View source for Rottenburg am Neckar

{{short description|Place in Baden-Württemberg, Germany}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox German place
|type               = Stadt
|image_coa          = Wappen Rottenburg am Neckar.svg
|image_photo        = Sulzauer Hof, Rottenburg am Neckar.jpg
|image_caption      = River [[Neckar]] in Rottenburg
|coordinates        = {{coord|48|28|38|N|08|56|04|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan         = Karte Rottenburg am Neckar.png
|state              = Baden-Württemberg
|region             = Tübingen
|district           = Tübingen
|elevation          = 349
|area               = 142.26
|Gemeindeschlüssel  = 08416036
|postal_code        = 72101–72108
|area_code          = 07472, 07478, 07457, 07073
|licence            = TÜ
|website            = {{URL|https://www.rottenburg.de/}}
|mayor              = Stephan Neher<ref>[https://www.staatsanzeiger.de/wahl/oberbuergermeisterwahl-rottenburg-am-neckar-2024/ Oberbürgermeisterwahl Rottenburg am Neckar 2024], Staatsanzeiger. Retrieved 12 June 2024.</ref>
|leader_term        = 2024&ndash;32
|party              = 
|Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
}}

'''Rottenburg am Neckar''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʁɔtn̩bʊʁk ʔam ˈnɛkaʁ|lang|Rottenburg am Neckar.ogg}}; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; [[Swabian German|Swabian]]: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of [[Tübingen]] in [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[Germany]]. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of the provincial capital [[Stuttgart]] and about 12&nbsp;km (7&nbsp;mi) southwest of the district town Tübingen. Rottenburg is the second-largest town of the district after Tübingen and makes up a secondary centre for the surrounding community. Since 1 May 1972, Rottenburg am Neckar has been a district town (''[[Große Kreisstadt]]''). Rottenburg agreed to an administrative collective with the municipalities of [[Hirrlingen]], [[Neustetten]] and [[Starzach]].

Rottenburg is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, being the official centre of the diocese of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart|Rottenburg-Stuttgart]]. Moreover, it has a college of church music and [[Rottenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences|a university of applied sciences]] (German ''[[Fachhochschule]]''), specialising in [[forestry]].

== Geography ==
{{Location map | Germany Neckar
| caption = Rottenburg am Neckar on Neckar River
| label = | background = #EEEE88
| position=left | label_size = 84
| lat_deg = 48 | lat_min = 28.65
| lon_deg = 08 | lon_min = 56.1
| float = right | width = 220
}}
Rottenburg is divided into a town core and seventeen (suburban) districts.

Suburban districts of Rottenburg: [[Bad Niedernau]], [[Baisingen]], [[Bieringen (Rottenburg)|Bieringen]], [[Dettingen (Rottenburg)|Dettingen]], [[Eckenweiler]], [[Ergenzingen]], [[Frommenhausen]], [[Hailfingen]], [[Hemmendorf (Rottenburg)|Hemmendorf]], [[Kiebingen]], [[Obernau (Rottenburg)|Obernau]], [[Oberndorf (Rottenburg)|Oberndorf]], [[Schwalldorf]], [[Seebronn]], [[Weiler (Rottenburg)|Weiler]], [[Wendelsheim (Rottenburg)|Wendelsheim]] and [[Wurmlingen (Rottenburg)|Wurmlingen]].

== History ==
Rottenburg was founded as a Roman town, ''Sumelocenna'', probably around the year AD98, and was one of the most important Roman towns in the southwest of Germany. It had a line of walls built to defend it from the attacks of the [[Alemanni|Alamanni]], who nevertheless destroyed it in 259-260.

The name ''Rottenburg'' is thought to derive from a Germanic root that is also present in the English word "rotten", in an older meaning of "destroyed". According to this hypothesis, the town would have received its name when, in the early [[Middle Ages]], Alemannic people founded their settlement in the vicinity of the ruins of Roman Sumelocenna. An alternative etymology of Rottenburg as "red borough" is also considered possible, however.

