Rotenhan Castle (german: Burg Rotenhan) is a castle ruin about two kilometres north of the village of Eyrichshof in

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

in the south German state of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Eyrichshof lies within the borough of

Ebern Ebern () is a town in the Haßberge district of Bavaria, Germany. It is situated southwest of Coburg and northwest of Bamberg. Its population is about 8,000. Its mayor is Robert Herrmann. Ebern is about 1,000 years old and has an intact defen ...

in the district of Haßberge. The castle is the ancestral home (''Stammsitz'') of the House of Rotenhan, a family of

imperial knights The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility ('' edelfrei'') and the minister ...

History

The Rotenhan family has its roots in three von Langheim brothers, who were the co-founders of

Langheim Abbey Langheim Abbey was a well-known Cistercian monastery in Klosterlangheim, part of the town of Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, in the Bishopric of Bamberg. 250px, Ökonomiehof with decorated fountain at Eastern History Three bro ...

in 1132. Later the name "de Rotha(ha)" was used. In 1229, reference is made to a Winther and Wolfram "de Rotenhagen" in connexion with an

allodial Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defens ...

holding of the family rather than a

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 ...

. The doorway to the staircase entrance belongs to the late Romanesque-early

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 ...

period. In 1323 the castle was besieged by the

Bishop of Würzburg A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Wolfram Wolfskeel von Grumbach, for a year under the pretext of that the family had been involved in counterfeiting and a breach of feudal loyalty. After it was finally captured, the structure was destroyed and, according to a treaty of 1324, was never to be rebuilt. Later, the House of Rotenhan built a new castle, Eyrichshof, further down the hill below the site of Rotenhan.

Photo gallery

Image:Burg Rotenhan 5.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 4.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 9.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 13.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 6.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 10.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 7.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 11.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 14.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 8.jpg, Well Image:Burg Rotenhan 2.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 15.jpg

Literature

* ''Genealogisches Handbuch des in Bayern immatrikulierten Adels''. Band 13. Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch/Mittelfranken 1988, P. 567-578. *

Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

, Vol. 125, Adelslexikon, 2001, C.A. Starke Verlag, * ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Königreichs Bayern, III, 15, Bezirksamt Ebern'', P. 197-201. (Munich, 1916) *Isolde Maierhöfer: ''Ebern'' (Historischer Atlas von Bayern, Teil Franken, Vol. 15). Munich, 1964 * Joachim Zeune: ''Burgen im Eberner Land'', Ebern 2003, Eberner Heimatblätter, 2 volumes *Bitha Rotenhan: ''Rotenhan-Häuser - ein Bilderbuch''. Bamberg, 1988 *Gottfried Frhr. von Rotenhan: ''Die Rotenhan. Genealogie einer fränkischen Familie von 1229 bis zum Dreißigjährigen Krieg''. (publications by the Society for Frankish History, Series IX, Vol. 34). Neustadt an der Aisch, 1985 *Julius Frhr. von Rotenhan: ''Geschichte der Familie von Rotenhan älterer Linie''. 2 volumes, 1865 *Siegfried Frhr. von Rotenhan: ''Geschichte der Familie Rotenhan''. Rentweinsdorf, self-publication, 1989 {{Authority control Castles in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Haßberge (district) Landmarks in Germany Ruined castles in Germany Rock castles Hill castles