Day 9: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

27Jul07

From the big city of Nürnberg to the tourist attraction of Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, this town is not nearly as big, but perhaps just as busy. (P.S., Ramona would want you to know that it’s ROW-tin-burg, not Rotten Burg though there was an aroma throughout the city on the first night that would make one wonder…)

Predominantly Lutheran, this town Rothenburg came under threat during the escalating Catholic-Protestant tensions hundreds of years ago. Legend has it that the town was saved by a wise Protestant town councilor who convinced the Catholic general to leave the town unscathed if he could drink 3 ½ litres of wine in one draught. He did, and today they have a large town clock commemorating the event. Apparently, the townspeople themselves reenact this several times a year, too. Some Phoenix members certainly did…

Before our concert, Roy played a lovely short concert at the cathedral. We went busking in the town square to try and attract an audience to the evening concert. We attracted a good crowd outside and were warmly received, but it didn’t attract the evening numbers we’d hoped. Fortunately, the audience kept coming and again by the end of the concert, we had a decent, enthusiastic audience. (One couple in particular sat in the front row smiling broadly and applauding heartily after each piece. We hoped they would join us for the rest of the tour but alas they had other things to do…) Being a touristy town, we had audience members present from Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

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