Summer 2007 - Day 4

Day 4

We drove from Wertheim to Bad Mergentheim to see the castle and museum of the Teutonic Order. Apparently we were the first Australian visitors.

The Teutonic Order or Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin began as a charitable order in 1189. The knights started out looking after German pilgrims in Jerusalem. During the siege of Acre, Palestine, by Richard the Lionheart in 1191, the order ran a hospital for wounded German knights.

In 1198, the order was transformed into a religious, military order of knights. The order received support from Pope Celestine III and Innocent III and grants of land in Jerusalem, Germany and elsewhere. With these the order gained power and prestige very quickly.

In 1525 the German Master moved the knights to Mergentheim. They remained there until 1809. Napoleon dissolved the order in 1809 and re-distributed their lands. The order has been administered from Vienna ever since.

The knights wore a white habit with a black cross. The cross was used as a model for military decorations such as the Iron Cross. The head of the order was known as the Grand Master.

Lutherans, Reformed Church and Catholics, belonging to the order, all had equal rights. The Grand Master was always a Catholic.

This is just a small part of the history of the Teutonic Knights. Photos of the museum and castle.

Inside the castle church.

We then drove from Bad Mergentheim to Rothenburg. Rothenburg is where the Romantic Road and Castle road intersect. These are tourist routes and we mainly followed the Romantic road.

Just outside of Rothenburg.

We visited the Medieval Crime Museum and saw the imaginative ways people were punished in days past. Couldn't take photos but bought the book.

The largest church in the city is the Church of St Jacob. It was constructed from 1311 to 1484.

The main altar - The Altar of the Twelve Apostles.

This is the Town Hall (Rathaus) which was built from 1572 to 1578.

This the Meat and Dance Hall. Butchers used downstairs and the upper floor was where citizens of Rothenburg celebrated their festive occasions.

In front of the Hall is the St George's Fountain. As Rothenburg is on a plateau, water had to be piped from nearby mountain ranges. Their location was a secret so that the pipelines could not be cut off in times of siege. In Medieval times, this area was where the gallows, the pillory and the hoisted cage were set up. The shepherds also used to dance around the well each and were credited with ridding Rothenburg of the plague. This tradition continues each year - the dancing not the plague.

Back in the car and off to Stuttgart.