The ship offered a complimentary trip to Rothenburg as a form of compensation for the inconveniences as a result of the delays. Normally it has a price tag attached to it for some reason. The day was beautiful as we whiled away the morning cruising through towns and hamlets along the Main river, which we are now on. They have rather overdone the locks in this area it seems, 34 locks in 386 kilometres so we bump into a lock about every 40 minutes or so.
The ship dropped the passengers off at some remote spot at 3:30 and coached them to Rothenburg while the ship slowly made its way down the river. The ship picked them at 7:45.
Rothenburg is sometimes considered the most German of all German cities. Its roots go back prior to 1000 AD. The reason it is so well preserved is that the town was badly hit by the Plague and fell into disuse and disrepair. As a result it never really modernized and it was a sort of time capsule, capturing the moment in time.
It was idolized by the Nazi brass as capturing the ultimate German lifestyle and the Nazi party regularly held meetings and small rallies there.
During WW II, near the end of the war it was bombed but not to rubble. One American General realized the historical importance of the town and the US army was advised not to use artillery when taking the town. Apparently a Truce party or something like that, approached the commander of the German garrison and said that they would spare to town if they surrendered it without a fight otherwise they would turn the town into rubble. They had three hours to make their decision.
Hitler had specifically ordered the garrison to fight to the death rather than surrender it. In spite of Hitler's orders, the garrison commander surrendered the town and as a result there is a beautiful old medieval town that has hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year.
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I had room service as I did not want to cough at the table. Fellette and Moe went down to eat at a group table arranged a few days ago.
There goes Fellette, off the ship, leaving her sick husband all alone.
Taken by Fellette in Rothenburg...
The Christmas Store in town.
Some of Doug's shots that day... a lovely day on the river.
Drying their wings.
Nice to see and so tranquil.
Miles and miles of vineyards that day.
Dad and son, fishing.
Fall is on the way.
Low bridge coming up.
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