Before Chinese New Year, a Hong Kong friend came to visit me in Munich after a 2-week sojourn in Europe. We were thinking about a good place to visit on Sunday 3rd February; then I came up with the pretty town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I also invited another Hong Kong guy, now working in Munich, to come along.
農曆年前有個香港朋友，歐遊兩週後來到慕尼黑。2月3日（星期日）那天，大家都想到另一個地方逛逛，想起有個饒有特色的小鎮——羅騰堡（Rothenburg ob der Tauber），我約了另一個剛來到慕尼黑工作的香港朋友一同前往。
The entrance to the old town of Rothenburg 羅騰堡古城之入口
The entire town of Rothenburg is built on wood. Shortly after walking through the city gates (called Rödertor), we stepped onto the passageway on top of the city wall for a good view of the town. Rothenburg is totally surrounded by this wall, about half of which has a narrow passageway built on it. The side of the passageway facing outwards is a continuous stone wall while the roof and the fence are built of wood. Most of the wood looked rather new but at least the original style was retained. The maintenance of the passageway must have relied on many benefactors, and they were honoured by plaques on the stone wall. Each plaque also marked the length of the wall each benefactor was 'entitled' too, but at first we were thinking if the number meant how many millions each benefactor donated! (That's because the symbol for the metre and million both happen to be 'm'.)
羅騰堡整個鎮都離不開木，甫跨過城門，我們便踏上了城牆上用木構建的狹窄走廊，從高瞭望全鎮。羅騰堡由一道城牆包圍着，其中一半左右上面築了走廊，面向城外的部分是一片石壁，走廊的頂部跟面向城內的部分則用木建成，雖然大部分木材看起來都很新，但總算也保留到原來的特色。這道走廊的保養，相信有賴來自全世界的善長，走廊的石壁上，貼了一個又一個善長的牌，記了每人佔了多少米牆身，我們起初還以為是記錄捐了多少百萬呢（因為米和百萬的符號剛好都是m）。
The city wall and its passageway. (Left: entry to the passageway.)
城牆及其走廊。（左圖為前往走廊的通道。）
One of the streets in Rothenburg
羅騰堡街道一瞥
Parasites of the city wall! 城牆的寄生蟲！
Down from the city wall, we meandered through the little lanes around the town and passed by the largest church of Rothenburg called St. Jacob's Church (Jakobskirche). However, the church was closed by the time we arrived around lunch time. We figured that all the priests of the church have probably gone for lunch!
從城牆下來，我們穿插於橫街小巷中，經過鎮內最大的教堂聖雅各教堂（Jakobskirche），但時值正午，教堂關門，相信是神父也要醫肚吧！
St. Jacob's Church from the city wall
從城牆遠望聖雅各教堂
The street leading to the church from where we descended from the city wall
從城牆下來後，前往教堂的街道
After walking through the arch (left), we reached the front side of the church (right).
穿過教堂的拱門（左）後，便到教堂的正門（右）
The Franciscan Church near St. Jacob's Church
聖雅各教堂附近的聖方濟會教堂
We came across a wood sculpting shop near the church by accident. The shop was full of all sorts of souvenirs made of wood, which mostly came from local sources, and the shop owner would offer to have one's chosen item inscribed for free using a heated filament. Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to have a personalised souvenir made for myself!
無意中我們在教堂附近發現了一家木雕店鋪，店內盡是不同木製裝飾，大部分以本地木材製成，挑選後還可即場請師傅為你免費用電筆雕字留念，如此獨特的紀念品，我當然沒錯過！
From there we walked to the Castle Gardens, built on top of a hill overlooking the valley through which the Tauber River ran. The location and set-out of the Gardens were reminiscent of the castle in Heidelberg, while the scenery of the valley brought back memories of Toledo in Spain as the relief looked very similar. But unlike Toledo, Rothenburg was of course much greener.
