The Plönlein is the small triangular square in the south of Rothenburg's old town where the street splits in two around a narrow half-timbered house. To the left the lane climbs gently to the tall Siebersturm, to the right it drops steeply to the Kobolzeller Tor, and the combination of the two medieval towers with the yellow house between them has become the picture most people have in mind when they think of Rothenburg.
The Plönlein at a glance
- Where: at the southern end of Schmiedgasse, a few minutes' walk downhill from the Market Square, where Spitalgasse and the Kobolzeller Steige branch off.
- Built: the Kobolzeller Tor dates from 1360 and the Siebersturm from around 1385; the half-timbered houses around the square are later.
- What it is today: a small public square with a fountain, part of Rothenburg's everyday street network and one of the most photographed corners in Germany.
- Time needed: 10–15 minutes, longer if you walk through both gates.
A crossroads on the town's southern edge
Rothenburg grew outwards in rings. The Siebersturm was built around 1385 as part of the town's fortifications, guarding the road south, and the Kobolzeller Tor of 1360 protected the steep route down to the river Tauber. The Plönlein formed where these two routes met. Beyond the Siebersturm lies the Spital quarter, around the town hospital, which was the last part of the old town to be brought inside the walls; its gate, the Spitaltor, received a large bastion completed in 1546, the newest part of Rothenburg's defences.
The name is usually explained as 'little square', from the Latin planum, a flat place, and some local descriptions call it the little square by the fountain. It was never grand: no church, no town hall, just a junction where carts and travellers chose between two gates. What made it famous is its look. Rothenburg's old town kept its medieval layout, and this corner shows it in a single view: cobbles, half-timbering, a fountain and two gate towers at different heights.
What to look for
- The half-timbered house in the fork: narrow, slightly crooked and painted yellow, it stands exactly where the street divides.
- The fountain in front of the house, which gives the square its old description as the little square by the fountain.
- The Siebersturm: the taller tower on Spitalgasse, with a gate passage leading into the Spital quarter.
- The Kobolzeller Tor: the lower gate down the right-hand lane, where the Kobolzeller Steige descends towards the Tauber valley.
- The difference in levels: stand in the middle of the square and notice how one lane stays high while the other falls away, which is why the two towers seem to stand at different heights.
Pinocchio and the Plönlein
Rothenburg likes to say that the Plönlein served as a model for the Tyrolean-style village in Disney's Pinocchio (1940). The film's artists are known to have drawn on European old towns, and the resemblance is easy to see, but there is no studio document naming this exact corner, so treat it as a popular story rather than a fact.
Tips for your visit
- Come early in the morning or in the evening: during the day the square is full of tour groups waiting for the classic photo.
- For the famous view, stand a few metres up Schmiedgasse, facing south, so that both towers and the yellow house fit into one frame.
- Walk through the Siebersturm into the quieter Spital quarter, then continue to the Spitaltor and its bastion before heading back.
Nearby
- Spital quarter and Spitaltor: the southern tip of the old town, with the old hospital buildings and the 16th-century bastion gate.
- Market Square and Town Hall: the main square of Rothenburg, a few minutes' walk up Schmiedgasse, with the Gothic and Renaissance town hall.
- Medieval Crime Museum: a museum of law and punishment through the centuries, with instruments of torture and shame masks, a short walk away.
- Burggarten: the garden on the site of the old castle, at the western edge of the old town, with views over the Tauber valley.
See Rothenburg ob der Tauber with World City Trail
Our Rothenburg scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 21 minutes of walking. It includes St Jacob's Church, St Wolfgang's Church and the Town Hall.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Play the Rothenburg ob der Tauber scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Rothenburg ob der Tauber →
Play the outdoor escape game in Rothenburg ob der Tauber →
Facts checked in October 2026.