Rothenburg Gate

Heinrich inspected the city gates of Rothenburg that are still very impressive. The initial guardhouse protected an entrance area where attacking enemies could be trapped. They are now little visitor centers and a small museum.

Over the gate was a huge tower that could see for a long ways around the city. It was impossible for an enemy army to sneak up on the city.

Near the top of the tower are the city's emblem, the red castle. That was like a rebus for Rothenburg. Since the name means the "red castle" a picture of a red castle was the city's symbol.

Over the inner section of the gate is a face carved into the wall. If you look close you can see the black marks under the face. The hole of the mouth extends all the way into the tower and was a place where hot oil could be poured on attacking troops, or as the tour book said, "boiling Nutella".

Under this section of the city wall is the old thick city gate. Every night this gate door was locked tight so that the city would be safe. But if a farmer or trader was late coming home, he could still get in. For a little bribe to the night guard, there was a much smaller door in the gate door that could be opened. It was big enough to let an unarmed man wiggle through but a knight in armor could never fit through the little opening. People must have been smaller back then, cause a lot of people now could never squeeze through such a small opening.