I arrived Frankfurt about 7:30 Friday morning (=1:30 back home), picked up my rental car, and left the airport about 8:40. Stefan had warned me that there was a lot of construction work on the autobahn. It had slowed him a lot when he brought his daughter home after her trip to England. So I figured I'd be lucky to get there by coffee time (4:00 p.m.). There were many stretches where the roadway was narrowed and traffic speeds limited to 60 km/h (under 40 mph), but I managed to stay in the left lane and, going at about the speed limit, passed a number of vehicles with inches to spare on either side. (Remember this when we get to Ireland.)
With a 40 minute stop at the Rasthaus im Spessart, I arrived at Rothenburg at about 11:30, about 4 hours earlier than I had expected with the threatened delays and hardly longer than other drives between Frankfurt and Rothenburg. (At that point I had been in transit about 30 hours.) I left the car in a lot outside the walls and walked around for a while taking pictures. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)
Galgentor (Gallows Gate) from outside the walls. On the tower, you can see a gold colored shield with the imperial eagle, because Rothenburg was an imperial free city. Below and to the left is a shield with the Rothenburg arms, a red base with two red towers on a white background.
The street in from the Galgentor leads to the Weißer Turm (White Tower) which was part of the earlier fortifications, when the city was much smaller.
City Hall, east facade. The city hall has two parts, an older, gothic portion, and this newer, renaissance part. Notice the onion domes. They're not just found in Russia. The tallest, white, tower is on the end of the older part of city hall. The American banner at the left end of city hall was not there in my honor. It is just the first of a number representing various countries going down the street.
The Grüner Markt (Grocery Market) square north of city hall, with a view toward St. James (Lutheran) Church. During the weekend, there were activities here. The Feldschmiede, where Hannes made my nail, was at the far end. The Spielmannszug (marching band) occupied the area to the left, and there was a food counter out of the picture, on the left, with benches and tables for patrons to the right.
I went across the square and took a picture of the church, and as I was coming back, I encountered Stefan's wife, who works in the mayor's office. She said she'd let Stefan's folks know I was already in town, and assured me I didn't have to wait until coffee time to show up at the parents' house. Then it was about 1:00 and I decided to have some lunch.
The restaurant where I had lunch (waiters in black vests). My lunch (liver, potatoes, beans, salad, and beer, if memory serves) is at the corner of the nearer table on the left.
After lunch, I walked around some more and took more pictures.
Here are a couple. The home of the Staudt family. Hans Staudt was a city councillor at the time of the siege in 1631, and his son Hans jun. is the leader of the Junge Schar. The second picture shows the coat of arms of Nicolaus Philippus de Staudt, dated 1701. The plaque below says, "In 1540 King Ferdinand of the Romans and in 1546 Emperor Charles V stayed here."
Here's the exterior of the Brauhaus Rothenburg, where I first met the Junge Schar, in 1984. It's no longer a brewery, but it functions as a hotel.
Then I went to Uli Müller's florist shop. Uli had been a drummer in the Junge Schar and later was one of the imperial officers in the play, but had too bad a case of stage fright and had to drop out. Stefan had told me that Uli's father had died recently, and Stefan gave the eulogy. So I was able to offer condolences in my halting German (Uli speaks no English), and he brought out a box with pictures of his father and grandfather. I bought a nice bouquet, then went back to the car and drove to Stefan's parents' place, which is outside the walls, maybe a mile or a bit less from the Galgentor. I got there about 3:30, and at 4:00 we had coffee. Stefan and his daughters joined us. In Germany "coffee" isn't just coffee. There are always several kinds of pastry as well.
At 7:30 Stefan came back and we walked into the city. We viewed the torchlight procession into the marketplace in front of city hall, and the fireworks from city hall balcony, from the second floor of a building at the south end of the square.
This was the view before it got dark enough for the procession. The white building to the left is the old part of city hall. After the fireworks Stefan got a phone call from his older daughter, who was in tears over her recent breakup with her boyfriend. After he consoled her we had a beer and then went to the Lichthof, a ground level alley that runs between the two parts of city hall
When we got there, the Loser Haufen, a group of former Junge Scharlers and others, were singing Junge Schar songs, while people were enjoying sausages and beer. Presently the Junge Schar arrived with their banner, and joined the singing. I was able to greet and exchange pleasantries with former J.S. members Horaz, Härtl, Manni, Erni, Texas, Stupfi, Michel, and Kiefer. They all seemed pleased to see me again. Stefan also introduced me to several of the current Junge Scharlers, who were quite impressed with the story of my repeated visits and absorption into the group's activities.
On our walk out of the city, Stefan mentioned that now that the girls are old enough to be left alone, he and Petra are hoping to visit the States in 2011. (I'll have to do some major housecleaning before they arrive.) Eventually our paths diverged: he went to his house, and I got back to the parents' at about 1:30 a.m. And so to bed.
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