3 Best Sights in Franconia and the German Danube, Germany

A 1944 bombing destroyed the Rathausplatz's original Town Hall, which was completed in 1332. This post-war reconstruction has the feel of an Italian palazzo from outside, but maintains Gothic elements in its city council chamber. More importantly for visitors, it still incorporates the intact medieval dungeons, consisting of 12 small rooms and one large torture chamber. The Lochgefängnis (the Nuremberg Hole), shows the gruesome applications of medieval law, and can be accessed on hourly public tours (check the website for English-language timings). On the southeastern side of the Altes Rathaus stands the easily missed Gänsemännchenbrunnen (Gooseman's Fountain), a Renaissance bronze fountain that was cast in 1550, and a work of rare elegance and great technical sophistication.

The picture-book complex of medieval half-timber buildings, with windows large and small adorned with flower boxes, is one of the best-preserved town halls in the country—and one of the most historically important. Built in the 13th century, when Regensburg was elevated to the status of a Free Imperial City, the imposing Gothic Reichssaal (Imperial Hall) was where the Perpetual Imperial Diet met from 1663 to 1806. This parliament of sorts consisted of the emperor, the electors (seven or eight), the princes (about 50), and the burghers, who assembled to discuss and determine the affairs of the far-reaching German lands of the Holy Roman Empire.

Visit the sumptuously appointed Reichssaal on a guided tour (English-language tours daily at 2 pm) to see its remarkable early-15th-century wood ceiling, as well as its decorative tapestries, flags, and heraldic designs. The tour also includes a visit to the neighboring Ratssaal (Council Room), where the electors met for their consultations, and the cellar's torture chamber (Fragstatt; Questioning Room) and execution room (Armesünderstübchen; Poor Sinners' Room); any prisoner who withstood three degrees of questioning without confessing was deemed innocent and released—a very medieval notion of justice.

Passau's looming 14th-century town hall sits like a vast Venetian merchant's house on a small square (called, logically, Rathausplatz) fronting the Danube. The building was once home to a wealthy German merchant, before being declared the seat of city government after a 1298 uprising. Today it holds two council chambers, home to wall paintings depicting scenes from local history and legend, though it's not currently possible to visit these interiors. Even if you don't see the Rathaus, you'll probably hear it, as the tower is home to Bavaria's largest glockenspiel, which plays daily at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm.