Blog
Here you can find out more about Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
-
Imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Christmas markets and half-timbered romanticism as eye-catchers - that's what Alsace and Rothenburg ob der Tauber have in common at first glance. But historically, Rothenburg ob der Tauber has much more to do with the region in France: the Reichstag took place in the Alsatian imperial palace of Hagenau in 1274, at which King Rudolf of Habsburg drew up a bundle of privileges for cities in his area of influence. From then on, Rothenburg ob der Tauber was also able to feel a little safer as an imperial city. By granting these special freedoms, King Rudolf was of course the first in the House of Habsburg to pursue purely political goals: he wanted to secure the power in the empire that was still there shortly after the fall of the Staufer dynasty (the last heir, Conradin, was executed in Naples in 1268). was very volatile.
Rothenburg did not act as a supplicant to the king in this matter. The document, written in Latin, reached the city council via an emissary or messenger coming from the west. For the city's citizens, the status and bundle of privileges initially changed little in everyday life. But for long-term planning, the status as an imperial city felt like a liberation. In certain disputes, people were now freed from foreign courts such as that of the Zollern (the later margraves) or the royal regional court of the bishops in Würzburg. A regional court was now also held on the judge's seat in Rothenburg; the new post of district judge was determined by the city council. Naturally, the decision of such a local regional court would, in case of doubt, be more in favor of Rothenburg if justice was handed down in Würzburg, which was not particularly friendly. The rural nobility from Nordenberg and Hohenlohe could no longer blatantly fool the people of Rothenburg. Founding a monastery as a power base in the middle of the city, as the Nordenbergers once did with the Dominican monastery, was no longer so easy. Appropriations of Rothenburg's lands by the surrounding nobility were now far more risky than before.
However: the frequently used term “Free Imperial City” is misleading. There were generally three categories of cities in the empire at that time: the imperial cities such as Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl, which were directly subordinate to the king or emperor and whose protection was generally guaranteed by him. There were so-called country towns such as those of the margraves (Ansbach, Uffenheim) or bishops (Würzburg). And there were free cities - mainly in the north of what is now the Federal Republic - that later protected each other in associations such as the Hanseatic League: Hamburg and Bremen are prominent examples. In Rothenburg, on the other hand, affiliation with the emperor was already seen symbolically on the city gates. The Holy Roman Empire used the double-headed eagle in black on gold since the reign of Emperor Sigismund; the exact decision was made in 1433. Before that, the single-headed eagle was considered a symbol of imperial power. That's why many eagles in Rothenburg are still single-headed and therefore not Habsburg-style (Siebersturm, Kobolzeller Tor, Spitalturm, Galgenturm, Röderturm etc. / double-headed eagle, for example on the town hall altane or outside of the Klingenbastei).
There are also two Reichstags taking place in Rothenburg: one even makes history. Frederick III In 1474, the Danish King Christian I granted ownership of the County of Holstein in the Reichstag of Rothenburg. Holstein remained Danish territory until the 19th century, before a war by the German Empire ended this status. If you look closely at the council chamber in Rothenburg's market square, you will discover the plaque of honor for the visit of Christian I. He spent the night in the patrician house in a prominent place during the Reichstag. In general, an official representative of Rothenburg was always allowed to take part in the Reichstag. In distant places this often happened through intermediaries who represented the interests of an entire group of imperial cities. In purely monetary terms, the status as an imperial city was worthwhile for Rothenburg, in addition to the collection of customs duties on the trade routes and also in determining the wealth tax: two officials asked the city's citizens directly about their property; it is assumed that they were tax honest. In a small city like Rothenburg (the population was probably around 13 at the end of the 2000th century), it was also a question of prestige how much one brought into the city's coffers - the civic pride here can certainly be compared with that of the city republics in today's Italy . The status as an imperial city certainly strengthened loyalty to its own region; the defense of the imperial city area by means of the land hege was just an expression of Rothenburg's growing self-image. -
The Franciscan monastery in Herrngasse
The year is 1280. The monks Otto and Günter are on their way to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. They stay in their province of Argentina and only cover a short distance within their begging district: from the Franciscan monastery in Hall (today's Schwäbisch Hall) they go east to Rothenburg. In the young city there is a St. James chapel next to a spring and a linden tree, a wonderful place in today's Herrngasse. Why not stay here, in this rapidly growing trading town above the Tauber? Otto and Günter ask themselves this and a little later ask for permission to found their own monastery here.
In 1281 the city council and the principal of the Franciscan order province approved this. It cannot be proven whether the two were really called Otto and Günter. The chronicler Michael Eisenhard only recorded the history of the Franciscan monks in the 16th century; much of it is certainly pious legend. However, it is documented that construction of the monastery complex began in 1282. King Rudolf also allowed a fair in Herrngasse for the first time on the site of the future monastery, i.e. a large market with goods for everyday needs. At such fairs, the traders sometimes come to the city from distant areas and offer handicrafts, tools or clothing. The Franciscans are supported in their project in Rothenburg by the local nobility such as the mayor Hermann von Hornburg. The Franciscan Church subsequently becomes the most important burial site for Rothenburg's patrician and noble families, all of whose properties are located on Herrngasse. The nobles are less modest and locate their graves in or near the choir, i.e. close to the Holy of Holies. And some give themselves an outsized meaning in the form of a life-sized statue: the memory of Peter Creglinger even stands on a pillar in the form of a knight.
