Ancient well-head in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany. The city, founded in 1170, is today a major tourist attraction.

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany: ancient well-head in Vorm Würzburger Tor, just outside the medieval city walls which still encircle the town. Wells have a long tradition in European folklore. Germanic and Celtic people thought of springs and wells as sacred places. Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Red Castle above the Tauber), in the Ansbach district of northern Bavaria, is world-famous for its well-preserved old town and is one of only three German towns or cities whose defensive walls survive intact. In the 1500s, it was often called the “Franconian Jerusalem” because of the numerous towers featured in its skyline. Founded in 1170, it became a Free Imperial City in 1274, under the direct control of the Holy Roman Emperor. It thrived partly because it was at the junction of two important pilgrimage routes, one of them linking Denmark and Rome, and by the late 1300s, had become one of the Empire’s largest cities. Rothenburg now attracts more than one million tourists a year.

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Size: 2000px × 3008px
Location: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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