In the Middle Ages, the town was first governed by the [[Count of Hohenberg|counts of Hohenberg]], who, however, were forced to sell it to the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] dynasty in 1381. Rottenburg remained a part of [[Further Austria]] until 1805, when it was assigned to [[Württemberg]] in the [[Peace of Pressburg (1805)|Peace of Pressburg]].

Rottenburg became the seat of a [[Catholic bishop]] as late as 1821–1828, when, after the [[Secularization|secularisation]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]], a reorganisation of Catholic life in southwest Germany had become necessary.<ref name="drs 1">{{cite web |url=http://www.drs.de/index.php?id=9411 |title=Geschichte |publisher=drs.de |date=2008-08-19 |access-date=2009-05-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217012705/http://www.drs.de/index.php?id=9411 |archivedate=2011-02-17 }}</ref> It was then decided not to choose the more important nearby places of Stuttgart or Tübingen as a diocesan town, as these were firmly [[Protestantism|Protestant]].

Rottenburg is known among [[Anabaptism|Anabaptists]] as the place of death for [[Michael Sattler]], a former [[monk]] who was involved in missionary activities in the Rottenburg and [[Horb am Neckar]] region. Sattler was burned at the stake on "Gallows Hill" on 20 May 1527.

== Main sights ==
[[Rottenburg Cathedral|''Dom St. Martin'']] has been the town's cathedral since 1821. Its tower, dating from 1486, is its most prominent feature.
[[File:Germany Rottenburg St-Moritz Evangelists.jpg|thumb|left|220px|The [[Four Evangelists]] (15th century) on the choir ceiling of Stiftskirche St. Moriz.]]

Spanning&nbsp;various architectural periods, the ''Stiftskirche St. Moriz'' incorporates a [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] core with elements from an earlier church and a later Baroque hall church. The Gothic feel is what persists, from 14th- and 15th-century frescoes on the pillars to the 15th-century painting of the [[Four Evangelists]] on the ceiling in the choir. In the north aisle stands an ornamented column depicting various princes, donated in 1470 by [[Archduchess Mechthildis of Austria|Archduchess Mechthild]], the wife of [[Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg-Urach|Ludwig I]] and mother of [[Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg|Eberhard I]]. A copy also stands in the town's [[Marketplace|Marktplatz]].

There are two museums in town, the ''Sülchgau Museum'', specialising in pre- and early history and Roman influences on the area, and the diocesan museum, focusing on ecclesiastical art, painting and sculpture.

In nearby [[Weggental]] is the [[pilgrimage]] church of ''Wallfahrtskirche St. Maria'', rebuilt in 1682–1695 in [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style, but containing a medieval [[pietà]] and a very fine rendition of the [[Swoon of the Virgin|Virgin swooning]] during the [[Descent from the Cross|Deposition of Christ]] from the cross.

A more modern landmark is the Eckenweiler Water Tower. Built of reinforced concrete in the 1970s, its unusual design, a cube supported by a rectangular column, is notable.

== Twin towns – sister cities ==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Rottenburg am Neckar is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Erfahren Sie mehr über unsere Partnergemeinden|url=https://www.rottenburg.de/staedtepartnerschaft.31.htm?lnav=33|website=rottenburg.de|publisher=Rottenburg am Neckar|language=de|access-date=2021-03-16}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Ablis]], France
* {{flagicon|AUT}} [[Gols (town)|Gols]], Austria
* {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Lion-sur-Mer]], France
* {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Saint-Claude, Jura|Saint-Claude]], France
* {{flagicon|TUR}} [[Yalova]], Turkey