In 1285, permission was given to expand the monastery: today's Burggasse may be built over for this purpose. This creates a dark passage under the refectory - a kind of tunnel. In popular parlance it quickly becomes “hell” (the linguistic reference to the cave is also possible). “Hell” is the arrival of the Franciscans for the Teutonic Order, which has just been given the Church of St. Jacob as its own parish. Another church in the immediate vicinity of their own pilgrimage church does not amuse the spiritual order of knights at all. The conflict was resolved in 1290: the monastery was allowed to remain. The monks have been popular with the population from the beginning, as they have a strong external impact and do not live as isolated as the nuns in the Dominican monastery. Thanks to the regular markets and the itinerant monks, the Franciscan monastery is not a completely closed world. The monastery's grounds extend from the garden of the former Montessori school on Herrngasse down to the wall on Burggasse. From there it goes to Heringsbronnengässchen, which leads up to the Franciscan Church.
So the Franciscans settle in the middle of Rothenburg. The construction of the church choir was completed in 1309. The modesty of the Franciscans can be seen from the outside. Unlike St. Jakob, the east choir window only has three panels instead of four. Shortly after her coronation in Aachen, Queen Margaret of Brabant travels to Rothenburg for the inauguration. The order does not formally own the site. Finally, the heirs of Francis of Assisi preach non-possession. The Pope receives the site from the city and leaves it to the Franciscans. Three administrators (so-called carers) are appointed by the city council and control the finances. The mendicant order lives ¼ from alms. In Rothenburg, too, the monks are assigned a certain district where these alms can be begged: Windsheim, Herrieden, Brettheim and Weikersheim - this radius is documented for the monastery in Rothenburg from 1399 to 1509. The rest of the income comes largely from foundations, which are often made up of donations from the rural population. Various indulgences finance the construction of the church: 56 indulgences can be documented between 1285 and 1309. These letters set days or periods during which believers can redeem themselves from certain sins.
The main task of the monks is pastoral care. This includes, among other things, the sermon in the Franciscan Church. At that time, the Gothic church itself appeared to be quite modest in its design, in keeping with the spirit of the order's founder, Francis of Assisi. From the details, the expert can see that the architectural style is strongly influenced by the order's province on the Upper Rhine with the center in Strasbourg and Upper Swabia. No wonder, as many of the monks do not necessarily come from the area around Rothenburg, but rather from the center of the order's province - today's Baden or Upper Swabia. The Guardian in Rothenburg in particular – the monastery head – often comes from the Upper Rhine region. Despite their lack of property, the gentlemen in Strasbourg apparently do not want to completely give up control over their monks.
Over the centuries, some monks in Rothenburg did not take the modest lifestyle and lack of possessions too seriously: in 1388, the monastery's reading master was accused of immorality and expelled from the city. An inglorious episode, but far from exceptional. 15 to 20 monks live in the monastery at their peak: they pray, preach, beg - and sometimes they even create high art: the individual panels of the Rothenburg Passion were painted by the monk Martin Schwarz in 1499. The rood screen from the Franciscan Church, which separates the priests in the church from the laity, his individual pictures are now exhibited in the RothenburgMuseum. He is considered one of the last rood screens at the end of the Middle Ages. Their function: They separated the laity from the priests during church services. Their pictures made the stories from the Bible accessible to those believers who did not understand Latin or could not read it at all. The sliding door in the middle usually remains closed when the monk is preaching.
The influence of the Franciscans in Rothenburg (and actually in the entire Holy Roman Empire) ended before the Reformation period. The Observance movement within the Franciscan Order does not really reach the Rothenburg monastery. Due to the excesses in many areas of the order, this movement splits off within the order and calls for stricter adherence to the ideal of poverty in the monasteries. But in Rothenburg it is primarily the loose interpretation of monastic everyday life that prevails. In 1521, the blind Franciscan monk Johan Schmid was an exception when he advocated Lutheran ideals in his sermons. In Rothenburg, which followed Protestantism early on, the monastery increasingly lost support. In addition, the Franciscans throughout Germany are under massive pressure and are not sending any new monks to the relatively unimportant region. Only three deputies still live there in 1544. And one of the monk brothers is so relaxed about interpreting everyday monastic life that he is expelled from the city: Monk Andreas Martini is imprisoned after a feast and as a result. expelled from the city “for poor living and disobedience to the council”. In 1548 the monastery was dissolved and the city took over the site.
In the following centuries, the people of Rothenburg used the buildings next to the church for a variety of purposes - not every use is good for the building structure. An inglorious role played by the Electorate of Bavaria, which set up the local salt office in one of the monastery buildings. Storing salt causes massive damage to the building. Previously, the monastery's buildings were used as a Latin school, as a warehouse for armor and weapons or as a granary. Things are even more oppressive in the facilities in the southwest that are now used as living space: the building is being converted into an inner-city prison as the successor to St. Mark's Tower.
The main building behind the church continued as a teaching institution in the 20th century. The Goethe Institute, where the future Pope Francis learned German, moved there for a long time. After it ended in the 2000s, the Rothenburg-Neusitz Montessori School used it until recently. The building is currently largely empty.
The Franciscan Church was to be handed over to the Catholic community of Rothenburg in 1803. But the project fails for unknown reasons. And so the Franciscan Church has been part of the parish of St. Jakob since 1803 - if the Teutonic Knights had known that back then...
We would like to thank and warmly thank Dr. Florian Huggenberger (city archivist) and Dr. Helmuth Möhring (Alt-Rothenburg Association) for the information. We would like to thank James Derheim for the photos!
-
AULA soap factory and Johann Leonard von Berg's tobacco factory
Of soap dreams and tobacco dealers – two different company stories from Rothenburg ob der Tauber
When is a factory a factory? And when is a company more likely to be described as a factory? This question can be answered quite well when traveling back in time to the 19th century in Rothenburg ob der Tauber: On the one hand, we come across the Alter Keller near Hafengasse at the beginning of the century Tobacco factory run by Johann Leonard von Berg and his brother-in-law Johann Michael Unger. Born in an aristocratic family in Rothenburg, von Berg began producing tobacco products in 1795 in the Bettwar oil mill in Taubertal. Despite the resistance of the city councilors and many citizens, who were put off by the noise and odor nuisance caused by a factory, he moved to the city with his company. The reason: the better transport location at the time and the increased sales opportunities in the center of Rothenburg. After efforts to acquire the Greifen inn on Schmiedgasse and the meat shop next to the market square fountain failed, von Berg and Unger managed to do so House Alter Keller 5 to buy. Now the tobacco was produced by hand in the old town.
