Stone mask beside the medieval Klingentor gateway, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany. The mask was designed to allow defenders to pour hot pitch or oil over attackers attempting to besiege the city.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany: grotesque stone mask, beside the late-14th Century Klingentor gateway, a fortified northern entrance to the old town. 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 (Reichsstädte, Urbes imperiales) in 1274. This meant Rothenburg answered only to the Holy Roman Emperor, who in turn granted the city special privileges. 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.
Size: 2000px × 3008px
Location: Klingentor gateway, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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