Tourism Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Theme years

Rothenburg as a landscape garden

Picturesque: Rothenburg as a landscape garden

The theme years in Rothenburg

Where? In addition to the Burggarten and the Garden An der Eich, the theme year “Rothenburg as a landscape garden” also includes private gardens in Rothenburg's old town. Special exhibitions in the Medieval Crime Museum and the RothenburgMuseum round off the cultural themed year.

What? At the end of the 19th century, the natural conditions and the architectural urban landscape of Rothenburg fulfilled all the criteria of the picturesque. The city was received in this way by English artists (architects and painters) and builds a bridge beyond the picturesque to the modern. In the second half of the 19th century, Rothenburg ob der Tauber was rediscovered as a medieval gem frozen in time.

Quick fact: The overall architectural effect and its integration into the landscape high above the Tauber inspired well-known architects of the English and German garden city movement around 1900. Raymond Unwind's plans for Hampstead Garden Suburb near London and Richard Riemerschmid's “Green Zipfel” in Hellerau near Dresden are clearly influenced by Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Be sure to visit: The Wildbad Evangelical Conference Center in Taubertal appears in the program as an architectural model of the picturesque: during a tour through the listed park, the new perception of nature and architecture in the picturesque is explained.

In 2024 we will also be going to the Rothenburg private gardens. You can find the brochure for this here.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is world-famous for its walled, medieval old town. Located at the intersection of the Romantic Road and Castle Road, it is one of the absolute “must see” places in southern Germany. Käthe Wohlfahrt's Christmas Village, the Rothenburg Night Watchman, the historical folk play “The Master Drink” and the Medieval Crime Museum contribute a lot to this exceptional position. That should be enough – so why “Rothenburg as a landscape garden”?

“Rothenburg as a landscape garden” takes a new look at the medieval city: a look from the artists, specifically: the painters, writers, architects and even city planners – a picturesque, even picturesque look.
For the first time, the theme years pay tribute to Rothenburg's scenic qualities and show how many green oases of peace exist inside and outside the city walls. In addition to the castle garden, the monastery garden, the Rothenburg Riviera “An der Eich”, the Wildbad landscape park and Leyk’s lotus garden, eight private gardens are waiting to be discovered. A brochure presents these Rothenburg garden paradises in detail and explains how they can be visited (available free of charge at garten@rothenburg.de).
But it is not just the picturesque view of parks and gardens that makes Rothenburg a landscape garden. Especially the multitude of varied views of the cityscape, be it from a distance from the Hohenlohe plain as a truly “Franconian Jerusalem” (according to Caspar Bruschius as early as 1555) with the proud St. Jacob's Church or from up close from the Taubertal or in front of one of the city gates or fortifications, have always been part of the picturesque charm of the cityscape. High up from the town hall tower, the view sweeps over a never-monotonous rooftop landscape with winding alleys that lead to squares that are centers of social life. This winding and diverse cityscape has fascinated writers and painters since the 19th century. The latter immortalized well-known Rothenburg ensembles such as the Plönlein, the St. Mark's Tower with Röderbogen, the Klingentorbastei, the Marienapotheke with Georgsbrunnen and the market square including the town hall and Ratstrinkstube in countless paintings, drawings, engravings and later photographs. The treasure of Rothenburg motifs created around 1900 lives on to this day: in the world of Instagram & Co.

Theme tour “Picturesque Rothenburg”
Ms. Däschner, Ms. Rohn and Ms. Nakamura take you back to the time when Rothenburg odT was an artists' colony and a place of rural bohemia. It was painters who discovered the city and made it known to a wider public at the end of the 19th century. At original locations, you will see how the views are the same or have changed in the meantime using reproductions by selected painters. Hidden gardens and picturesque views of the Tauber Valley are captured in one frame. This tour is designed to accompany the Rothenburg museums' special exhibitions on the picturesque, British artists and aspects of landscape gardens.
Duration: 1,5 hours | Price per group (max. 15 people): €95 (German), €110 (English)
Guided tour by appointment and arranged through the Rothenburg Tourism Service

