This once free imperial city is known over the world and ranks among Germany’s most frequented towns. It lies on a plateau at the intersection of the so-called Romantic Road and the Castle Road 425 m above sea level.
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Dating from the 9th century,
Rothenburg ob der Tauber was mentioned as a town and from the 13th century to 1803 it was a free city of the empire. The local citizenry supported the Protestant Reformation in 1544. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the town was a centre of fighting.
World War II (1939-1945) Allied bombings damaged or destroyed about one third of the town, including the centre and the eastern sector between the
Wuerzburg Gate and
Roeder Gate. Most of the damage to the town has since been repaired.
With its walls, towers, gates, high gabled houses, and narrow, crooked streets,
Rothenburg ob der Tauber has preserved a medieval appearance. In Rothenburg ob der Tauber are outstanding churches of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. Also noteworthy is the town hall, one of the finest in Germany, built partly in 13th-century Gothic style and partly in 16th-century Renaissance style.
