There are no words to describe the icy air this morning as we made our way through the streets of Frankfurt to it's Hauptbahnhof (train station). I have yet to find an efficient way to keep my ears and fingers from becoming completely frozen. Fortunately a steaming cup of coffee from a well placed coffee shop (on the station) went a little way to warming those extreme ties. Our adventure then took us Wurzburg bound on a fast "ICE" (intercity express) train. There we exchanged our speedy machine (up to 160km) for 2 slower regional trains through Steinach and on to Rothenberg ob der Tauber. Even with our poor understanding of the German language we managed to navigate their very efficient system successfully.
Rothenberg - a fairytale town! From the moment you step off the train there is a postcard view around every corner. There couldn't be a more perfect location for any Christmas story. The alluring aroma of a tasty warming gluhwein draws you in to the town square; stalls laden with Christmas stollen and lebkuchen; and the sizzle of the extraordinarily long and skinny wurst in their bed of extraordinarily long, skinny bread rolls attracts every carnivore in town. Each narrow cobbled laneway offers a treat of stores selling all manner of Christmas delights. The centuries old buildings accommodate hotels and cafes with delicacies to warm and nourish. We enjoyed a few favourite things: warm apple strudel washed down with delicious hot chocolate. We found an interesting "biscuit" called a schneeballen; a biscuit like concoction (probably fried) then tossed in sugar, cinnamon, chocolate etc etc...whatever your preference.
We were intrigued by the incredibly large church right off the main square; and another not very far away. St Jakobs is dedicated to the apostle St James and dates to the 14th century. It's rich history spans centuries as the building was expanded and improved with the addition of it's "Twelve Apostles" altar (its High Altar) in 1466, beautiful stained glass windows, through to the last century installation of a spectacular 5000+ pipe organ.
Nearby is the Franciscan Cathedral. Of a similar age to the Lutheran church, St Francis' is not quite so large and spectacular but feels deeply sacred. The front of the balcony (the divider between the public worship space and the monks daily prayer space) still has the remainders of a former passion paintings series depicting Christ's suffering, which date to 1370-1390.