Garden tours through the Wildbad park
Not only is the architecture of the Wildbad, built between 1894 and 1903, an expression of the picturesque style around 1900, the parks also invite you to discover one of the most beautiful landscape gardens in Rothenburg. Simply book a garden tour, unwind with a picnic or do some sport at the historic bowling alley.
Price: The park tour costs a maximum of 30 people. 85 € (45 min.), the individual picnic 28 € per person and the bowling adventure 40 € for 2 hours.
All offers can be booked by appointment
Wildbad Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Evangelical conference center KdöR
Taubertalweg 4 | 91541 Rothenburg od T. | Tel. +49 9861 977-0 | www.wildbad.de

Exclusive tours of Rothenburg private gardens
Only by prior arrangement at garten@rothenburg.de A brochure has been published on the subject that can be ordered free of charge from the Rothenburg Tourism Service:
Rothenburg Tourism Service
Marketplace 2 | D-91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber | T. + 49 (0) 9861/404-800 | Fax + 49 (0) 9861/404-529 | garten@rothenburg.de

On the theme year “Rothenburg as a landscape garden”

A scientific conference took place on April 5th and 6th, 2019. A cinematic essay about it See here.

Here you can get to it Video “The Picturesque and the Landscape Garden in the 19th Century”.

The “Rothenburg Way”

LEADER / LAG on the Romantic Road

The conference and the creation of the conference proceedings were kindly supported by LEADER / LAG on the Romantic Road

Scientific conference

“The “Rothenburg Way” between homeland protection, picturesque architectural style and postmodernism” or “Is there a modernity in the preservation of the past?”

This LEADER “LAG region on the Romantic Road e. V.” Funded conference deals with the reconstruction of the partially destroyed old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber after the Second World War. Prompted by the Rothenburg application for the Bavarian expression of interest process for updating the German tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (“Old Town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Synthesis of the Middle Ages, Romanticism and Reconstruction”), the prerequisites, methods and consequences as well as the significance of the Rothenburg reconstruction within the German post-war history - and therefore the exceptional universal value of the old town - should be brought into academic and public discourse. The presentations and contributions to discussions at this conference [Conference program for PDF download here] will therefore address narrower Rothenburg questions as well as fundamental questions about the value of reconstruction and replica (e.g. Braunschweig Castle, New Frankfurt Old Town).

Since its “discovery” in the middle of the 19th century, Rothenburg ob der Tauber has been considered the epitome of a German or even European city of the Middle Ages. Regardless of the fact that a significant proportion of the building structure is early modern, the homogeneous cityscape, free of modern influences, exerted a lasting fascination on people in Germany, Europe and around the world. This cityscape was not only received by travelers, but also by writers, painters, architects and urban planners such as Camillo Sitte, Theodor Fischer and Raymond Unwin. The old town of Rothenburg has always served as a projection surface for a wide variety of ideas and ideologies. At Rothenburg ob der Tauber, romantic ideas could manifest themselves, as could the aesthetics of the “picturesque” in architecture and genre painting or even ethnic nationalism. The destruction of around 40% of the old town by an air raid on March 31, 1945 put an end to this unique, closed cityscape in the northeastern area of the old town. As in other destroyed places, the question of how to proceed with reconstruction was discussed urgently and controversially. The fame of Rothenburg and its long, varied reception history played just as much a role in these considerations as economic and social considerations. The result was a peculiar type of reconstruction that was probably unique at that time: the “Rothenburger Weg”.

The guidelines of the “Rothenburger Weg”, which was significantly influenced by Fritz Florin, followed Georg Dehio’s dictum formulated in 1908: “The city as a whole is a monument”. The special value of this city was not so much sought in individual architecturally outstanding buildings: it was the ensemble effect, cityscape, location and topography of Rothenburg that were responsible for the visitors' impression of being completely out of time, depending on their preferences medieval, typically German, fairytale-like, but always romantic city. This resulted in a reconstruction that was largely influenced by the city and the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, which tried to preserve the shape of Rothenburg, but demanded that individual buildings not copy the destroyed previous building. While the cityscape, the parcel layout and the street layout were to be preserved, the rebuilt structures had to be identified as products of modernity. This requirement was adhered to for most of the Rothenburg reconstruction. However, this was true from the perspective of those involved in the reconstruction at the time, who adhered to a more conservative way of thinking in architectural terms in Rothenburg. Accordingly, their new buildings were partly based on the design language of the “Heimatstil”, whose best-known representative in Bavaria, Rudolf Esterer, is considered.

