Field Trip, European Style (Or What I Learned With My Students)

I have been on a lot of field trips in Texas. They usually involve going to a museum or the zoo, then having a sack lunch and time to play in the park.  Not here. When your fifth-grade class is studying the Middle Ages, what could be better than to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nuremberg? 

the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

view of Nuremberg from the castle

I like history, but I have never been that interested in the Middle Ages.  It's probably because back home it just seemed so foreign to me--it was a long time ago in a faraway land; I had no connection to it. Here, though, you are surrounded by it.  I knew I was in for some good lessons on this trip when, the week before we went, my students were explaining to me where to find the nave and the transepts in the cathedral.

So, what did I learn on the three-day trip (yes, three days and two nights!) with fifth graders?

1.  The difference between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Direct quote from one of my students: "If it is circular, then it is Romanesque, and if it has the pointy thingy it is Gothic."

Chapel inside the Nuremberg castle







St. Lorenzkirche in Nuremberg

2. Crime and punishment were up close and personal.

My students took this picture of me in front of the Criminal Museum in Rothenburg...the stocks were better than some of the other medieval instruments of torture we saw inside (and, thankfully, no one threw anything at me like they would have in medieval times), but now I think I would have preferred the Shame Mask.

I had heard of swords, shields, and even lances, but now that I have been to the Criminal Museum, I can add maces, flails, halberds, pollaxes and spikes to the list. Yikes!  There was even a small exhibit of a classroom in the (late) Middle Ages, complete with a wooden donkey for misbehaving students to sit on.  A couple of students thought that was very funny, and asked if we could get one.

You see the mask above the entry?  In medieval times the people of the town would stop attackers by pouring hot tar on them through the mouth of the mask. 

3.  The skies were golden in the Middle Ages. Artists had to paint the skies gold as a symbol of God's kingdom. If you see a painting with a blue sky, chances are it is not from the Middle Ages.



the altar at St. Wolfgang's Church in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

4.  In the Middle Ages, walls were built around the city for protection, but now they are good for walking, and even for having picnics.



Playtime along the wall in Rothenburg ob der Tauber