The Château de Rothenbourg or Rothenburg Castle (, literally "red castle") is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
in the ''
commune'' of
Philippsbourg
Philippsbourg (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Phillipsburch''; ) is a commune in the department of Moselle, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France.
The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional N ...
in the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' 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
Archbishops
*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988)
*Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006)
*Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017)
*Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...
, 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 kings and dukes 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 ...
in the 13th century, and is constructed of dressed
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. At the end of the 13th century, it passed to the Counts of
Zweibrücken-Bitsch
The County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (, ) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire that was created between 1286 and 1302 from the eastern part of the County of Zweibrücken and the Barony of Bitche () in Lorraine. It existed until 1570, when it w ...
.
[ In the 14th century, Rothenburg partly belonged to Count Walram of Zweibrücken-Bitsch who gave it as a ]fiefdom
A fief (; ) 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 feudal alle ...
in 1353 to Gerhard Harnasch von Weisskirchen Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to:
Given name
* Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate
* Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark
* Gerhard Barkhorn (1919†...
.
In 1368, Rothenburg was taken and destroyed by the Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
eois.[
The castle seems to have given its name to the Blick de Rothenburg family, who held several ]fief
A fief (; ) 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 feudal alle ...
s from the Lords of Bitche
Bitche (English pronunciation: , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a commune in Moselle department, in the region of Grand Est in northeastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city, and the seat of the Canton of Bitche and the ...
, 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 Regions of France, region and Departments of France, department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are p ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothenbourg, Chateau De
Ruined castles in Grand Est
Châteaux in Moselle (department)
Monuments historiques of Moselle (department)
Military history of Moselle (department)