Otto Ferdinand Probst - The Klingen-Gate Tower in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Otto Ferdinand Probst - The Klingen-Gate Tower in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, c. 1909
Identifier: romanticgermany00scha (find matches)
Title: Romantic Germany
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Schauffler, Robert Haven, 1879-1964
Subjects: Cities and towns -- Germany Germany -- Description and travel
Publisher: New York : The Century Co.
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN



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under the Church of St. James. It is a fit set-ting for the legend of The Poor Soul of Rothenburg.In olden days the burghers did not believe much inthe devil, which angered that personage. Once upona time when a peasant was passing under this arch-way the devil caught him suddenly and hurled himagainst the vaulting with great force. The poorbody fell down again at once, but the poor soul re-mained sticking to the stones. You may see it thereto-day. It is sort of brown, writes the chron-icler, with black spots. On the southern roof of the church is a recliningfigure which recalls another legend. In building thetwo towers the architect let his pupil try his hand atone of them. And when he saw how much his pupilstower outshone his, he leaped to his death from thescaffolding. The pupil then carved his masters por-trait on the roof. The architecture of the interior is rather more coldand austere than one would expect of Rothenburgsprincipal church; but there is a compensatory richness 380
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i THE KI,1NGEX-GATE TOWER THE CITY OF DREAMS of imagination in the altars by Herlin and Riemen-schneider and in the blaze of color that pours throughthe fifteenth-century windows. Here also is a touchof that naivete which is so enjoyable in the localhouse inscriptions. For the eastern windows repre-sent the Fall of the Manna as a rain of South-Ger-man rolls and pretzels. Of all the alluring ways beckoning out of the mar-ket-place, one of the most alluring to me was theSchmied-Gasse, with its view of that notable Renais-sance dwelling, the Architects House. The caryatidsbetween the windows with their reminiscence of theErechtheimi, and the stately portal and gable, bringout vividly the classical dignity and poise of theperiod, while the courtyard is teeming with Rothen-burgs unique charm. There you may loll at tablesmade of old millstones, with moss and flowers grow-ing from the hole in the center, and sip your coffeefrom earthenware cups of the quaint local pattern.That is the place t