The Château de Rothenbourg or Rothenburg Castle (, literally "red castle") is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
in the ''
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
'' of
Philippsbourg
Philippsbourg (; german: Philippsburg, link=no ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Phillipsburch''; gsw-FR, Phillipsbueri) is a commune in the department of Moselle, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France.
The village belongs to the P ...
in the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
'' of France.
History
The castle, built on a hill called ''Rothenberg'' or ''Rodenberg'', to the north of another castle, the
Château du Falkenstein, dates back to the 9th century. Around 912, the
Bishop of Strasbourg
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
These persons were bishop, archbishop or prince-bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg (including historically Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg):
Bishops and prince-bishops
* Amandus
*Justinus ...
, Otbert, pursued by rebellious subjects, took refuge at ''Rathburg'' which is perhaps Rothenburg, and was assassinated there shortly after.
The castle was certainly built by the
Duke of Lorraine
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...
in the 13th century, and is constructed of dressed
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
. At the end of the 13th century, it passed to the Counts of
Zweibrücken-Bitsch.
[ In the 14th century, Rothenburg partly belonged to Count Walram of Zweibrücken-Bitsch who gave it as a ]fiefdom
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...
in 1353 to Gerhard Harnasch von Weisskirchen.
In 1368, Rothenburg was taken and destroyed by the Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
eois.[
The castle seems to have given its name to the Blick de Rothenburg family, who held several ]fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
s from the Lords of Bitche
Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a commune in the Moselle department, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city and the seat of the Canton of Bitche and the communauté ...
, and who died out in 1749.
It is state property.[
]
See also
*List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or viney ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothenbourg, Chateau De
Ruined castles in Grand Est
Châteaux in Moselle (department)
Monuments historiques of Grand Est