On the other hand, when we look into the archive and the hotel project, we encounter it Alter Ego in front of the Würzburg Gate the name of a real Rothenburg entrepreneurial family from the end of the 19th century, which was associated with the AULA soap factory dared to jump from Georgengasse to the gates of the old town: Anna Schmieg and her husband Heinrich built the company Long after the first peak of industrialization in Franconia, it became a company operating throughout Germany. They founded their factory in 1912. For comparison: Siemens predecessor Schuckert & Co. built its second factory on Landgrabenstrasse in nearby Nuremberg in 1890; the company built its first factory building there in 1879. The disadvantage of Rothenburg: In the era of steam engines, it needed a lot of water - and despite the reservoirs in the Taubertal and below the Frankenhöhe, there was never enough water here.
The busy Johann von Berg's tobacco factory - he also traded in grain, among other things - had long since ceased to exist. She remained in the old town until the end of the company and was therefore involved in the handcrafted processing of the raw material, which was not atypical in Franconia at the time – one of the core growing areas was in the Nuremberg region, less than 60 kilometers east of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. This mixture of small production and regionally limited procurement became the company's downfall after 1802 and the incorporation of Rothenburg into the Bavarian economic area: At that time, the competition from Fürth and Nuremberg was working with ever larger quantities and expanding cultivation areas, making procurement more and more difficult for the Rothenburg company. This was brought to consumers not only in cigarettes, but also in the popular snuff. Our own cultivation attempts in the soil around Rothenburg produced hardly any significant yields; at least “seven hundredweight of tobacco” (i.e. 350 kilograms) is documented in the archives for the city area in 1812. To estimate: Today there are around 0,7 grams of tobacco in a cigarette - and as early as 1639, 750 tons of tobacco were shipped from the USA to Europe.
The Schmieg family took a different entrepreneurial path: Heinrich used the centuries-old expertise Soap boiler in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and made from that Craft business from Georgengasse has a respectable business with 80 employees, mechanical series production (this is exactly what distinguishes the factory from the manufactory) and its own rail connection. The soap factory was founded by the craftsman Georg Klenk, whose daughter August Schmieg married. The soap industry was considered a prosperous sector in the Empire: in 1895, 180 tons of soap were produced per year in the German Empire; by 000 this amount had risen to 1913 tons. Good times, also for the AULA and the Schmieg family – In 1912, the third generation dared to build a factory near Rothenburg train station - today the BayWa building stands here.
Smoking chimneys can be seen in the motifs from this period. A relatively unusual picture for Rothenburg: Aside from the AULA, there were no significant industrial companies in the tranquil, impoverished medieval town at the time. And the successful period only lasted quite a short time. The First World War, with the associated procurement problems for raw materials and forced farming, interrupted the rise. Nevertheless, after the war, the Schmieg family moved into the entrepreneurial villa built in 1905 on Würzburger Strasse (today the Hotel Alter Ego) and sold the property on Georgengasse to the Reingruber family, who, fittingly, started a soap business.
When the forced management of the soap industry was lifted in 1920, the Schmieg family found a new business partner in Nuremberg, Friedrich Scheib, for soap production, which had been severely thinned out across Germany: the AULA trademark remained the same, but the new company was called “Rothenburger Seifen- und Ölfabriken Schmieg & Scheib GmbH”. During the economic crisis during the Weimar Republic, this company survived for just ten years. The Schmiegs looked for new business partners for AULA GmbH, again from Nuremberg: Hans Möschel and Lucian Goll took part, and the three divisions of soaps, perfumery and chemical products were established like detergent, also widely available. And the company premises also survived the Second World War largely unscathed, despite the bombing of Rothenburg in 1945.
However, the Schmiegs' only descendant was missing since the fighting for Stalingrad and the private villa was destroyed. Despite the adverse circumstances of the post-war period, the Aula had a final high phase during the reconstruction and the young Federal Republic: Aula soap, shampoo, toothpaste and the detergent brand Orisin were available in stores all over Germany; in 1969, 114 products were sold. Alone: As was once the case with local tobacco manufacturers, the soap and detergent industry increasingly concentrated on large companies such as Henkel from Düsseldorf; ten companies ultimately accounted for 1960% of total production in 80. Fine soap brands such as Fa, Rexona and Palmolive already existed back then and we still know them today. There was less and less demand for the curd soaps from AULA production, and the gradual decline could not be compensated for in business terms: In February 1975, the AULA soap factory was liquidated. A little later the building was demolished and by the early 80s nothing was left of the factory. And so the fate of the soap factory is similar to that of the tobacco factory: greater competition brought about the end.
By the way: The Friedrich Scheib Oel- + Fett-Fabrik eK still exists in Nuremberg today. And the Reingruber family still runs the shop on Georgengasse – as a drugstore.
The photos are all by James Derheim, the content for us was provided by Dr. Florian Huggenberger compiled from the city archives. We thank you very much!
-
The Staufers in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
A trip to the castle gardens of Rothenburg
Who doesn't like to adorn themselves with prominent names? The Staufer Stele, the Barbarossa Bridge and other references to the noble and ruling family can be found in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Unfortunately, there is one small flaw regarding the bridge between Detwang and the Bronnenmühle: contrary to what the bridge name suggests, the famous red-bearded emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was never in Rothenburg - at least there is no evidence of Barbarossa's official visit to Rothenburg. Given its importance, it is hardly likely that this was omitted by the chroniclers. The city definitely owes a lot to him and his noble Hohenstaufen family.