之後我們前往鎮內的城堡公園，公園位處Tauber河谷的山上，佈局跟海德堡的城堡有幾分像，而河谷的景色，倒令我想起西班牙的托雷多，兩者地勢都有點相似，但羅騰堡當然綠油油得多了。
The Tauber river valley Tauber河谷
農曆年前有個香港朋友，歐遊兩週後來到慕尼黑。2月3日（星期日）那天，大家都想到另一個地方逛逛，想起有個饒有特色的小鎮——羅騰堡（Rothenburg ob der Tauber），我約了另一個剛來到慕尼黑工作的香港朋友一同前往。
The entrance to the old town of Rothenburg 羅騰堡古城之入口
The entire town of Rothenburg is built on wood. Shortly after walking through the city gates (called Rödertor), we stepped onto the passageway on top of the city wall for a good view of the town. Rothenburg is totally surrounded by this wall, about half of which has a narrow passageway built on it. The side of the passageway facing outwards is a continuous stone wall while the roof and the fence are built of wood. Most of the wood looked rather new but at least the original style was retained. The maintenance of the passageway must have relied on many benefactors, and they were honoured by plaques on the stone wall. Each plaque also marked the length of the wall each benefactor was 'entitled' too, but at first we were thinking if the number meant how many millions each benefactor donated! (That's because the symbol for the metre and million both happen to be 'm'.)
羅騰堡整個鎮都離不開木，甫跨過城門，我們便踏上了城牆上用木構建的狹窄走廊，從高瞭望全鎮。羅騰堡由一道城牆包圍着，其中一半左右上面築了走廊，面向城外的部分是一片石壁，走廊的頂部跟面向城內的部分則用木建成，雖然大部分木材看起來都很新，但總算也保留到原來的特色。這道走廊的保養，相信有賴來自全世界的善長，走廊的石壁上，貼了一個又一個善長的牌，記了每人佔了多少米牆身，我們起初還以為是記錄捐了多少百萬呢（因為米和百萬的符號剛好都是m）。
The city wall and its passageway. (Left: entry to the passageway.)
城牆及其走廊。（左圖為前往走廊的通道。）
One of the streets in Rothenburg
羅騰堡街道一瞥
Parasites of the city wall! 城牆的寄生蟲！
Down from the city wall, we meandered through the little lanes around the town and passed by the largest church of Rothenburg called St. Jacob's Church (Jakobskirche). However, the church was closed by the time we arrived around lunch time. We figured that all the priests of the church have probably gone for lunch!
從城牆下來，我們穿插於橫街小巷中，經過鎮內最大的教堂聖雅各教堂（Jakobskirche），但時值正午，教堂關門，相信是神父也要醫肚吧！
St. Jacob's Church from the city wall
從城牆遠望聖雅各教堂
The street leading to the church from where we descended from the city wall
從城牆下來後，前往教堂的街道
After walking through the arch (left), we reached the front side of the church (right).
穿過教堂的拱門（左）後，便到教堂的正門（右）
The Franciscan Church near St. Jacob's Church
聖雅各教堂附近的聖方濟會教堂
We came across a wood sculpting shop near the church by accident. The shop was full of all sorts of souvenirs made of wood, which mostly came from local sources, and the shop owner would offer to have one's chosen item inscribed for free using a heated filament. Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to have a personalised souvenir made for myself!無意中我們在教堂附近發現了一家木雕店鋪，店內盡是不同木製裝飾，大部分以本地木材製成，挑選後還可即場請師傅為你免費用電筆雕字留念，如此獨特的紀念品，我當然沒錯過！
From there we walked to the Castle Gardens, built on top of a hill overlooking the valley through which the Tauber River ran. The location and set-out of the Gardens were reminiscent of the castle in Heidelberg, while the scenery of the valley brought back memories of Toledo in Spain as the relief looked very similar. But unlike Toledo, Rothenburg was of course much greener.
