Würzburg & Rothenberg

Würzburg was one of the most severly damaged large cities in Germany during WWII, with approximately 85% of the city in ruins. Fortunately, the Archbishop's Palace, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was spared even though fire swept through the structure. The artwork, tapestries, antiques and furnishings had been removed and stored in a safe location in anticipation of an attack. The baroque building and gardens have been fully restored with the original furnishings and is open for tours.
Statues on the courtyard fountain honor the arts depicting a poet, musician and sculpturer.
A fortification wall surrounds the well preserved old town of Rothenburg. Althought there are some concessions to the tourist trade, the building still reflect its medieval history and this was one of our favorite visual-appealing stops so far.

Restoration work extends to all facets of the city, including the streets. The cobblestones in the many walkways have been replaced with smoother stones to making navigating the gift shops more pleasurable...

No self respecting medieval town would pass up the opportunity to showcase the torture devices from its past. The "rack" shown below would stretch the unfortunate victim, dislocating joints until a confession was extracted. Often a single confession was insufficient for conviction and up to three people would be subjected to torture until enough evidence was received to convict the "guilty" party.