The Hohenstaufens arrived in Rothenburg in 1142 in terms of power politics: Conrad III. knows exactly what he is doing when he exchanges areas around the town of Detwang from Neumünster Abbey in Würzburg. After all, his son Heinrich is already Vogt von Detwang here and knows about the advantages of the agriculturally fertile, strategically important border region located on an important road. The people of Würzburg get a property in Hopferstadt near Ochsenfurt that is more conveniently located for them. By 1150, the new rulers completed the castle, which rose on a hill above the Tauber to the southwest. Nowadays the castle garden is located here (hence the name). The stones come from the quarries between the Blade Gate and the Penalty Tower and are built with shell limestone. The most visible remnant of the castle is the former palace, today's Blasius Chapel right at the entrance to the castle garden. The Staufer Stele with information about the rulers, erected in the castle garden in 2010, is also perfectly located here. In addition to the foundation walls of the castle, the former entrance is still clearly visible. This now forms the basement of the orange-colored gardener's house in the castle garden. If you leave the castle garden towards the vineyard and look straight ahead to the west, you will see the former castle gate, bricked in a semicircle with rusticated blocks, just behind a small garden, and above it the orange building. Wheel tracks were even found here that had been dug into the ground by carts over the centuries.
It only takes around eight years of construction until Konrad III. established his castle here. Up to 80 people can live in such a castle. Konrad's son Friedrich grew up in Rothenburg - in addition to relatives, he was accompanied by teachers, educators and fencing trainers as well as allied nobles and service people. In this way, Rothenburg becomes a place of residence, and the development of the few farms in the area into the city is specifically promoted. The city's first wall was gradually built, initially not made of stone but of wooden palisades. Archaeologists found such a wooden stump near today's Burggasse; it dates back to 1280. At that time, Rothenburg belonged directly to the Staufer family, not to the kingdom. And Rothenburg Friedrich almost becomes king, only because of his age - he is only eight years old as Konrad III. dies – prevents him from ascending to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. In his place, his cousin Friedrich Barbarossa received the crown of the Roman-German king in 1152; he was now called Frederick I. From 1155 he was allowed to call himself emperor. And Rothenburg Friedrich? As compensation for the loss of royal dignity, he receives the influential title of “Duke of Swabia”. He travels in his part of the kingdom, which includes Rothenburg, Stuttgart, Württemberg and large parts of Alsace and what is now Bavarian Swabia near Augsburg.
In terms of power politics, Rothenburg is denied the big hit, but an improvement is visible. The city prospered in the following decades thanks to the open treatment of the Jewish population in the city. Probably ten percent of Rothenburgers - up to 500 people - later belonged to the community around Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch at their peak in the middle of the 13th century. The theory that the community was specifically settled seems plausible. In many areas of the Rhineland, Jews were expelled by those in power and sought a new home as refugees.
Rothenburg has already missed its second chance to move up the Staufer power structure. After Frederick's death, Barbarossa gave the city to one of his sons - Konrad - and he initially preferred to claim the title of Duke of Swabia himself again in addition to his royal dignity. But since Konrad was to be married, he was given a newly invented title of nobility as a cosmetic procedure: " He was allowed to call himself "von Rothenburg" in the future and under this label was promised to the Castilian king's daughter Berenguela: in 1188 he actually married the Iberian woman and so Konrad von Rothenburg was shortly before the Iberian throne. But it was precisely at that time that Barbarossa's defeat against the Pope proved to have little effect on the attractiveness of the alliance. Three years later, the Archbishop of Toledo dissolved the marriage between Konrad and Berenguela - and with it the second possibility also disappeared, that Rothenburg more came into the power-political focus of the Staufers.Rothenburg remained a residence in the Hohenstaufen Empire until 1274 and increasingly passed from direct family ownership to the ownership of the kingdom. The reason: a lack of new blood in the ranks of the Staufers. Where there are no children, residences sometimes remain unoccupied. Thirty visits by German kings can be documented over the centuries. What Barbarossa never managed, his descendants and successors achieved. And the Habsburgs actually deserve a statue on the bridge: because in 1274, King Rudolf of Habsburg gave Rothenburg imperial freedom, which means: Rothenburg, as an imperial city, is subordinate only to him and can be administered by the citizens themselves. The local noble families of the von Nordenbergs and the von Hohenlohes look sadly at this decision, as they had continued to expand their influence after the end of the Staufer rule. The von Nordenbergs, for example, had clearly documented their claim to leadership by relocating the Dominican convent they had founded (today's RothenburgMuseum) into the heart of the city - just a small building block in a multifaceted power play around Rothenburg. The Habsburg's decision turns out to be a clever move to ambitiously keep local princes at bay. And the Staufers? They can also be found very reservedly on the tower of the town hall. One of the figures represents the prevented German King Friedrich, so a real Rothenburg Hohenstaufen is being honored in the center of the city.
As always, the text is based on two interviews with Dr. Florian Huggenberger (city archives) and Dr. Helmuth Möhring (Alt-Rothenburg Association). We thank you very much.
We would also like to thank James Derheim, many of the exclusive photographs that enrich our contributions come from him. -
A look back in Rothenburg ob der Tauber - St. Wolfgang in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
In the 15th century, the Otneit (later Otnat) family made a steep rise in the imperial city, which was then in its heyday. Source of wealth: the trade in sheep's wool, which was generally flourishing in Rothenburg at that time. And which even ends in the Shepherd Brotherhood's own church in the northwest of the city, founded by Michael Otnat (born 1425). Otnat made it from Neugasse to the more central Rödergasse, thus continuing his family's rise from nearby Gailnau to Rothenburg. The pilgrimage church is dedicated to St. Wolfgang, the patron saint of all shepherds - and therefore also shepherds. In addition to shepherds, wealthy traders also join the community. What was Otnat's purpose in founding the brotherhood in 1476? Why all the effort for a church and a community? Well, faith determines people's lives to a much greater extent than it does today. And life and fate after death are at the center of people's fears and hopes. There is no harm in manifesting your faith in one God in a building. And when the community actively involves you in prayer and cares for the soul of the believer even after death.