之後我們前往鎮內的城堡公園，公園位處Tauber河谷的山上，佈局跟海德堡的城堡有幾分像，而河谷的景色，倒令我想起西班牙的托雷多，兩者地勢都有點相似，但羅騰堡當然綠油油得多了。
The Castle Gardens
城堡公園
The Tauber river valley Tauber河谷
Living life dangerously in the valley!
拜託你要托住我！
The priests seemed to be taking their time with their lunch, and we decided that we should also do the same. We found a restaurant near the town hall to enjoy a meal and kill the time.
神父醫肚的時間還沒有過，我們也得在市政廳附近找地方解決午餐（和打發時間）的問題。
The town hall (left) and the clock tower (right)
市政廳（左）及鐘樓（右）
Right after lunch, we went inside the St. Jacob's Church. The main attraction was the Heilig Blut Altar (Holy Blood Altar), said to contain a drop of blood from Jesus Christ.
飯後第一時間到聖雅各教堂拍照。該教堂最有名的是其聖血教壇，相傳滴有耶穌的一滴血。
Then we headed towards the southernmost city gate. But first we went to look for the famous local specialty called Schneeballan (literally snow balls). They are made of strips of pastry compacted into the shape of balls, with or without an extra outer coating. The way the strips intertwined actually looked like a brain, and the texture reminded us of lemon crackers that are commonly sold in supermarkets in Hong Kong.
然後我們轉往鎮內最南端的城門，我們先去找當地有名的小吃——雪球（Schneeballen），上面醮了不同的糖漿（或不醮），中間的球，口感好像檸檬夾心餅，千絲萬縷的麫粉條，無論看起來或拆開來都像個腦。
The street leading to the city gate was lined with handicraft shops. I'm sure there would have been a lot more to see if the shops were open, but mere window shopping was already leaving us rather impressed. Again, many of the items were made of wood and came with designs that we have never seen before. There were some other shops selling Christmas decorations. Although I had seen some of them at Christmas markets, it wasn't difficult to note the better craftsmanship from those shops.
沿着街道走，兩旁盡是賣手工藝品的商店，雖然商店全都關了門，但單看窗櫥就已目不暇給，其中不少都是木製，而且很有創意。有些店專賣聖誕裝飾，不少在聖誕市集都會看到，但比聖誕市集精緻得多了。
Left: an ice-skating rink with moving figurines; right: fold-out models of famous sceneries.
左：模型滑冰場，場上的人都會活動、右：著名景點的紙製模型
More Christmas decorations 其他聖誕裝飾
And if the shops were not enough, there is a whole Christmas museum in Rotherburg displaying all sorts of traditional decorations. We didn't go inside, but we took a good look at the window at the entrance of the museum.
說到聖誕裝飾，當然不能不提羅騰堡的聖誕博物館。入口的窗櫥很可愛！
Halfway to the city gate, we passed by the Siebers Tower and a small triangular plaza called Plönlein. The house built at the tip of the triangle looked as if it was holding onto a delicate balance, while the other buildings around the plaza were still maintained in their mediaeval style. The Plönlein and the Siebers Tower together form the typical postcard view of Rothenburg and are the unofficial emblem of the town.
前往城門半途，經過Siebers塔及三角小廣場（Plönlein），在三角的尖端有家很獨特的房子，看來有點歪歪斜斜，而附近的建築仍保留了中世紀色彩。Siebers塔及三角小廣場是羅騰堡最出名的地標，也算是該鎮的象徵。
The two sides of the Siebers Tower Siebers塔的前後兩面
We finally reached that city gate called Spital Bastion (Spital-Bastei, so named since there used to be a hospital nearby). There was also a walkway on top of the city wall starting from the Bastion and continuing onto the walkway we ventured earlier in the day. So we took the walkway and came a full circle to where we started. It was time to bid farewell to this pretty wooded mediaeval town.
終於到了那度名為醫院堡壘（Spital-Bastei，因附近從前有座醫院）的城門，那裡的城牆上也有走廊，跟較早前走過的走廊相連，我們三人便沿着走廊，返回行程的起點，跟這個與木有緣的中世紀小鎮道別。
The Spital Bastion 醫院堡壘
How about this for a hotel?
