Rötenbach is a formerly independent village in the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, 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 th ...

that has belonged to the municipality of Friedenweiler since 1 January 1975. About 1,400 of the 2,100 inhabitants of Friedenweiler live in Rötenbach.

Geography

Rötenbach lies about 7 km east of

Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt () is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is made up of the six communities of Neustadt, Langenordnach, Rudenberg, Titisee, Schwärzenbach and Waldau. The town ...

in the southeast of the Black Forest where it transitions to the Baar, at a height of 780 to 950 metres above sea level. The Rötenbach flows through the village from north to south and continues through the Rötenbach Gorge (''Rötenbachschlucht'') before emptying into the Wutach.

History

The village was first mentioned under the name of ''Rotinbah'' on 19 January 819. The deed was preserved in St. Gallen. A local nobleman called ''Ruadger'' gave a gift to St Martin's Church in

Löffingen Löffingen () is a town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km southwest of Donaueschingen, and 40 km southeast of Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the Li ...

. Since 1563 the parish was in the sole ownership of the House of Fürstenberg. Previously there is evidence of ownership by the following ecclesiastical bodies: * The church in Löffingen * Friedenweiler Abbey * Maria Abbey, Neudingen * Freiburg Charterhouse * St. Blaise Abbey Following the dissolution of the

Principality of Fürstenberg Fürstenberg was a county (), and later a principality (''Fürstentum''), of the Holy Roman Empire in Swabia, which was located in present-day southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its ruling family was the House of Fürstenberg (Swabia), House o ...

, Rötenbach went in 1806 to the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Rötenbach was home to a

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...

, mainly involved in the following activities: From 1770, clock and watchmaking expanded. For example, since 1782 Rötenbach families ran a clock business in London. In Rötenbach clockface painting (''Uhrenschildermalerei'') developed into verre églomisé (''Hinterglasmalerei''). The Winterhalder family of artists was particularly famous for this, especially Benedikt Winterhalder, who was born on 20 March 1813.

Luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

s worked in Rötenbach, presumably coming to the Black Forest from the

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Famous Rötenbacher violin makers were Franz Straub and Josef Bier.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

The Höllental Railway (from

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

via Titisee to

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the States of Germany, federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar ''Districts of Germany, Kreis''. It ...

) runs through the village. The section from Neustadt to

was built from 1898 to 1901. In the vicinity is the B 31 federal highway from Freiburg to

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

Culture and sights

Structures

The

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

(''Rathaus'') was built in 1867 and serves today as the municipal hall for Friedenweiler.

People linked to the village

The father of Padre

Rupert Mayer Rupert Mayer (23 January 1876 – 1 November 1945) was a Germans, German Jesuit Priesthood (Catholic Church), priest and a leading figure of the Catholic German Resistance to Nazism, resistance to Nazism in Munich. In 1987, he was beatified by ...

from Rötenbach. Padre Rupert Mayer was a priest in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

who opposed

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and was imprisoned as a result. He died shortly after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 3 May 1987 in Munich.

External links

www.friedenweiler.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotenbach (Baden) Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Former municipalities in Baden-Württemberg Villages in Baden-Württemberg