This also costs the members of the Shepherd Brotherhood a lot: in addition to the members' annual taxes, the church's assets are fed by the profits of the brotherhood's flock and the income of the pilgrims. Because St. Wolfgang, which has never been destroyed since its completion in 1493, is considered a place of pilgrimage - even before the church was built, there were rumors about strange events that occurred northwest of the city wall. While the pious initially made a pilgrimage to the open area in front of Rothenburg's Blade Gate, the nearby diocese of Würzburg and the city of Rothenburg soon wanted to perpetuate this. The wool merchant Otnat's building project is a perfect fit. Because the church in the holy place is far too close to the city wall and offers the enemy protection in the event of an attack, it is immediately integrated into the city's defense - including casemates and battlements. In conjunction with the blade gate, it forms a defensive bastion. Especially since historical accounts from the city archives suggest that the wall was continued with a defensive tower, where there is now a slightly elevated residential property.
On the side facing the city, the inscription next to the figures of Jesus and Saint Wolfgang directly reveals to the traveler the meaning and purpose of the church: which indulgences are given in the church are already clearly visible on the text on the outside. This is not unimportant, as another pilgrimage church, the Marienkirche an der Tauber (Kobolzeller Church), was built almost at the same time. No matter how spectacular the construction of the Gothic church of St. Wolfgang is, the shepherd's brotherhood can never afford its own priest. Is it because of the intense competition in the struggle for pilgrim wealth? No matter: the mass is always said by a clergyman from the town church of St. Jakob.
The charitable insurance provided by the brotherhood lasted until the early 19th century, and it also involved very specific help such as widows' care. Otnat's legacy continued even as the city became Protestant dominated. A special feature of Rothenburg, because the brotherhoods actually only exist in Catholic areas. In Rothenburg it is of course losing more and more of its importance; in 1802 the last sermon for the shepherding brotherhood was read in St. Wolfgang. With Rothenburg's transfer to the Kingdom of Bavaria, an important part of Rothenburg's shepherd tradition disappears completely - because in addition to many buildings, the financially tight city also has to sell flocks of sheep. The noble animals, known far beyond the city, are confiscated by the Bavarian royal family.
St. Wolfgang cannot describe itself as a fortified church or fortified church, as these are virtually alone in rural areas as places of escape. And the constellation with the integration of the church into the city defense is not unique either: St. Blasius in Kaufbeuren, the Annenkapelle in Kronach and St. Johann Baptist in Kronenburg are further examples. What is unique, however, is that the church and its interior are virtually preserved in their original form; the three altars are “in situ” – i.e. in their originally intended place in the church. On the altars there are traces of deep piety that can hardly be found anywhere else: sharpening marks on the altarpiece of the Wendelin Altar as well as niches carved into the altars in order to place certain objects there that one would probably like to physically associate with the saints or bless. There is also a horseshoe in a window niche next to the altar - an indication of the saint's desire for protection and protection for horses as draft animals. Elsewhere there were even Wolfgang rides, on a large scale at the Wolfgang Church in Ochsenfurt.
What remains of the shepherd's tradition is the historical shepherd's dance. The club impresses with its impressive dance formations on the market square, which were conceived around 1910. At this point, the Historical Shepherd Dance Association was founded, in which only real Rothenburg families found a place. The formations that are still performed today have no demonstrable historical connection to the Otnats Shepherd Brotherhood. At her wedding in Rothenburg, she had of course acquired the right to perform a public dance on the market square - a real privilege in earlier times when the dance was considered vicious and sacrilegious. The Historical Shepherd's Dance takes up this right, but also mixes an - initially anti-Judaic - legend from the 19th century into its founding story: the shepherds, it says, were once allowed to organize the Shepherd's Day and Dance because they warned the population of Rothenburg about poisoned wells. There is no longer any mention of the fact that it was Jews who allegedly polluted the water in the association's founding myth. At its peak, the club was considered an elite circle in Rothenburg well into the 1970s and 1980s - many people found their partner for life here. Nowadays the club performs around the Whitsun Festival and on the Reichsstadt festivals and keeps the Wolfgangskirche as a club museum in honor and open to the public.
Many thanks to Dr. Florian Huggenberger (city archives) and Dr. Helmuth Möhring for the technical details. And to James Derheim for the detailed photos.
-
A look back in Rothenburg ob der Tauber - the Imperial Hall in the town hall of Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Make Rothenburg great – the Kaisersaal as a symbol of the imperial city’s striving for power
The town hall of Rothenburg ob der Tauber shapes the market square: as impressive and striking as it is on the west side with its Renaissance façade, it is just as mysterious in detail. The place has always been at the center in terms of power politics. Above all, the Imperial Hall, which was actually not always referred to as such…
Rothenburg is an oligarchy. The year is 1631 and the Inner Council is formed, as it has been for decades, from the same circle of wealthy families in Rothenburg, who eye each other critically. Who has more influence? Who will be the mayor? The Bezolds, von Staudts, Walthers and others specifically send their sons to study law. They should acquire the administrative foundations there in order to govern the city in the interests of the Rothenburg citizens. The Protestant Rothenburgers are not drawn to nearby Würzburg to study, but the Catholic ones are. The Luther town of Wittenberg in what is now Saxony-Anhalt is a typical destination for the coming councilors from Rothenburg.
