Little German cities
Germany. The name, known since the time of the Roman Empire, while the image of the country and the people it inhabits, sometimes provokes conflicting feelings. Severe Teutons, seeking to enslave the Russian Pskov and Novgorod - and the sentimental features of German life, the harsh "ordnung", order in everything - and the romanticism of Schiller, Heine and Goethe. Finally, the image of the enemy in the most bloody war of the 20th century and the country-leader of today's EU, developing the closest relations with modern Russia, including in the sphere of tourism.
The centers of this tourism in Germany are well known: Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen. On the streets and squares of these cities you can always hear a multilingual speech. After all, a lover of Western European culture will always find the expected: the monumental Gothic cathedrals, medieval architecture, the breath of the "great history". Therefore, it may give the impression that it is here that the whole spiritual life of Germany is concentrated.
But it turns out that in addition to Cologne, Lübeck and Munich, there is a completely different Germany, unknown to more Russian tourists . This is the part of Bavaria, which is located relatively near the Czech border . Therefore it is very convenient to travel here, being in Prague, so beloved by our travelers . It is enough to go in the direction of Nuremberg and in the right place to turn onto the road with the typical sentimental German "Romantische Straße" . Before your eyes, there are seemingly illustrations of the long-read tales of the Brothers Grimm: cozy German villages scattered over the hillsides, kirks with pointed spiers, green and beige squares of cultivated fields, serenely grazing cows in meadows, small roadside hotels with indispensable flower boxes on the windows .
After a while you will see the pointer "Rothenburg-od-der-Tauber", there we need it. The population of the town is only 11 thousand people. By the way, our sister city is for some reason our Suzdal.
Of course, this affects his appearance: it suffices to say that the name of Friedrich I Barbarossa, the stormy time of the Reformation and many other things are connected with Rothenburg. The city had to withstand storms, sieges, it was repeatedly destroyed, it suffered from fires, but each time it was rebuilt again.
When you pass through the fortress gate of Rothenburg, the first impression is as if you are plunged into another reality, at another time. Of course, in other small towns you can see paved pavements, spiers of cathedrals and town halls, half-timbered houses with unchanged angular balconies, but in Rothenburg there is a feeling of an absolutely authentic space, a very high degree of completeness, integrity and stability of this "simultaneous" reality.
This feeling is further intensified when you look at a city surrounded by fortress towers and walls from an observation deck over the Tauber River . In old houses people live, from time to time cars run through narrow streets, cafes, shops and banks . But the signboards above them are still forged, and no modern detail, for example, a bus stop, or a office made of glass and concrete, will not bring dissonance to your medieval journey. . It's very interesting to walk along the fortress wall with towers encircling the city: abutment The association with the construction of children's cubes . Especially if you then look into an unusual Christmas store open all year round .
In a word, Rotenburg will give you a special opportunity to look at Germany with very different eyes - and this appointment will be remembered for a long time.