Rothenfels

Rothenfels
Coat of arms of Rothenfels Coat of arms
Rothenfels
Location of Rothenfels within Main-Spessart district 250px
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Unterfranken
District	Main-Spessart
Municipal assoc.	Marktheidenfeld
Government
• Mayor	Michael Gram
Area
• Total	12.07 km2 (4.66 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	982
• Density	81/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, previously part of the railway line de has been used as a town bypass.

Neighbouring communities

From the north, clockwise: Neustadt am Main, Marktheidenfeld, Hafenlohr, de (gemeindefreies Gebiet).

Subdivisions

Rothenfels has two Stadtteile, Rothenfels in the valley of the Main and Bergrothenfels on the hill, next to Rothenfels Castle (de).

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 part of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Bergrothenfels was separated administratively from Rothenfels in the 19th century, only to be reamalgamated in the 1971 Gebietsreform.

Government

The mayor of Rothenfels is Michael Gram.

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.

Attractions

Aside from its late-16th century de, the town features some historic timber-frame houses.

On the hill above the town stands Rothenfels Castle (Burg Rothenfels). Rothenfels Castle is associated with the Catholic youth movement "de" (named after Quickborn in Schleswig-Holstein), and serves as a Christian education and conference centre. The castle is also a German Youth Hostel Association (DJH) youth hostel.

Images

• RothenfelsHauptstrasse.jpg

  Main street

• RothenfelsKirche.jpg

  Church

• RothenfelsBurg.jpg

  Rothenfels Castle

External links

• Town’s official webpage (German)
• Rothenfels Castle (German)