Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 inhabitants as of 2020. The town is famous for its medieval center and for its traditional carnival (called "Fasnet" in the local Swabian dialect). It is the oldest town in Baden-Württemberg,[3] and its appearance has changed very little since the 16th century.
The town gives its name to the Rottweiler dog breed.
History
Tourist sign reading „Älteste Stadt Baden-Württembergs“ ("Oldest town of Baden-Württemberg")
Rottweil was founded by the Romans in AD 73 as Arae Flaviae and became a municipium, but there are traces of human settlement going back to 2000 BC. Roman baths and an Orpheus mosaic of c. AD 180 date from the time of Roman settlement. The present town became a ducal and a royal court before 771 and in 1268 it became a free imperial city.
In 1463 Rottweil joined the Swiss Confederacy under the pretence of a temporary alliance. In 1476 the Rottweilers fought on the Swiss side against Charles the Bold in the Battle of Morat. In 1512, Pope Julius II gave the city a valuable "Julius banner" for its services in the 1508–1510 "Great Pavier Campaign" to expel the French.[4] In 1519, the Rottweilers left the old Swiss alliance. They joined a new one in which their membership was extended indefinitely – the so-called "Eternal Covenant".
Rottweil thus became a centre of the Swiss Confederation. The relations between the Swiss Confederation and Rottweil cooled rapidly during the Protestant Reformation. When Rottweil was troubled by wars, however, it still asked the Confederates for help.[5]
In the Rottweil Witch Hunts from 1546 to 1661, 266 so-called witches, wizards and magicians were executed in the imperial city of Rottweil. On April 15, 2015, they were given a posthumous pardon. An official apology was given by the City Council about 400 years after their violent deaths.[6]
Rottweil lost both its status as free city and its alliance with the Swiss Confederacy with the conquest of the region by Napoleon in 1803.
Lord mayors since the 19th century
1820–1833: Max Joseph von Khuon, Schultheiß
1833–1845: Max Teufel
1845–1848: Karl Dinkelmann
1848–1851: Kaspar Rapp
1852–1887: Johann Baptist Marx
1887–1923: Edwin Glückher
1924–1943: Josef Abrell
1943–1944: Otto Mann
1944–1945: Paul Fritz
1945–1946: Franz Mederle
1946–1965: Arnulf Gutknecht
1965–1985: Ulrich Regelmann, mayor; from 1970 Lord Mayor
During the Middle Ages, Rottweil used to be a flourishing imperial city with great economic and cultural influence.[13] In 1868, Rottweil was connected to Stuttgart by rail, which boosted the economy of the region.[13]
Today, most companies in Rottweil are either small or medium-sized.[14] A trading and shopping town with a high level of innovation that benefits from its well developed educational and transport infrastructure, Rottweil has many industrial companies and a steadily growing proportion of knowledge-intensive service jobs.[14]
At 7.9%, Rottweil has one of the highest academic rates in the region.[14]
Media
Local events in Rottweil are reported in the daily newspaper Schwarzwälder Bote, the Stadtanzeiger, online and once a week in the print edition Neue Rottweiler Zeitung [de], the TV station Regio TV Bodensee [de] and the local radio station antenne 1 Neckarburg Rock & Pop [de], which is based in the district.
In the neighboring village of Zepfenhan, about 12 km (7.5 mi) away, is the Flugplatz Rottweil-Zepfenhan [de] (Rottweil-Zepfenhan airfield), which can be approached by small aircraft. The nearest commercial airports are Stuttgart Airport and Zurich Airport.
Education
Rottweil has three Gymnasien (Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium, Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium, Leibniz-Gymnasium), one Realschule, one Förderschule (Achert-Schule), three Grundschulen (Eichendorff-Grundschule, Grundschule Neufra and Grundschule Neukirch), and four Hauptschulen (GHS Göllsdorf, Johanniter-Grund- und Hauptschule, Konrad-Witz-Grund- und Hauptschule and Römer-Grund- und Hauptschule).
Main sights
Main Street
The late-Romanesque and Gothic–era Münster Heiliges Kreuz ("Minster of the Holy Cross"), built over a pre-existing church from 1270. It features a crucifix by Veit Stoss and noteworthy Gothic sculptures.
Kapellenkirche (1330–1340), a Gothic church with a tower and with three statue-decorated portals
Lorenzkapelle ("Church of St. Lawrence", 16th century) in late Gothic style. It houses some two hundred works by Swabian masters and Gothic altarpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries.
The town's museum, including a notable Roman mosaic with the legend of Orpheus
The late-Gothic town hall (1521)
St. Pelagius, a Romanesque church from the 12th century. Excavations have brought to light Roman baths on the same site.
ThyssenKrupp constructed a $45 million, 807-foot (246 m) tower, the Rottweil Test Tower. The tower is a research facility for the company and is used to test new elevator cars and technologies. When the tower was completed in 2017, it was the tallest elevator test tower in the world.[17][a] The tower has 12 elevator shafts.[18]
^Website of Dominikaner Museum Rottweil (retrieved May 22, 2014), on permanent display is a wooden table from August 4, AD 186 naming arae flaviae as municipium thus making Rottweil the oldest town in Baden-Württemberg [1]Archived 2014-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
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