The diverse questions that will be given space within the conference therefore include approaches to revitalizing and reinterpreting so-called “picturesque urban development”. This can be seen, among other things, in the strong emphasis on square facilities and, even more, the contemporary reclaiming of squares. Furthermore, common terms such as “cityscape” and “city landscape” refer to a genuinely pictorial vision and thus also to the inherent weight of aesthetics as a function of urban living space. The conference also addresses questions about a contemporary reception and possible application of the garden city idea in the present; it offers a critical historical reflection as the basis for a contemporary understanding of monument protection (“emotional value” as a criterion for difference between identity offering and sentimentality or nostalgia). She also asks about the applicability of the “resonance” criterion for urban planning – especially old towns – in the future. “Resonance” here primarily means mindfulness in social matters and is a criterion for truly harmonious spatial architecture and urban spaces. It prevents land loss and enables citizens to re-appropriate the city as a living space.

The “Rothenburger Weg” was a unique path of reconstruction based on social, monument preservation and economic principles. The contemporary use of monuments was clearly defined as a goal at the time. The “Rothenburger Weg” has shaped the Rothenburg design statutes for the old town and thus the city's development up to the present day. It is time to critically assess this “Rothenburg Way” and question its suitability as a model for the future – possibly also in other places.

An hour-long film essay by Dieter Rolf Balb about the scientific conference is available at: https://youtu.be/kmPzOe63MoE

The live stream created during the conference (approx. 10,5 hours) can still be seen: The “Rothenburger Weg” live stream

You can find the conference proceedings here .

The conference and the creation of the conference proceedings were kindly supported by LEADER / LAG on the Romantic Road.

Rothenburg garden paradises

A look into Rothenburg's private gardens

Where? In the old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and the surrounding area, you can visit private gardens that would otherwise be closed to you. You can register at garten@rothenburg.de. All information about the gardens can be found in the information brochure “Rothenburg Garden Paradise”.

What? Rothenburg ob der Tauber and gardens? This is the first thing that comes to mind when the Tauberstadt is mentioned. The half-timbered architecture as can be seen on the Plönlein and an old town surrounded by the city wall with 42 towers dominate the image of Rothenburg. In addition, the proximity to nature and the literally outstanding location above the Taubertal make Rothenburg a unique gem.

The transition from the popular Burggarten to the hiking and cycling paths towards the valley is seamless and, for many, almost incomprehensible. The Wildbad landscape park is located directly on the Tauber, the Rothenburg Riviera with its walking paths leads through the An der Eich vineyard.

When describing Franconia, the rococo-influenced facilities in Würzburg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Veitshöchheim tend to appear in specialist literature as classic garden destinations. In Rothenburg's old town, hardly anyone would suspect the lush gardens behind the houses that are waiting to be discovered in 2024. 7 Rothenburg garden owners open their garden gates from May to September and invite you to explore and admire their gardens. The variety of gardens in Rothenburg and the surrounding area will surprise you! Experience the Rothenburg garden paradises.

Quick fact: The importance of the gardens in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the individual owners can be understood by looking at the city archives: As early as 1327, a dispute arose in Rothenburg over the distribution and allocation of gardens. And even then the bureaucracy did not stop at the landowners: the cultivation of flowers and the planting of trees, bushes and vegetables such as chard and parsnips were just as clearly regulated as the use of dung and manure. An overview of the garden plots in Rothenburg from 1460 lists 218 plots: the sizes range from 8 to 77 square meters. Here too, the class society in medieval Rothenburg is manifested through the gardens.

Don't miss: If you can't make it to one of the private gardens on schedule, please don't be sad - including the publicly accessible gardens in Rothenburg such as the Burggarten and the Klostergarten. The lotus garden shines with exotic plants and wonderful seating between the ponds. And in the picturesque park at the Wildbad conference center you will find an oasis of peace on the Tauber with a rich cultural offering. All information about the gardens can be found in the Brochure “Rothenburg Garden Paradise".

Rothenburg ob der Tauber and the Peasants' War of 1525