Rottweil (;

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

: ''Rautweil'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

southwest Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. Rottweil was a

free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

for nearly 600 years. Located between the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

and the

Swabian Alps Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to: * the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''") * Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''") * Danube ...

, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 inhabitants as of 2020. The town is famous for its

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

center and for its traditional

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

(called "

Fasnet The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg. Etymology Popular etymology often link ...

" in the local Swabian dialect). It is the oldest town in Baden-Württemberg, and its appearance has changed very little since the 16th century. The town gives its name to the

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered mea ...

dog breed.

History

Rottweil was founded by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in AD 73 as Arae Flaviae and became a ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...

'', but there are traces of human settlement going back to 2000 BC. Roman baths and an

Orpheus mosaic Orpheus mosaics are found throughout the Roman Empire, normally in large Roman villas. The scene normally shown is Orpheus playing his lyre, and attracting birds and animals of many species to gather around him. Orpheus was a popular subject in ...

of c. AD 180 date from the time of Roman settlement. The present town became a ducal and a royal court before 771 and in 1268 it became a

. In 1463 Rottweil joined the

Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th century ...

under the pretence of a temporary alliance. In 1476 the Rottweilers fought on the Swiss side against

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

in the

Battle of Morat The Battle of Morat (also known as the Battle of Murten) was a battle in the Burgundian Wars (1474–77) that was fought on 22 June 1476 between Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and a Swiss Confederate army at Morat/Murten, about 30 kil ...

. In 1512, Pope Julius II gave the city a valuable "Julius banner" for its services in the 1508–1510 "Great Pavier Campaign" to expel the French. In 1519, the Rottweilers left the old Swiss alliance. They joined a new one in which their membership was extended indefinitely – the so-called "Eternal Covenant". Rottweil thus became a centre of the Swiss Confederation. The relations between the Swiss Confederation and Rottweil cooled rapidly during the Protestant Reformation. When Rottweil was troubled by wars, however, it still asked the Confederates for help. In the

Rottweil Witch Hunts The Rottweil Witch Trials were a series of witch trials in the town of Rottweil in Swabia, a town in what is now Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most po ...

from 1546 to 1661, 266 so-called witches, wizards and magicians were executed in the imperial city of Rottweil. On April 15, 2015, they were given a posthumous pardon. An official apology was given by the City Council about 400 years after their violent deaths. Rottweil lost both its status as free city and its alliance with the Swiss Confederacy with the conquest of the region by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in 1803.

Lord mayors since the 19th century

* 1820–1833: Max Joseph von Khuon, Schultheiß * 1833–1845: Max Teufel * 1845–1848: Karl Dinkelmann * 1848–1851: Kaspar Rapp * 1852–1887: Johann Baptist Marx * 1887–1923: Edwin Glückher * 1924–1943: Josef Abrell * 1943–1944: Otto Mann * 1944–1945: Paul Fritz * 1945–1946: Franz Mederle * 1946–1965: Arnulf Gutknecht * 1965–1985: Ulrich Regelmann, mayor; from 1970 Lord Mayor * 1985–2001: Michael Arnold * 2001–2009: Thomas Engeser * 2009–present: Ralf Broß

Economy

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Rottweil used to be a flourishing

imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

with great economic and cultural influence. In 1868, Rottweil was connected to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

by rail, which boosted the economy of the region. Today, most companies in Rottweil are either small or medium sized. A trading and shopping town with a high level of

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

that benefits from its well developed educational and transport infrastructure, Rottweil has many industrial companies and a steadily growing proportion of knowledge-intensive service jobs. At 7.9%, Rottweil has one of the highest

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

rates in the region.

Media

Local events in Rottweil are reported in the daily newspaper ''

Schwarzwälder Bote ''Schwarzwälder Bote'', also known as ''Schwabo'', is a German regional daily newspaper for the Black Forest and Upper Neckar region. ''Schwabo'' operates a network of 15 branches, three service points, and 18 local editorial offices. The m ...

'', the ''Stadtanzeiger'', online and once a week in the print edition ', the TV station ' and the local radio station ', which is based in the district.

