Rottweil

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Main street in Rottweil

Map of Germany showing Rottweil

Depiction of St. Veronica's sudarium over the portal of the Münster Heiliges Kreuz

Rottweil is the oldest town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil is located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb and is a small town of about 25,000 inhabitants with a medieval center. It is mainly known for its carnival (or also called Fasnet).

Rottweil was founded by the Romans in AD 73 as Arae Flaviae and became a municipium, with traces of human settlement going back to 2000 BC. Roman baths and a mosaic of Orpheus (ca. AD 180) fate from this time. The present town became a ducal and a royal court before 771 and in the Middle Ages it became a Free Imperial City in 1268. In 1463 the city joined the Swiss Confederation, with which it was closely aligned for several centuries. Both its status as free city and its alliance with the Swiss Confederacy were eventually lost with the conquest of the region by Napoleon in 1803. The appearance of the town is very little changed from the 16th century.

Among the notable sites in Rottweil is the late-Romanesque and Gothic-era Münster Heiliges Kreuz (Minster of the Holy Cross), which features a crucifix by Veit Stoss.

The Rottweiler dog is named after this town; it used to be a butcher's dog in the region.