The Inner Council meets in the town hall and discusses everyday business in the normal council chamber. The impressive Great Council Hall, which we now know as the Imperial Hall, is only used for council elections, for special meetings in the event of a crisis and for the swearing-in of new citizens of the city. The judge's chair still stands in the court area in the south wing. At that time, court days in Rothenburg alternated between city, country and farmer's court. Even today, the area in the hall is clearly separated from the rest of the hall by the ornate recessed stone court barrier. The impressive relief of the Last Judgment is intended to show that the relief was not intended as an eschatological vision, but as an appeal to those in power to exercise their power as just judges in the spirit of Psalm 2,10:XNUMX: “Et nunc reges intellegite, erudimini qui iudicatis terram.” This can be translated as follows: “And now, ye kings, understand (be prudent), (ye) who rule the earth, be taught.” That means: “Get smart before you judge.” Not bad advice, even today.
The large council hall was first referred to as the imperial hall in 1881 - very late. It's not far away for the first performance of the festival and visitors from all over the world are already thirsting for snappy stories. Of course, the name Kaisersaal is not a complete misnomer. Kings and emperors have repeatedly visited Rothenburg. Some were even housed in the town hall. It is possible, for example, that Emperor Friedrich III. of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation led the Dane King Christian I here in 1474 during his visit to Rothenburg. The Great Council Hall plays a central role as a reception hall and representative room. Whenever the Rothenburg council wants to specifically create publicity, it is called upon - the hall as a symbol of the imperial city's power. In terms of its dimensions, it is certainly comparable to the council chamber in Regensburg, although its importance is much greater thanks to the Eternal Reichstag that takes place there. But the infrastructure for such a major political event was also available in Rothenburg with the Kaisersaal.
And of course that is no coincidence: Heinrich Toppler was the name of the former mayor of Rothenburg in the late 14th century, who wanted to bring Rothenburg forward. Under his aegis, not only the construction of the impressive St. James's Church was pushed forward. With the Kaisersaal, he created a second architectural symbol of Rothenburg's new prosperity and wanted to aim higher. He is also considering a third city wall ring (more precisely: an upstream rampart), which would run along today's Philosophenweg and the Würzburger Straße intersection north of the city, among other places. The city should grow, its influence should increase - according to Toppler's will. The Imperial Hall is an important, representative building block.
The symbolism of the hall and town hall as a place of court also arises from the location where the building stands in Rothenburg. Previously, the first town hall represented the civil council of Rothenburg on the site of today's meat and dance house. This first town hall was built at the end of the 13th century and was located opposite the mayor's house. The local judge administered justice in the name of the king. Here too we meet a well-known family from the Rothenburg estate: Lupold was one of the royal governors in 1237. He became imperial kitchen master until 1240 and then called himself Lupold von Nordenberg after his castle. He was responsible for founding the Dominican convent in neighboring Neusitz, which he later moved to Rothenburg (today's RothenburgMuseum). When Rothenburg became an imperial city, the council tried to get rid of this outside influence on the city. This was achieved by acquiring the right to appoint the mayor from 1352. Now the council could decide for itself who got the post. The development was favored by the dismantling of the imperial Staufer Castle (in today's Burggarten); the mayor lacked a local power political instrument. Around 1360, construction of today's west wing of the town hall began on the site of the mayor's house.
The oldest depiction of the market square can be found on the Herlin Altar in the town church of St. Jakob. In addition to the hustle and bustle of the traders in the arcades of the town hall, the viewer also notices that the two town hall wings were arranged symmetrically in the Gothic style. In 1501 the east wing burned down, the fire also damaged large parts of the west wing and the Great Council Chamber. It was previously supported with columns and, thanks to the Nuremberg craftsman Jörg Stadelmann, is given a self-supporting ceiling construction, which still makes it so special today. From a static point of view, this is a masterpiece: the beams of the sheet pile ceiling were fitted together and fastened precisely, as there were no such long trunks for building the ceiling. The Imperial Hall measures an impressive 38,31 meters in length.
The Kaisersaal plays a special role at Pentecost, when the historical festival “Der Meistertrunk” is performed there. Since its premiere in 1881, the festival has had a permanent place in the town hall, and the clothing room with the robes is also located right next to the hall. The stage at the north end takes up around ¼ of the hall; the reception hall was once completely flat. However, this does not take away from the effect of the Kaisersaal as a symbol of Rothenburg's striving for power.
We would like to thank Dr. for the information. Florian Huggenberg, Rothenburg city archivist, and Dr. Helmuth Möhring, the former director of the RothenburgMuseum.
We would like to thank James Derheim for the detailed photos!
-
A look back in Rothenburg ob der Tauber - the Büttelhaus at St. Mark's Tower in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
The Rothenburgers had a real Houdini as their guest in the middle of the 18th century - Franz Antoni Stahl from Nördlinger Ries was a really bad fellow and a real rascal. The cunning thief escaped twice from the prison for serious criminals in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the St. Mark's Tower and the Büttelhaus. During the night he sneaks out of the city twice, before doing a breakneck rappelling eleven meters down from his cell using a rope made from the stuffing of his straw bag. As a result, the bailiffs, the city's bailiffs, stood there stupidly. Franz Antoni Stahl basically escaped from under their noses. Because the bailiffs not only guarded the criminals in the cells, they also lived in the bailiff's house themselves. If the guards were married, their wives also took the oath as bailiffs, which obliged them to look after the prisoners. The profession was about as prestigious as that of the executioner. In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in addition to the cells at St. Mark's Tower and the town hall, there were three other prison towers in the city: For less serious crimes, you ended up in the punishment tower or in the Weibsturm (on today's Röder Schütt, mainly for women). Anyone who ended up in the digestion tower was essentially sentenced to life and was literally rotting away. Archaeologists later even found skeletons of the inmates in the tower. The Knights of the Teutonic Order had their own cells in the Klingenviertel.
