Rich and I are currently finishing up our only full day in Rothenburg, on way to Oktoberfest in Munich. This destination was chosen thanks to Rick Steves’s write-up and has not disappointed. But it is a sleepy village that only happens to be near more exciting locations. As such, I am hoping that is serves as a springboard to the pinacle of the second half of my trip: Munich. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Rothenburg has historically be lucky enough to lie next to the intersection of great east-west and north-south supply routes that carried the great majority of Europe’s trade. Founded a thousand years ago, it built itself to a position of importance and was able to buy expensive fortifications and political independence. It successfully defended itself well into the 17th century when a passing army sacked the city. From that moment on, it was unable to regain any of its former glory. As a result, the town languished in a state of abject poverty that only saught to keep the existing buildings from falling down. That is, this was all is sought to do until the 20th century when the masses of tourists discovered this isolated, ancient town which appeared to be a living photograph from a previous era.
Everything above I learned from last night’s tour of Rothenburg given by the night watchman, George. He has held this ceremonial position (or perhaps better described as theatrical in these days) for a couple of decades and doesn’t disappoint. His tour is primarily aimed at families, so if you can tolerate a bit of corny humor you’re sure to come back with the same positive review as I did. And since this town still only holds thousands of people, you would also discover that its the only post-sunset game in town.
Today we did the standard archictecture/photography/museum tour that has marked most of my cities’ stops. There is nothing here that is worth relating. I feel that the last couple weeks of my trip have had a decidely different texture than the previous ones. As a door swings around its fixed orbit where it is attached to the wall, I feel that Berlin was the pivot of this adventure. It is the last place where long nights were launched from quaint hostels. It is the place where the cost of seeing the city quadrupled, and has not changed since. It is the inflection point where I crossed a threshold from exotic adventure to enviable culture. And while it may have been a point of no return, I hope I can steal backwards over that point in time and enjoy one last adventure.
Germany, I’m glad to be back.