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Rothenberg Fortress

Germany · 14th century

Founded
1330
Heritage status
architectural heritage monument in Bavaria
Location
Schnaittach
Coordinates
49.5544°, 11.36°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Official website ↗Wikipedia ↗
Rothenberg Fortress in Germany
Photo: pegasus2 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Rothenberg Fortress (German: Festung Rothenberg) is a fortress on the eponymous hill, 588 m, near Schnaittach in the Franconian Jura.

The first fortifications were probably built between 1300 and 1330 by Dietrich von Wildenstein. He sold it in 1360 to the emperor and Bohemian king, Charles IV, who had the fort upgraded into a border castle in order to protect his Bohemian allodial estate.

In 1478, Count Palatine Otto II set the condition for Rothenberg Castle to become a joint-fief or Ganerbenburg. 44 co-vassals who, together with the town of Rothenberg and market town of Schnaittach, acquired the castle as a so-called mesne fief or Afterlehen, were given relatively little property and few rights, but the community of co-vassals formed a strong alliance to which other members of noble families in the area could be attached. The castle also had several rights of patronage in the Nuremberg area. The community of co-vassals had the characteristics of a type of union called an Einung. At the time of Silvester von Schaumberg, the castle was a "wasp's nest" with which even princes feared to fall out. The community of co-heirs nominated a burgrave.

Heinz von Guttenberg, 1483 Lamprecht von Seckendorff, called Rinhofen, 1487 Hans Zollner von Rottenstein, 1487 Dietz von Heßberg, 1488 Jacob Stiebar zum Regensberg, 1494 Konrad Schott von Schottenstein, 1497 Albrecht Stiebar, 1499 Christoff von Sparneck, 1502 Albrecht Gotsmann, 1505 Hans von der Thann, 1508 Sixt von Seckendorff, 1509 Sebastian Stiebar, 1512 Hans Stiebar, 1537 Wolf Adolf von Waldenfels, 1546 Sigmund von Failtsch (Feilitzsch?), 1549 Sebastian Erlbeck, 1553 Hans Ludwig von Eyb, 1553 Hans Ludwig von Schaumburg, 1569 Balthasar von Seckendorff, 1580 Hans von Steinau, 1585 Georg Sebastian Stiebar, 1604 Joachim Christoff von Seckendorff, 1610 Wolff Endres Stiebar, 1617 Sebastian von Rotenhan, 1618 In 1703, the free imperial city of Nürnberg melted a golden ducat commemorating the conquest of Rothenberg Castle.

In the 18th century an important Rococo fortress, based on a French prototype, was built on the site by the Elector of Bavaria and German Emperor, Charles VII. Construction lasted from about 1729 to 1750. Two bastions were named after him and his wife, Maria Amalia. From time to time up to 400 soldiers were garrisoned here.

Text adapted from “Rothenberg Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Rothenberg Fortress ranks #5,387 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #490 of the 927 mapped in Germany. Founded 1330, it is older than 59% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 797 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,515 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 13 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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