Notable former companies

* Moker * * Peter-Uhren * Rhodia * * Brauerei Pflug

Infrastructure

Road traffic

By car, Rottweil can be reached via the

Bundesautobahn 81 is a motorway in Germany. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg-West triangle and ends near the border with Switzerland. The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg Weinsberg (South Franconian: ''Weischberg'') is a town in ...

Singen Singen (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the very south ...

, exit Rottweil. The city lies on the

Bundesautobahn 27 branches off the A 7 at Autobahndreieck Walsrode to the northwest, crossing A 1 at the Bremer Kreuz and continuing eastwards of Bremen, toward Cuxhaven. It also serves as European route E234, a B Class road on the International E-r ...

between

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

and Stuttgart, on the Bundesautobahn 14, which runs from

Stockach Stockach is a town in the district of Konstanz, in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Location It is situated in the Hegau region, about 5 km northwest of Lake Constance, 13 km north of Radolfzell and 25 km northwest of Konstan ...

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

via

Tuttlingen Tuttlingen (Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia eas ...

to Rottweil and on via

Horb am Neckar Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west (about away) and Tübingen to the east (about away). It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom ...

to Stuttgart, and on the

Bundesstraße 462 The Bundesstraße 462 (B 462) is a German ''Bundesstraße'' or federal road. It runs from the Upper Rhine Plain near Rastatt for about through the northern Black Forest to Rottweil. The section from Rastatt to Freudenstadt, which runs through the ...

from Rottweil through the

Freudenstadt Freudenstadt ( Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and Tübingen to the eas ...

and

Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was a ...

Bicycle traffic

Rottweil is located on the along the

Neckar River The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...

via

Horb Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west (about away) and Tübingen to the east (about away). It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of wh ...

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

, Stuttgart,

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

Air traffic

Aerial image of the Rottweil-Zepfenhan airfield

In the neighboring village of Zepfenhan, about away, is the (Rottweil-Zepfenhan airfield), which can be approached by small aircraft. The nearest commercial airports are

Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...

and

Zurich Airport Zürich Airport (), french: Aéroport de Zurich, it, Aeroporto di Zurigo, rm, Eroport da Turitg is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switze ...

Education

Rottweil has three Gymnasien (''Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium'', ''Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium'', ''Leibniz-Gymnasium''), one

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

, one Förderschule (''Achert-Schule''), three Grundschulen (''Eichendorff-Grundschule'', ''Grundschule Neufra'' and ''Grundschule Neukirch''), and four Hauptschulen (''GHS Göllsdorf'', ''Johanniter-Grund- und Hauptschule'', ''Konrad-Witz-Grund- und Hauptschule'' and ''Römer-Grund- und Hauptschule'').

Main sights

* The late- Romanesque and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

–era ''Münster Heiliges Kreuz'' ("Minster of the Holy Cross"), built over a pre-existing church from 1270. It features a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

Veit Stoss Veit Stoss (also: ''Veit Stoß'' and ''Stuoss''; pl, Wit Stwosz; before 1450about 20 September 1533) was a leading German sculptor, mostly working with wood, whose career covered the transition between the late Gothic and the Northern Renaiss ...

and noteworthy Gothic sculptures. * ''Kapellenkirche'' (1330–1340), a Gothic church with a tower and with three statue-decorated portals * ''Lorenzkapelle'' ("Church of St. Lawrence", 16th century) in late Gothic style. It houses some two hundred works by Swabian masters and Gothic altarpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries. * The town's museum, including a notable Roman mosaic with the legend of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...

* The late-Gothic town hall (1521) * St. Pelagius, a Romanesque church from the 12th century. Excavations have brought to light Roman baths on the same site. * Dominican Museum of Rottweil – local branch of the

Landesmuseum Württemberg The Landesmuseum Württemberg (Württemberg State Museum) is the main historical museum of the Württemberg part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It emerged from the 16th-century “Kunstkammer” ( Cabinet of art and curiosities) of t ...

