Travel Missteps: Go to Hell!

We’ll continue our Travel Missteps series in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best preserved Medieval towns in Germany. While this town is primarily touristy, it was beautiful decorated and thankfully deserted for the holidays when I was there in December 2011.

Me posing with the Night Watchman.

One of the key attractions is taking a “Night Watchman Tour” ( 7 EUR) to learn this history of the town. We had planned on doing this on the first night we got there, but as what commonly happens, we were too tired and so kept putting this tour off until the last night. And as it so normally happens, the weather was perfect…until the last night. Large wet snowflakes and Christmas decorations are beautiful when you can sit inside and enjoy it, but waiting around for a dark shadow carrying a deadly halberd to appear seemed like a silly venture. But that was just perfect as the Night Watchman blends humor and history in such a manner that we hardly cared about the weather. I definitely recommend this tour! And each time it is a little different, so you can do it over again and learn more Rothenburg history.

Night Watchman spinning his story.

The only strange part was at the end of the tour, the Night Watchman yelled at us “Go to hell!” Usually when the locals say “Go to Hell!” its because you’ve pissed them off, but this is not the case in Rothenburg. Zur Höll (literally “To Hell”) is, (since 900 AD), one of the oldest buildings within the city walls and hosts a Medieval tavern. In the snowy weather we headed the Night Watchman’s recommendation and made our way into the small tavern. Luckily we were able to share a table with other travelers and we enjoyed some warm bread, hot soup, and great wine. This is one of the few late night spots in town and its a great people watching spot. We stayed into the night talking with traveler and tourist alike, and even had a chat with the Night Watchman as he came in to enjoy some wine. So if you are in Rothenburg don’t forget to go To Hell!