"Rothenburg - Medieval Magic at Night " a Rothenburg ob der Tauber Travel Page by davequ

Rothenburg is imho awfully crowded & touristy in the daytime, but still wonderfully magical & mysterious late at night.

Achtung:

Sadly, VT (like all pro & amateur "travel-writing" sites)
is crawling with liars, clowns, and ricknic wannabees who will call for the crucifixion of anyone willing to tell you the ugly truth, and deliver doe-eyed sermons that Rothenburg (like everywhere else they write about) is "wonderful" at all times and a "genuine German experience."

What horse manure.
Despite a couple museums and churches with artwork to see when the sun's out,
Rothenburg is imo for the most part Disneyland / tourist-hell from Sun Up Till Sun Down. It's only after sundown when all the tourists split that Rothenburg becomes magical.

Drive or bicycle along the Romantische Strasse heading South towards Munich during the day -
then be sure to spend the night here in Rothenburg.

Most of the tourists leave by 1700 and then this historic medieval town quiets down and finally becomes interesting & enjoyable.

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I spent a great night there. Started out with a delicious and authentic German dinner, then spent the evening in a cellar-restaurant having a schnaaps and talking history with the owner, followed by some time with the notorious "Night Watchman," then walking the spooky old town alone late at night.
As strange as it sounds, the old "vibes & ghosts" do come out late at night in Rothenburg. It is around midnight when you can feel much of Germany's history (good and bad) in this place.

Shop and tourist by day if you wish, but I'll be out driving through the smaller towns on the Romantische Strasse until everyone gets out of town.

Here is a Rothenburg orientation web site with tons of info, pictures, and a couple of webcams.

Rothenburg

I really enjoyed Rothenburg at night and the Romantic Road during the day, and I plan to return.

Not only are the outside of old Rothenburg buildings interesting, so are the insides.

Here's a typical simple / spartan hotel interior
(my Hotel in Rothenburg was the pleasant, family-run Klosterstueble).
Cool Franconian / German ambience without getting too cute. I loved this hotel, and for me it was a good deal ($55/night in high season of '01)

A photo of part of the damage to Rothenburg after Allied bombing.

The Rödertor tower on the medieval wall contains some history and photos (left) about the bombing of Rothenburg near the end of the war.

As you can see from this photo, much of the old city had to be reconstructed after the war.