In general, the penal system in the Middle Ages and the early modern period was not designed for resocialization as it is today; the focus was on punishment and deterrence. The St. Mark's Tower and the Büttelhaus once served as a remand prison for suspects and as a dungeon for serious criminals. Even today you can see in the cellar that just being locked in the cold, dark and vermin-infested dungeons put a heavy psychological strain on the inmates. Anyone who did not confess due to a lack of circumstantial evidence was tortured: in Rothenburg ob der Tauber this usually took the form of beatings or stretching instruments and was carried out by the bailiffs. Another task of the city guards: they brought the accused to court in the nearby town hall. Then the bailiffs were officially dressed in their red and white uniform. There were often complaints from citizens: the bailiffs would treat rich criminals better than the poor craftsmen who had to suffer for nothing.
The bailiffs themselves also sometimes went overboard: in 1560, the city even turned the goat into a gardener - or better: the drunkard into a bailiff - with Bastian Gackstatt. Because Gackstatt did not always stay at his post as planned. He was drawn to the city's taverns, where he drank happily. Fortunately, he didn't have a Houdini as a prisoner and so there is no evidence of any escape under his aegis. But because he also cheerfully served and toasted the criminals in the dungeons, things got too colorful for the people of Rothenburg. Bastian Gackstatt soon found himself on the other side of the bars as an inmate. It was only thanks to his wife's intervention and guarantee that he was “only” banished from the city and did not face worse punishments.
Worse punishments awaited those prominent inmates in the Büttelhaus and St. Mark's Tower who were imprisoned for political reasons in 1525: During the Peasants' War, the religious zealot Teuschlein and his followers ended up in prison. Years earlier, the anti-Jewish agitator Teuschlein had already fueled the pogrom mood in Rothenburg and sided with the Reformation and the rebellious farmers. Rothenburg, as a nest of resistance, quickly became the target of the victorious army of the Swabian Confederation, which entered the city without a fight and arrested 21 agitators. This ended with the death penalty for everyone. Incidentally, the same fate befell Houdini from the Ries a few centuries ago, although not in Rothenburg. After his second escape, he was later caught near Ulm and ended up on the gallows. The Büttelhaus is now Rothenburg's city archive; in 1960 the files moved from the town hall to the former prison. In the middle of the 19th century, the former cells were still used as social housing before the house burned down during the bombing of the city in 1945. The cellar vaults and the neighboring St. Mark's Tower, which structurally founded the ensemble, are still preserved in their original form. It once stood as a solitary observation tower for the nearby Stauferburg; the first city wall with the Röderbogen was added later - for Franz Antoni Stahl, of course, even the newer city wall ring at the Rödertor was no obstacle to his escape through the night hundreds of years later.
All information comes from an interview with city archivist Dr. Florian Huggenberger. Thank you!The photos are by James Derheim of European Private Focus Tours. Thank you!
-
A look back in Rothenburg ob der Tauber - the Dominican monastery
We look forward to your visit!
The interior of the church? Can go! The walls? The stones can also be easily turned into money. The local master mason Johann Philipp Krämmer acquired the church of the former Dominican monastery in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1812, auctioned by the new masters in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria. After the Napoleonic wars, they had to cash in quickly; the kingdom, like the city of Rothenburg, was bankrupt and quickly needed foreign currency. In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria, things are sold that are not nailed down. Parts of the city wall (!!!) and towers are offered for sale and purchased by private individuals, as are lakes and vineyards and some of the city's churches. And they can do whatever they want with the new property. Mr. Krämmer exploits his new property, the stones are removed and reused: Little by little, the church of the former Dominican convent disappears - including its contents. New things emerge from its walls - the church is recycled.
Where we find the monastery garden today in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the nuns once went to mass. On the south side of today's RothenburgMuseum, the church was directly adjacent to the monastery. This ceased to be used as a monastery long before the 19th century episode and was already used as a warehouse for agricultural products in the 18th century. Wine and grain were traded from here.
In the middle of the 16th century, the last Dominican nuns disappeared from the monastery, which was founded as an aristocratic monastery in 1258 by Lupold von Nordenberg - by the way, the same Lupold von Nordenberg who you will also meet as the city's imperial chef (the hotel and restaurant on Kirchplatz are loosely named after him named).
It was such a thing with the nuns in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The monasteries such as the Johanniter Monastery (today the Crime Museum), the Franciscan Monastery (in today's Herrngasse) or the Beguine Monastery (once in Klingengasse) in the city were, like the city itself, free of the empire and therefore legally subordinate only to the emperor. As a self-sufficient place in the city, those responsible for the citizenry sometimes noticeably danced on their noses; in the event of a dispute, the emperor or his lawyers decided. The monasteries often served as a power base for the donors in a place. In the case of the Dominican Sisters, it was once about the right to sell wine, which the city leaders claimed for the citizens.
Since the noble ladies quite often brought in vineyards as a dowry when they moved into the monastery, the superior of the monastery quite boldly ignored the monopoly. Although the verdict was against the monastery ladies, no one really cared and the wine continued to flow quite blatantly from the monastery.
The convent became interesting for the regional noble families in times of great need: the monastery, which was largely isolated from the rest of the population, served as an ideal refuge during the great plague in the 14th century. At that time, anyone who could afford it entered the monastery as a nun - the Christian faith only played a secondary role.
The decline in morals then became too colorful for the superiors of the Dominicans, who were already more loyal to the Pope - but not every lady caught on to moral sermons and reminders of the principles of the monastic community. Outside the monastery walls, the population didn't notice much of this going on; only the monastery's servants carried rumors and stories outside. Some of these employees lived in the small houses that still stand today on the east side opposite the entrance to the museum. The employees processed the wine and agricultural products and took care of the cleanliness of the monastery grounds.