== Notable people ==
[[File:Franz anton hoffmeister.jpg|thumb|140px|Franz Anton Hoffmeister 1804]]
* [[Johann Baptist von Keller]] (1774–1845), a Catholic priest and the first [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart|Bishop of Rottenburg]]
* [[Franz Anton Hoffmeister]] (1754–1812), composer and music publisher
* [[Karl Josef von Hefele]] (1809–1893), [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart|Bishop of Rottenburg]] and theologian, died locally.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Hefele, Karl Josef von |volume= 13 | last=  |first= |author-link= |page= 200 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Ottilie Wildermuth]] (1817–1877), author of children's books
* [[Eugen Bolz]] (1881–1945), politician ([[Centre Party (Germany)|Zentrum]]) and member of the [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance to Nazism]]
* [[Winfried Hermann]] (born 1952), politician ([[Alliance 90/The Greens|Greens]]), since 2011 Minister for Transport in Baden-Württemberg
* [[Knut Kircher]] (born 1969), football referee, lives here

== Honorary citizens ==
The town of Rottenburg am Neckar and respectively the former municipalities, which have been incorporated, have awarded the honorary citizenship to the following persons:

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 151-55-28, Volksgerichtshof, Eugen Bolz.jpg|thumb|Eugen Bolz 1944]]
;Rottenburg
* 1901: [[Hermann Wittich|Hermann Friedrich Wittich]], Regierungsrat
* 1904: Gustav Holzherr, independent gentleman
* 1909: Karl Bitzenauer, parish priest of the town
* 1924: Paul Wilhelm von Keppler, Bishop of Rottenburg
* 1930: Karl Landsee, merchant
* 1931: Alois Kremmler, Oberstudiendirektor (principal)
* 1931: [[Eugen Bolz]] (1881–1945 (executed in Berlin-Plötzensee), politician and member of the [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance to Nazism]]
* 1947: [[Joannes Baptista Sproll]], Bishop of Rottenburg
* 1947: Max Kottmann, [[vicar general]]
* 1949: Josef Schneider, Mayor of Rottenburg and Kanzleidirektor (retired)
* 1958: Franz Anton Buhl, schoolmaster and local historian
* 1961: Josef Eberle, poet and publisher
* 1967: Alfred Planck, entrepreneur
* 1968: [[Carl Joseph Leiprecht]], Bishop of Rottenburg
* 2003: Winfried Löffler, Lord Mayor of Rottenburg (retired)
* 2008: [[Walter Kasper]], Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and Cardinal of the Roman Curia

;Bad Niedernau
* 1891: [[Kilian von Steiner]], banker

;Ergenzingen
* 1919: Hieronymus Baur, Mayor of Ergenzingen (retired)
* 1961: Alfons Leykauf, parish priest
* 1965: Maximilian Schier, schoolmaster

;Frommenhausen
* ?: Rudolf Franziskus de Paula Joseph Fidel Freiherr von Wagner, Warminister of Württemberg
* 1908: Ludwig Franz Freiherr von Wagner, Lieutenant General

;Kiebingen
* 1938: Karl Franz Ferdinand Viktor Osterwald, factory manager of the power station

;Obernau
* ?: Ignaz Kleiner, parish priest
* 1947: Otto Heine, parish priest

;Wurmlingen
* 1905: Sebastian Bauer, dean
* 1953: Franz Josef Fischer, auxiliary bishop
* 1968: Stefan Kruschina, parish priest

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Rottenburg am Neckar Bahnhof.jpg|Railway station in Rottenburg
Wasserturm Eckenweiler.JPG|Eckenweiler water tower
Rottenburg am Neckar - Marktbrunnen.jpg|Gothic fountain
Bischöfliches Palais in Rottenburg am Neckar 02.JPG|Episcopal Palace at the Eugen-Bolz-Square
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Rottenburg |volume=23|pages=765–766}}
* {{Official website}} {{in lang|de}}
* [http://sites-of-memory.de/main/location.html#rottenburg Various memorials in Rottenburg at the ''Sites of Memory'' page]

{{Cities and towns in Tübingen (district)}}
{{Districts of Rottenburg am Neckar}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rottenburg am Neckar| ]]
[[Category:Tübingen (district)]]
[[Category:Germania Superior]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Neckar basin]]
[[Category:Populated riverside places in Germany]]
[[Category:Further Austria]]