Once again we started a day going to Lindau, and this time we visited the Old Town. This town has so many historic buildings that entire area has been listed as historic monument.
The Diebsturm (Thieves' Tower) was built around 1370 as the most westerly point of the old town wall. In the Middle Ages, it served as a prison.
The Altes Rathaus (Old Townhall) dates from the 15th century and is famous for the brightly colored frescoes that decorate its façade.
Our main destination today is Ravensburg followed by a couple of hours in Kempten.
Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an important trading centre. During the 1400s, the linen trade made Ravensburg into one of the richest towns in Germany. The historic town centre is still very much intact, including three town gates and over 10 towers of the medieval fortification.
The old town was a few blocks from the train station and we weren't sure where to go when we arrived in Ravensburg because we could not find a map or any useful information at the train station. We spotted a top of the old tower at the distance and figured correctly that it must be the right direction.
We never located tourist information office but occasional sign pointing to it guided us along the city walls and to the entrance to the old town at "Gruner Turm" or Green Tower. The moss-colored tiles are what gave the tower its name. Many of the tiles are 14th-century originals!
We arrived in the old town just in time for lunch. After a nice meal of wienerschnitzel and local beer we finished touring "town of towers and gates".
From Ravensburg we took a train to Kempten. We had already passed through Kempten a few times and had heard about how old it was, but until now we haven't visited it. Kempten's history goes back more than 2,000 years. It was Celtic settlement before becoming Roman town. After exiting the train station, we saw a city map and a sign pointing toward the old town, but the walk turned out to be long and frustrating with no indications of where we were or where we were trying to go. It was much farther than it appeared on the map, but eventually we found a really nice old town.
