Dinkelsbuhl, Romantic Road

Spared destruction during WWII, Dinkelsbühl remains one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany. The town is surrounded by a complete fortified wall with 16 towers and four fully preserved tower gates.

Located near the cardinal points of the wall are the four gates: Rothenburg in the north, Nördlinger to the south, Wörnitz to the east and Segringer to the west. Each tower was built in the late 1300s with its own unique design. Unfortunately, Segringer Gate collapsed in 1648 after the Swedish invasion and was rebuilt in a Baroque style seven years later. Inside the gate, a staircase leads to the city moat. The stone-built Nördlinger Gate has a stepped gable topped with half-shells, and it is adjacent to the fortress-like 14th-century mill. The mill comes with its own moat, battlements and loopholes (slits in walls, typically used for shooting arrows). The oldest of the four is Wörnitz Gate. Built of stone, the top half is painted orange, with a Renaissance gable and a bell tower. The last tower is the Rothenburg Gate. With a fortified gateway complete with portholes (the same purpose as loopholes), Rothenburg was a strong, well-defended town. The second floor of the gate used to have prison rooms and a torture chamber.

Inside the town wall is the 15th-century Gothic hall church with a 13th-century tower portal leading to an interior of 22 pillars supporting a vaulted roof. The Neo-Gothic high altar with a shrine circa 1490 is flanked by highly decorated side altars dating from the early 1500s. On display is a tablet from 1520 depicting the Ten Commandments, and a walk up the tower offers the visitor a view over the town.

The Old Town Hall, built in 1361, served as a town hall for nearly 500 years. In 2007, it was renovated and converted into a museum showcasing the town’s history across 800 years. Beneath the vaulted cellar is the dark history of the witchcraft persecutions that swept Europe beginning in 1428 and lasting for the next 300 years. The exhibition presents the circumstances that led to these events in Germany, as well as the cases and court proceedings that occurred in Dinkelsbühl and neighbouring towns.