0 miles ridden. 20,000 steps walked by 3pm – temperature 25C.

No rush to get up this morning but old habits die hard so by 9:30 I had walked the 5Km city walls, had breakfast and cleaned and serviced my bike. Rothenburg is one of very few medieval cities with complete perimeter walls despite the best efforts of successive armies over the last 250 years or so.

It’s original rise to prominence and wealth was due to it being located at the insertion between two major trade routes: The Silk Road from the far East and the route from Scandinavia/Baltics/Russia to Rome although this reached it’s peak in the 1500/1600s. From then on it was an extremely poor and forgotten city until during the course of the 1800s it became a draw for artists and its fortunes improved. It had a very near miss during the Second World War as explained below courtesy if Wikipedia.

In March 1945 German soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 37 people and destroying around 275 houses (around 32% of all houses), six public buildings and damaging nine watchtowers and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of the wall. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg, so he ordered the U.S. Army not to use artillery in taking Rothenburg. Battalion commander Major Frank Burk ordered six soldiers to march into Rothenburg on a three-hour mission and negotiate the surrender of the town. When stopped by a German soldier, the group’s translator, held up a white flag and explained, “We are representatives of our division commander. We bring you his offer to spare the city of Rothenburg from shelling and bombing if you agree not to defend it. We have been given three hours to get this message to you. If we haven’t returned to our lines by 1800 hours, the town will be bombed and shelled to the ground. The local military commander Major Thömmes gave up the town, ignoring the order of Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. American troops of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division occupied the town on April 17, 1945, and in November 1948, McCloy was named an honorary citizen of Rothenburg.

Today Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a prosperous tourist destination with masses of retained charm and friendly residents. The pictures speak for themselves.

Tomorrow we ride again to Weissenburg. A bit hilly in the morning but then flat and, if the weather forecast is to be believed, light rain. It’s still going to be about 25C so the rain might be welcome.