After running around Nymphenburg Palace we hop back on the bus for Munich.  The bus cannot go all of the way into Marienplatz or St Mary’s Square, so we are dropped off at a designated bus stop.  We’ll be picked up there in a couple of hours.  This is a prominent square, the largest in Munich.  This building is the Neues Rathaus or the town hall and is the southern front of the building.

There are almost 50 ornate statues and figures on the façade.  Check out this horse and rider, this Equestrian statue is of Prince Regent Luitpold Rathaus.  The details with all of the status, finials, towers, and columns is really unbelievable.  Although I have taken pictures, you really have to see it in person to get a real appreciation of the building.

On the clock and bell tower, under the clock, was the location for the animated characters.  The Neues Rathaus clock has 43 bells chiming on the hour.  In the upper portion of the nave, a "tournament" is staged, which was originally held in the Marienplatz in 1568 for the marriage of Duke William V and Renata of Lorraine.   The bottom nave represents the heralds announce the start of the joust.

This towering column in Marienplatz, erected in 1638 and topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation.  In 1639, the four bronze-armed cherubs were added at the pedestal.

Walking around we see this section of the wall of the Neues Rathaus.  Check out the dragon climbing the wall and look at the relief or frieze as the dragon’s head reaches a section.  The people begin to scamper out of the way.  Look at the woman just to the left of the dragon head, she is trying to pick up the child and run.  Another woman and child is even further in the background.  Such detail!  

This is Ruffinihaus.  The Ruffinihaus is a group of three houses in the Old Town of Munich, Germany.  It was built by Gabriel von Seidl from 1903 to 1905 and is named after the Ruffiniturm.  I thought the painted scheme was interesting. 

As we begin our trek back to where the bus will pick us up, I spy this ornate building façade.  I do not remember where we even saw the building, but I remember thinking if you could actually go out on those balconies.

We are heading to the bus; going through St Mary’s Square and took another picture.  The column with the Virgin Mary is on the left and the Old Town Hall is the white tower in the background.  Look at all of the people; this is defiantly a popular location.

We are spending the night in Garmish, near the border of Austria, so we have about an hour drive south before we get to the hotel.  Before we retire for the night, I get one last picture for the day of Carmen and me after dinner and a drink with others from the tour.  Tomorrow we will visit a couple of castles.