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Published: June 13th 2008
Kriminalmuseum 3
Insignia of Justice!Ah, what a day! We were all fairly tired this morning, probably due to the time zone differences. We were all up by 4:00 am our time - which is 7:00 pm back home. There’s a 9 hour difference all in all, which can be very confusing at times! We all slept for quite a while, about 12 or so hours, but even still we were pretty exhausted.
Eventually we all rolled out of the somewhat-comfortable beds and got ready for breakfast. The breakfast here is free of charge, which is great - they have all sorts of things that we’ve never seen before, but I myself was not adventurous enough to try much of it. Dad was, however, more than willing to devour whatever they had out on the counter! There were weird things such as slices of pickled herring rolled around cheese, and other anonymous meats and cheeses - Mom loved some of the brie cheeses that they had out, but it didn’t like her very much! Aside from the strange stuff, they had fruits and eggs, not to mention my personal favorite: nutella spread, which is like a chocolate hazelnut spread that you spread onto bread and
Kriminalmuseum 2
Tyler in a torture device! it is absolutely delicious. The coffee here is great too - normally I don’t drink coffee, as the coffee we have at home is some junk from Starbucks, but the coffee here is absolutely fantastic! I had some just black and it was great.
After breakfast, we ended up going to a “Kriminalmuseum” or, a criminal museum. However, it was more like a museum describing the various forms of torture used in the area in the early 1200s-1700s, up until that stuff was reformed in the 1800s. We didn’t manage to grab very many pictures because unfortunately we forgot to charge the camera and the battery died. The stuff in there wasn’t very pleasant - especially after eating breakfast haha - it’s kind of crazy the stuff that people did back in the “good” old days! There were A couple of things that stood out in particular though was something called a “shame mask” which looked different according to the wearers’ misdeeds. There was one that had big ears and a long tongue that prevented one from talking, which was to be worn by a woman who was something of a blabbermouth - the ears represented the fact that
they heard everything, and the long tongue symbolized that they said anything they heard as soon as it happened (I thought of mom at this point). Tyler pointed out this other mask that had similarities to a wolf, which was supposed to be worn by someone who told bad jokes. Seriously. Also in the museum was the infamous “Iron Maiden”. According to the little information blip though, originally there weren’t any spikes in the device (at least, the one there, which was created circa 1400s and the spikes were not added until the device was purchased by Britain and spikes were added in the late 1800s).
After the museum of criminals, we ended up visiting the Saint Jakobskirche - or Saint Jakob’s Church. This building seems more like a cathedral than a simple church, however - it seems to tower over the smaller buildings surrounding it. Inside, there are huge archways and giant pillars supporting various different statues. The place could easily seat two hundred or more, and it is a fully-functional Protestant church when it’s not open to tourists. The many stain-glass windows and paintings are very colorful amidst the dull stone architecture!
After the church, we
went to another museum that showed off the many different forms of art from old time periods - 1400s to early 1900s - but unfortunately they wouldn’t allow photography so we didn’t get any pictures there. They had a bunch of different weapons - swords, rapiers, one-shot pistols, giant rifles, old shotguns, halberds, poleaxes, war hammers, spears, crossbows - you name it, they probably had it!
Eventually we went back to our room. We were all still pretty tired from the time changes, but after we all rested a while, mom, me, and Tyler all went shopping. We got a couple of pairs of shoes and shirts, which are very cool to have since they’re pretty much unique to the area. After that, all four of us ended up walking around town and going into little shops. We looked, mostly because most of the stores are somewhat overpriced - but I guess you can’t blame them for trying to make money off of tourists! Eventually, though, we ended up buying a few souvenirs - beer steins, sweatshirts, patches, paintings, etc.
After that, we had dinner, which was absolutely fantastic. You don’t realize how mediocre the food in America
The Clock Strikes...
We left promptly at 8:00! is til you’ve had a good German meal. At about 7:45 pm we set out for the town square, where we were to take a tour with a “Night Watchman” which is actually just some guy dressed up in a dark cloak and hat carrying a poleaxe who gives you a little tour of the city of Rothenburg.
It was remarkable how many people turned up for the tour - I didn’t think there were so many tourists in the town, but I guess it’s a lot bigger than it looks. The Watchman was a pretty funny fellow - his dry sense of humor only made the tour more interesting as he lead us about the city and explained things such as the importance of being a Night Watchman, who was in a group of 5 or 6, all responsible for keeping the town safe at night.
He lead us to the edge of the city, where the wall that encircles the whole town stood and formed a cliff against the rolling hills. Here you could get a beautiful look at the southern edge of the town, which was illuminated by the setting sun that had just
Beautiful view...
Scenic view of southern Rothenburg. recently started to shine after a hefty downpour of rain.
He then lead us further into the town, where we paused by a small pub where he explained that the oldest portion of the building had architecture dating back to 950 AD, while the newest stuff was from the 1500s. The most amusing part, however, was that the building for whatever reason was called “Hell”. Its insignia on the outside was a golden silhouette of a taunting devil. The Watchman added that, if ever you met someone in Rothenburg that told you to “Go to Hell!” it was a good recommendation!
He also explained the history of the town of Rothenburg - there were many ups and downs as far as its economy went, mostly due to hardships such as the bubonic plague and also when it was first conquered by Catholics in the 30 years war. He also later explained the difficulties the town faced during World War Two - the town was to be blown to bits by bombs and artillery fire, but the local Germans who had at that point been put in charge of the town got in contact with General John McCloy, who
In "Hell"...
Figures I'm the only one with red eye! also had an affection for the romantic city. Eventually the two, former enemies, reached an agreement that ultimately saved the town from being completely destroyed. Pretty remarkable stuff!
That was the end of the tour, but before returning to our rooms, we decided to stop by Hell for drinks. All puns aside, the place was very relaxing with a friendly atmosphere.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel. It’s pretty late, and I’m going to call it a night. Tomorrow we leave for Prague! Can’t wait. 😊
Love you guys,
Rhiannon
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Meredith Elliott
non-member comment
torture and rainbows
So your day started with iron maidens and ended with the night watchman and rainbows. What more could you ask for? (On a somewhat related note, you'll be happy to know that habeas corpus was upheld by our Supreme Court on Thursday!) I loved the "Go to Hell" story--that's fabulous! Pictures are amazing. Hope you are all doing well. Take care, Meri