饒有特色的酒店
拜託你要托住我！
The priests seemed to be taking their time with their lunch, and we decided that we should also do the same. We found a restaurant near the town hall to enjoy a meal and kill the time.
神父醫肚的時間還沒有過，我們也得在市政廳附近找地方解決午餐（和打發時間）的問題。
The town hall (left) and the clock tower (right)
市政廳（左）及鐘樓（右）
Right after lunch, we went inside the St. Jacob's Church. The main attraction was the Heilig Blut Altar (Holy Blood Altar), said to contain a drop of blood from Jesus Christ.
飯後第一時間到聖雅各教堂拍照。該教堂最有名的是其聖血教壇，相傳滴有耶穌的一滴血。
Then we headed towards the southernmost city gate. But first we went to look for the famous local specialty called Schneeballan (literally snow balls). They are made of strips of pastry compacted into the shape of balls, with or without an extra outer coating. The way the strips intertwined actually looked like a brain, and the texture reminded us of lemon crackers that are commonly sold in supermarkets in Hong Kong.然後我們轉往鎮內最南端的城門，我們先去找當地有名的小吃——雪球（Schneeballen），上面醮了不同的糖漿（或不醮），中間的球，口感好像檸檬夾心餅，千絲萬縷的麫粉條，無論看起來或拆開來都像個腦。
The street leading to the city gate was lined with handicraft shops. I'm sure there would have been a lot more to see if the shops were open, but mere window shopping was already leaving us rather impressed. Again, many of the items were made of wood and came with designs that we have never seen before. There were some other shops selling Christmas decorations. Although I had seen some of them at Christmas markets, it wasn't difficult to note the better craftsmanship from those shops.
沿着街道走，兩旁盡是賣手工藝品的商店，雖然商店全都關了門，但單看窗櫥就已目不暇給，其中不少都是木製，而且很有創意。有些店專賣聖誕裝飾，不少在聖誕市集都會看到，但比聖誕市集精緻得多了。
Left: an ice-skating rink with moving figurines; right: fold-out models of famous sceneries.
左：模型滑冰場，場上的人都會活動、右：著名景點的紙製模型
More Christmas decorations 其他聖誕裝飾
And if the shops were not enough, there is a whole Christmas museum in Rotherburg displaying all sorts of traditional decorations. We didn't go inside, but we took a good look at the window at the entrance of the museum.
說到聖誕裝飾，當然不能不提羅騰堡的聖誕博物館。入口的窗櫥很可愛！
Halfway to the city gate, we passed by the Siebers Tower and a small triangular plaza called Plönlein. The house built at the tip of the triangle looked as if it was holding onto a delicate balance, while the other buildings around the plaza were still maintained in their mediaeval style. The Plönlein and the Siebers Tower together form the typical postcard view of Rothenburg and are the unofficial emblem of the town.
前往城門半途，經過Siebers塔及三角小廣場（Plönlein），在三角的尖端有家很獨特的房子，看來有點歪歪斜斜，而附近的建築仍保留了中世紀色彩。Siebers塔及三角小廣場是羅騰堡最出名的地標，也算是該鎮的象徵。
The two sides of the Siebers Tower Siebers塔的前後兩面
We finally reached that city gate called Spital Bastion (Spital-Bastei, so named since there used to be a hospital nearby). There was also a walkway on top of the city wall starting from the Bastion and continuing onto the walkway we ventured earlier in the day. So we took the walkway and came a full circle to where we started. It was time to bid farewell to this pretty wooded mediaeval town.
終於到了那度名為醫院堡壘（Spital-Bastei，因附近從前有座醫院）的城門，那裡的城牆上也有走廊，跟較早前走過的走廊相連，我們三人便沿着走廊，返回行程的起點，跟這個與木有緣的中世紀小鎮道別。
The Spital Bastion 醫院堡壘
How about this for a hotel?
饒有特色的酒店
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