Rothenberg Fortress



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

Beginnings
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.

Ganerbenburg
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" - which even princes feared to fall out with.

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

Fortress
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. It was built on an older and smaller fortification that was slighted, which in turn had been built on the remains of an even older ruined castle.

Literature

 * Johannes Müllner: Die Annalen der Reichsstadt Nürnberg von 1623, Teil II: Von 1351–1469. Nuremberg, 1972. pp.30-35.
 * Martin Schütz: Die Ganerbschaft Rothenberg. Nuremberg, 1924.
 * Sven Thole: Die Festung Rothenberg - Der Festungsbau im 18. Jahrhundert, Maßnahmen der Erhaltung und Möglichkeiten der Konservierung. Dissertation, University of Bamberg, 2007 (full text)
 * August Wörler: Veste und Festung Rothenberg. Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Neunkirchen am Sand, Neunkirchen am Sand, 2008 ISBN 978-3-00-025554-0