Rothenfels

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Rothenfels

Coat of arms
Rothenfels
Coordinates: 49°53′N 9°35′E / 49.883°N 9.583°E / 49.883; 9.583Coordinates: 49°53′N 9°35′E / 49.883°N 9.583°E / 49.883; 9.583
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Unterfranken
District Main-Spessart
Municipal assoc. Marktheidenfeld
Government
 • Mayor Rosemarie Richartz
Area
 • Total 12.07 km2 (4.66 sq mi)
Elevation 154 m (505 ft)
Population (2012-12-31)[1]
 • Total 987
 • Density 82/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 97851
Dialling codes 09393
Vehicle registration MSP
Website www.rothenfels.de

Rothenfels is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Marktheidenfeld. It is said to be Bavaria’s smallest town.

Geography

Location

Rothenfels lies on the Main’s right bank between Lohr and Marktheidenfeld, 5 km north of Marktheidenfeld, and 33 km east of Aschaffenburg. Squeezed as it is between the river and a bluff, the town consists of little more than a main street. Since 2006, the Maindamm has been used as a town bypass.

Above the town is found Rothenfels Castle (Burg Rothenfels), abutting which is the outlying centre (Stadtteil) of Bergrothenfels

History

The settlement, which arose under Rothenfels Castle’s protection about 1148, had its first documentary mention as a town in a document from Prince-Bishop of Mainz von Wolfskehl. During German Mediatisation in 1803, the now Würzburg-ruled Rothenfels passed to the princely house of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and then in 1806 to the Principality of Aschaffenburg; in 1813, Rothenfels became Bavarian.

The outlying centre of Bergrothenfels was separated from Rothenfels in the 19th century, only to be reamalgamated in 1971.

Politics

Since 1996 Rosemarie Richartz has been the mayor of Rothenfels.

Coat of arms

The town’s arms might be described thus: Or in base water argent, issuant therefrom three crags gules, in chief the letter R of the same.

The town’s oldest known seal, carved in the late 16th century and known from a 1619 imprint, only showed the uppercase R. The same image is shown in a roll of arms from 1544, wherein the R is shown in red on a silver field. Shown on town and council seals from 1710 is a castle on crags, which are surmounted by the uppercase R (that is, the R is on the crags, not over them), possibly canting for the town’s name, which means “Stronghold in Red Bunter”. Since the early 19th century, all examples of the town’s seal show the current composition. The arms were affirmed in 1836.[2]

Sightseeing

In the town stand a few timber-frame houses, with statues, that are worth seeing.

On the crags above the town looms Rothenfels Castle (Burg Rothenfels). Well known as a popular outing destination between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg, Rothenfels Castle has made a name for itself above all, from the tradition of the Catholic youth movement “Quickborn” (a Low Saxon placename in Schleswig-Holstein, not the English words “quick born”), as a Christian education and conference centre in free sponsorship. The castle is also a German Youth Hostel Association (DJH) youth hostel.

Images

  • Main street

  • Church

  • Rothenfels Castle

References

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.
  1. ↑ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). 31 December 2012. 
  2. ↑ Description and explanation of Rothenfels’s arms

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rothenfels.
Towns and municipalities in Main-Spessart
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