MEASURING UP... {GERMANY}

Market Square ~ Rothenburg, Germany ~ 6.28.05

I'm posting some German memories ~~~ Carola, my artistic blogger friend at carola bARTz is German, and about once a week, she posts a picture of something from Germany.  Check out the field of RED POPPIES!

JPE & I took a month long RICK STEVE'S TOUR during the summer of 2005, so I pulled out our travel journal & located a few pictures from our stop in Rothenburg, Germany.

Our tour guide, BEN CAMERON, took the group on an orientation walking tour before cutting us loose for a few hours to explore on our own. The Market Square is the location where all the action starts... great people watching! a central location to meet friends! or catch a tour! amazing architecture ~ most of the buildings were built by 1400; that's not a typo... this is a very medieval town! 

The darker building (above) is the Town Hall & was rebuilt (between 1572-1578) after a fire destroyed a portion of the original building.

See the green arrow (top pic)?? that's where JPE & I were standing for the second pic.

Now, LooK at the picture ~ those two metal strips above my head are the town's MEASURING RODS... Medieval Germany had close to 300 independent little countries, each with its own "weights & measures." Merchants (& shoppers) knew this was the "local" standard measure for this area. The larger mark is the ROD (4.3 yards) and the smaller was the ELL (about the distance from your elbow to fingertips). Another measure (not shown in pic) is the SCHUH ~ or shoe, which was about 12 inches.

Notice the protruding cornerstone at the bottom of the arch? (see the black bag laying there) ~ these were located all over town & originally built to protect the buildings from reckless horse carts... I was forever tripping over them, in fact, I think that's what I was LAUGHING about when this picture was taken.

Another highlight, the Night Watchman's Tour... this "character" leads an evening tour every evening (April-December), starting at 8pm from the Market Square.

It's the best evening activity in Rothenburg! The Night Watchman takes people on a walk, his black lantern swinging wildly, as he spins tales of medieval times in the "walled city" ~ the oldest part of Rothenburg.

My camera was pretty ancient... so the pics could have been better!! But, having our travel journal helped bring all the memories back, as if they happened yesterday. Be sure to check out CAROLA'S poppies... such a vivid, RED!