Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Rothenburg is the best-preserved walled medieval town in Germany. As such, it is a very popular tourist destination. Most of the buildings are from the 12th to 14th century. Like Venice, it is a beautiful spot for photography. I was there for only an afternoon, but I still managed to take lots of pictures!

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This is the Rathaus, or town hall, in the downtown market square
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This is how tourists in the 13th century experienced the town
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My first stop was the top of the Rathaus tower, which afforded beautiful views like this
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You can see the wall on the outskirts of the town
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A view down of the fountain and horse carriage in the market square
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A nice view of the town and town walls
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The tower on the left is the vantage point that the previous pictures were taken from
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The market square
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A closeup of the clock, date, and sundial
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The St. George fountain with traditional German architecture
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A closeup of the 15th century alterpiece in the cathedral
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The front of the cathedral
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Somebody takes their rosegardening seriously
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This bell tower is one of the gates in the city wall. You can see the stairs up to the ramparts.
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A closer view
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The ramparts of the city wall. You can walk along almost the entire length of the wall.
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A view of the ramparts from the street
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More nice roses and flowerboxes on the medieval style houses
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A nice herb garden
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Another gate in the wall leads to a garden outside
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Views of Rothenburg and the wall from the castle garden
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While traveling alone, I got to figure out how to take pictures of myself without getting a closeup of the buttons on my jacket
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A shot of the view of the wall from the outside. Not very welcoming to outsiders with catapults.
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Statuary in the formal gardens
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An interesting fountain made out of a large boulder
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Going back through the town gate. That funny face is actually a spout for pouring boiling oil on intruders.
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Some antique cars in an antique village
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A midafternoon concert in the square as dark clouds collect overhead
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Another shot of the Rathaus tower
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My last stop in town was the acclaimed "Middle Ages Criminal Museum"
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It is not a great place to buy furniture
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This blurry picture shows illustrations of some of the creative punishments they used to have back in the good ol' days.
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For some crimes, they used humilation instead of physical pain as torture. I'm not sure what a donkey burial is, but it does sound humiliating.
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Another good humiliation, especially for noblepersons, was "dog carrying". The pic is blurry, but the collie carried by the man in blue looks quite content.
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A real life executioner's axe and block.
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Apparently the middle ages required lots of pointy sticks.
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A weighted pillory lifted the criminal up for all to mock

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