* As of 2015,

ThyssenKrupp ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and h ...

was constructing a $45 million, tower, the Rottweil Test Tower. The tower is a research facility for the company and is to be used to test new elevator cars and technologies. When the tower was completed in 2017, it was the tallest elevator test tower in the world. The windowless building is to have 12 elevator shafts.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rottweil is twinned with: *

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

, Italy *

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

, Switzerland *

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered around t ...

, France *

Imst Imst (; Southern Bavarian: ''Imscht'') is a town in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. It lies on the River Inn in western Tyrol, some west of Innsbruck and at an altitude of above sea level. With a current population (2013) of 9,552, Imst ...

, Austria

Notable people

Konrad Witz Konrad Witz (1400/1410 probably in Rottweil, Germany – winter 1445/spring 1446 in Basel, in current day Switzerland) was a German painter, active mainly in Basel. His 1444 panel '' The Miraculous Draft of Fishes'' (a portion of a lost altarp ...

(1400/10–1445/46), painter * Adam of Rottweil, 15th-century scholar and printer *

Franz Xavier Wernz Franz Xavier Wernz SJ (December 4, 1842 – August 19, 1914) was the twenty-fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order). He was born in Rottweil, Württemberg (afterwards part of Germany). Life Wernz was the first of ...

(1842–1914), Superior General of the Society of Jesus *

Erwin Teufel Erwin Teufel (born 4 September 1939, in Zimmern ob Rottweil) is a German politician of the CDU. Political career Teufel was the leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg from 1978 to 1991. Teufel was Ministe ...

(born 1939), politician ( CDU), former minister president of Baden-Württemberg *

Rüdiger Safranski Rüdiger Safranski (born 1 January 1945) is a German philosopher and author. Life From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University in ...

(born 1945), writer and literary scholar * Matthias Hölle (born 1951), opera bass *

Anne Haigis Anne Haigis (born 9 December 1955) is a German musician, singer and songwriter. Through the 1980s, she gained commercial success with rock songs, blues and ballads sung in German with her native Swabian accent. In the 1990s she incorporated Eng ...

(born 1955), musician and singer * Wolfgang Stryi (1957–2005), jazz musician *

Andreas Schwab Andreas Schwab (born 9 April 1973) is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for Germany. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. Since 2009, he has been Of Counsel with CMS H ...

(born 1973), politician (CDU) and member of the European Parliament * Johannes Erath (born 1975), opera director * Christoph Burkard (born 1983), Paralympic swimmer *

Maximiliane Rall Maximiliane Rall (born 18 November 1993) is a German footballer who plays as a defender for Bayern München and the Germany women's national team. Career Rall made her international debut for Germany on 10 November 2018, starting in a friendl ...

(born 1993), footballer *

Joshua Kimmich Joshua Walter Kimmich (; born 8 February 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or right-back for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. Known for his complete playstyle, versatility, aggressio ...

(born 1995), footballer

Trivia

* The

dog breed is named after this town; it used to be a butcher's dog in the region. * "Das Mädchen aus Rottweil" is a song by the German band

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. History The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...

Gallery

Rottweil 20.jpg Germany Rottweil Münster Heiliges Kreuz.jpg, Depiction of St. Veronica's sudarium over the portal of the Minster of the Holy Cross Rottweiler Denkmal in Rottweil.JPG, A statue for Rottweiler dogs in Rottweil Rottweiler Fassnacht.JPG, Rottweiler "

" TyssenKrupp Test Tower, Rottweil.jpg, Rottweil Test Tower Rottweil station, ThyssenKrupp Test Tower (2018).jpg, Rottweil station with ThyssenKrupp Test Tower in the background

Notes

References

External links

*
Feast of Fools: Medieval Carnival Celebrations in RottweilHistory and territory of the former Reichsstadt RottweilPictures of and stories about Rottweil
{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rottweil (district) Associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy Former states and territories of Baden-Württemberg Germania Superior Free imperial cities Former republics States and territories established in 1140 States and territories disestablished in 1802 Populated places on the Neckar basin Populated riverside places in Germany Württemberg