Love dogs and love to travel? If Germany is on your list of destinations to visit before you die, you’ll definitely want to visit the town of Rottweil, located in the south west of the country, between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb Hills.

In appearance,Rottweil has changed little since the 16th century. As its name suggests, the oldest town in Baden-Wrttemberg is the birthplace of the Rottweiler Hund, a.k.a. dog of Rottweil, a.k.a. Rottweiler.

For Dogsters, the Rottweil Museum is akeystop on a trip to Rottweil – even if art isn’t your thing.

I happen to love any and all artwork featuring dogs, from paintings to photographs, silhouettesto sculpture. I evencommissioned a life-size bronze bust of mylate, greatdog Sam. So Rottweil is my kind of town.

There, sitting proudly at attentionoutside the Rottweil Museum, is a life-size bronze statue of a noble Rottweiler (pictured).

What a spot-on memorial:This ber-Rottweiler ishandsome andbeautifully modeled, andhe wears the sweetest expression, just like every Rottie I’ve ever met.The solid-bronzeRottierichlydeserves the distinction of representing his entire breed, rightin the heart of his birthplace.

According to a commenter on TripAdvisor,there’s plenty to see in the area:

“If you have a car, Hohenzollern Castle to the NE by Hechingen is excellent and fairytale-like, and the Black Forest is just to the west. The Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof is excellent to visit just south of Hausach, with many large typical old Black Forest farmhouses reassembled there.”

I was recently invited to appearon Howcast to discussa few of my favorite dog breeds, three of which happen to have roots in Germany. One of the videos that resultedis my tribute tothe Rottweiler – which, if you want to get technical, is actuallypronounced “Rottveiler” (in German, W sounds like V). It helps to bone up onone’s German pronunciation before undertaking a trip to Deutschland!

Watch the video here.While you’re at it, I hope you’ll check out the videos on the Doberman and the Weimaraner, two other noble German dog breeds.

Auf Wiedersehen!