The citizens of Rothenburg worried about the safety of the city because of the monastery for a long time. In the northwest of the city, the monastery walls functioned as part of the first city fortifications and were therefore a critical point during attacks. Because we remember: Citizens were actually not allowed to enter the monastery - a separate legal area. The solution was probably corridors on the city wall that were shielded from the monastery and could be reached by Rothenburg's defenders from the city area. This can no longer be proven 100 percent, but despite the overexploitation over the years, the evolution of the building's details in the Dominican convent can still be traced surprisingly well: there are details from the farmyards before the monastery was founded, and the monastery kitchen is still one of the highlights today Many construction phases can be traced in the museum and also in the further course. Today's picture galleries not only look like office spaces, they were once actually used that way. While the (over)zealous Philipp Krämmer calmly demolished the church, the city officials used the rooms on the first floor after the mediatization as a rent office - according to today's understanding, a tax office. One can imagine how popular the building was among the citizens of Rothenburg.
The photographs for this text are by James Derheim. Dr. Dr. gave us the photo of Mr. Krämmer's gravestone. Sent to Möhring. All facts in this series are based on conversations with Dr. Möhring, the former director of the RothenburgMuseum.
-
A look back in Rothenburg ob der Tauber – The Klingenviertel
We find out in conversation with Dr. Möhring from the RothenburgMuseum interesting facts about the city's history.
In the spirit of the knights – the Klingenviertel in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
The last one takes off the armor. You can imagine it in such a striking way Departure of the last knight of the Teutonic Order from Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1627 of course not imagine. But with the departure of the last representative of the Christian knighthood, one ends 400-year-long heyday in Rothenburg's history, which is today's Blade Quarter – so that one Area of the old town northwest of the town church of St. Jakob – has had a significant impact on its structure to this day.
That starts with the 500 m long Klingengasse, which is the small quarter of the old town from the Jakobskirche towards Blade tower and shepherd's church passes through. This once served the knights as an arterial road and a direct connection to the next order headquarters in Reichardsroth, 14 kilometers away. This part of the city was completely uninteresting for the citizens of Rothenburg to trade. Especially since the Dominican nuns only employed a few servants in the nearby monastery. Unlike in Bad Mergentheim, the seat of the knights in Rothenburg was not characterized by a palace complex. There were residential and commercial buildings between today's church square and Deutschherrngasse (the legacy still lives on in the street name) and Klingengasse. Today's city library and the neighboring residential building are still part of the original building structure.
And economics is to be taken literally here: In addition to the martial aspect - there were certainly also Rothenburg Knights who took part in crusades and thus gained a higher position with the emperor - the order was first and foremost an economic enterprise. Similar to the nearby monastery, the new knights brought agricultural goods into the order, and trade flourished for a long time. And so it is no wonder that the order initiated an architectural element that still characterizes the city today: the financial resources made it possible Planning a church, St. Jakob. That the Christian order was unable to complete this due to a lack of financial resources and that Rothenburg citizenship ended the project, is a specialty in the city. Similar to Augsburg and Würzburg, the order was also responsible for further urban development in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Because when the Holy Blood Altar was commissioned by Tilman Riemenschneider, additional space was needed in the Church of St. Jacob. This could still grow to the west, but the Klingengasse ran there. And the knights of the order claimed the right to use them - no wonder, as they would otherwise have been completely separated from the market square and the center of the city. And so the planners had to expand the church ACROSS the alley
400 years of knights in Rothenburg, a lot has of course happened in the neighborhood of the Klingenviertel. The city once ended at today's Judengasse. The Jewish population, which also mixed with Christian neighbors in the living area, initially lived there “extra muros” – i.e. outside the city wall on the filled-in city moat. Also the old Jewish cemetery at today's Schrannenplatz was outside the first city fortifications. The Klingenviertel only grew from the original city wall from the year 1370 and thus AFTER the Spitalviertel in the south – making it the youngest district in the old town.
In the late 14th century, the city grew rapidly under the legendary mayor Heinrich Toppler. Initially people settled in the Klingenviertel (According to Schnurrer, there was evidence of settlement from 1377 onwards) those Craftsmen and professions that made life unpleasant for the neighbors in the center: Büttner, whose hammers boomed loudly and potters who worked with fire were pushed out of the original city center as were the Tanner, whose craft stinked to the neighbor. In addition to the executioner, the knacker also lived in the Klingenviertel, who took care of the animal carcasses and other waste in the city. They ended up in the north-east of the city at the so-called Kummereck just outside the new city wall - in effect this was a medieval rubbish dump. So there was a terrible smell around the Klingenviertel. And today's “Altfränkische Weinstube” once housed the pigsty of the nearby Dominican convent.
But passers-by were also able to experience pleasant smells in the district. The Feuerlein bakery is occupied in the house with the famous Renaissance bay window in Klingengasse. The Jewish population in the nearby Judengasse had their own bakers and butchers - the community center was located at the White Tower. Many a patrician family from Herrngasse had a garden in the Klingenviertel for local supplies, which can be seen particularly well at the entrance portal to the former green space of the noble Albrecht family in Fuchsengässchen. Klingenweth is the name of the alley along the fortified city wall in the north - a Weth is a pond for extinguishing attacks and for supplying horses. With the Black Eagle, an inn was built on Klingengasse, and later a barn and a farmers' market on Schrannenplatz.
The houses of the craftsmen in the Klingenviertel naturally became smaller than those of the noble families in the center of the city - long after the last knight had left In the late 19th century, the not so well-off artists from all over the world left their living space and moved to the north of the old town: the pictures by Arthur Wasse, Wilhelm Schacht and Theodor Alt contributed to Rothenburg being discovered by tourists, today the paintings created here are exhibited in the nearby RothenburgMuseum. But the Klingenviertel remains the hidden district behind St. Jakob, and it's worth taking a closer look at the coats of arms and symbols on the house facades. The work in Judengasse 10 and 12 will also create an interesting center for everyone interested in the city's Jewish history.
We have James Derheim to thank for the photographic tour of the district!
