Plönlein and Burggarten

What it is

The Plönlein is the image of Rothenburg: a small sloping square, with a fountain and a crooked yellow half-timbered house, where the street splits in two beneath two towers of the town wall. On the left, the Siebersturm, which leads into the Hospital quarter; on the right, the tower of the Kobolzeller Tor, from 1360, which drops down to the Tauber valley. The name means "little square by the fountain". The town calls it Rothenburg's most photographed corner, and it even appears in Disney's Pinocchio, from 1940.

Nearby is the Burggarten, the castle garden, on the spur where the Staufer fortress stood. Together they make an hour's walk, free and open at any time.

How to get there

From the Marktplatz, go south down Schmiedgasse: in a few minutes you reach the Plönlein. To get to the Burggarten, go back towards Herrngasse, which leaves the Marktplatz to the west, and follow it to the Burgtor. If you arrive by car, park outside the wall, in car parks P1 to P5, and walk in.

The Burggarten

Of the castle only one building remains, the chapel of St Blaise, now a memorial, on the left as you enter. In front, a panel explains what the fortress was like; next to it, a copy of the stone commemorating the Jews of Rothenburg murdered in the pogrom of 1298, whose original is in the RothenburgMuseum. It is said that an earthquake brought the castle down, but the town regards that rather as a legend: the likeliest explanation is that the townspeople carried off the stone.

The garden is an English-style park, with old trees, lawns and a small figure garden with allegories of the four seasons and a fountain. By the Burgtor, on both sides, there are viewpoints over the valley:

• To the north: the village of Detwang, with an altarpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider in its church, and the Topplerschlösschen, Mayor Toppler's summer house, from 1388.
• To the south: the church of Kobolzell, the double bridge over the Tauber and the Hospital quarter.

It is open at any time, except on Saturday night during the Reichsstadt-Festtage festival.

When to go

For the Plönlein, early in the morning or in the afternoon light, when there are fewer people for the photo. In spring and summer storks nest on the Markusturm, near the Marktplatz. In the Burggarten, sunset over the valley is the calmest moment, and in summer the shade of the trees is welcome at midday.

How long

Half an hour for the Plönlein and its surroundings, another half for the Burggarten. If you want to go down to the river, the path to Detwang leaves from the garden: about 20 minutes, passing the open-air beer garden Unter den Linden, beside the Tauber.

With children and pushchairs

The streets slope, but the walk is short. In the Burggarten there is room to run on the lawns. Keep an eye on small ones at the viewpoints.

Continue the walk

From the Plönlein, the Kobolzeller Tor goes down to the valley: it is the start of the Tauber valley route, which returns through the Burggarten. The crime museum is on Burggasse, on the way between the two, and the walk along the town wall passes both places.