The medieval village of Rothenburg, Germany is home to some of Europe's best festivals,
and today on BigBoyTravel, we're at the Imperial City days to show
you the breathtaking torchlight parade!
Every September since 1974, Rothenburg celebrates the Reichsstadt Festtage
or Imperial City Days. The weekend-long festival brings you back to Rothenburg's medieval
Golden Age before it was frozen in time in the 1600s. Make sure to check out our
website Bigboytravel.comm where you can find a full guide on the Imperial
City Days along with a companion youtube video covering what you can expect
during your visit to the festival. This video is going to focus on our favorite event of the
weekend which is the opening ceremony and fireworks known as the Torchlight Procession.
Late on Friday afternoon, you will start to see nearly
1,000 costumed re-enactors representing 30 different historic guilds filling the
cobblestone streets of Rothenburg. Over the course of a few hours, the groups
take their time marching out of town and down to the Tauber River Valley where the
Torchlight Procession begins.
It is really exciting to watch the energy build as each new guild passes by.
We love to follow the group's down to the valley
to see them get ready for the evening parade.
The short walk down through the woods lets you see a whole new side of Rothenburg,
and the views of town from the Double Bridge make it well worth the effort.
As each group arrives they are able to present themselves for a
pre-parade drink before the torches are lit.
The route for the 90-minute long parade starts at the double bridge around 7:30pm,
then slowly winds up to the Kobolzeller Gate,
past Plönlein Corner, and eventually makes its way in the Market Square where
each historic group is introduced with a lot of pomp and circumstance before a
fireworks show above the Gothic Town Hall serves as the grand finale.
Watching the illuminated procession begin to snake up the switchbacks toward
Rothenburg feels like something straight out of a movie. We love to see the parade
from many different vantage points along its route up to Market Square including
the famous Plönlein Corner.
Tthis corner is a great place to see local families marching together while
their friends cheer them on from the sidelines. There is a contagious joy in
the faces of the people on the parade and if you are lucky you may even see a
couple medieval Knights. Make sure to head to Market Square during the first
half of the parade if you want to get a good spot to watch the fireworks
as the center of Rothenburg will get very busy.
To show you a different perspective during the Torchlight Procession, one of
the historic guilds asked us to walk up to Market Square with them.
Smith Road (or Schmiedgasse) which connects Plönlein Corner to Market Square
is also very pretty during the day. The road is lined with confectionery
sweet shops and local clothing stores inside 500 year old homes. Along the way,
you'll also pass by the Medieval Crime Museum and if you were to go the
opposite direction on Schmiedgasse, you'd end up in the delightful
Infirmary Quarter known as the Spital.
We cover all of these sites on the self-guided rothenburg walking tour
available for free on our website BigBoyTravel.com. The most festive area of
the Imperial City Days' Torchlight Procession is where each of the 30 groups
enter the large crowd at Market Square. We especially love the backdrop
of the old Council Drinking Hall, the Gothic Town Hall, and the Meat & Dance House
with some of the buildings in the square going back to the 11th century.
It almost feels like Market Square was destined to host this event.
As each group is recognized there are also stories about Rosenberg's time as an
Imperial City spoken in both English and German.
Talented performers help build up the excitement as we get ready for the fireworks.
As you can see by the size of the crowd, it is important to get here on
time to make sure you get a good spot.
Thankfully because of the slope of Market Square, you'll be able to get a
good view even if you're toward the back.
We were lucky enough to watch the show from our front Benny's house which
starts with a Town Hall being illuminated to the sounds of Gregorian chants.
As the light show moves the classical music, the fireworks are about to start.
The climactic fireworks are a great way to end the Torchlight Procession
and begin the weekend-long festival.
This is one of two firework shows that Rothenburg's Imperial City days and we
have another longer YouTube video covering the festival in greater detail.
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Make sure to check out our website where you can find
free self-guided walking tours of Rothenburg plus a lot of great travel information
to help you plan your visit. Thank you again for watching and
subscribing to our YouTube channel. We will see you again soon!