Rothenfels Castle (Rothenfels)

Association of the Friends of Burg Rothenfels eV
purpose	Preservation of the castle and organizer of all kinds of conferences
Chair:	Claudia Hamelbeck
Establishment date:	1919
Number of members:	1000
Seat :	Rothenfels
Website:	www.burg-rothenfels.de

Rothenfels Castle
	View towards the east / south-east. Not recognizable in this photo: Immediately behind the castle, in front of the fields and forests visible in the upper half of the picture, the main valley with the old town of Rothenfels is deeply cut
Creation time :	around 1148
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Received or received substantial parts
Place:	Rothenfels
Geographical location	49 ° 53 '31.9 " N , 9 ° 35' 21.8" E Coordinates: 49 ° 53 '31.9 " N , 9 ° 35' 21.8" E
Height:	225 m above sea level NN

The Burg Rothenfels is a youth and adult education center and Jugendburg above the Lower Franconian town of Rothenfels in the Bavarian district of Main-Spessart in Germany .

Geographical location

The hilltop castle was built a good 850 years ago with its huge keep high above the Main .

Today it is not only a popular excursion destination between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg , but above all a privately owned Christian educational and conference center.

history

From 1150 to 1919

West Palas with garderobe and keep

The oldest parts of the castle date from 1150, the founder was Markward II. Von Grumbach (documented evidence since around 1120, † February 9, 1171). After the original noble family of Grumbach died out in 1243 with Albert von Grumbach, Herr zu Rothenfels, Rothenfels Castle passed to the Counts of Rieneck through his daughter Adelheid, who was married to Count Ludwig von Rieneck . They in turn sold the castle in 1328 to the ministerial family von Wolfskeel , who sold it to the Würzburg monastery in 1333 (see Rothenfels Office ) and moved to Burggrumbach Castle . The line of Wolfskeels located there was henceforth called Wolfskeel von Grumbach and later, as the original owners, only called Herren von Grumbach .

During the secularization of 1803 Rothenfels in Würzburg fell to the Princely House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg , in 1806 to the Principality of Aschaffenburg through mediation , and in 1813 to the Kingdom of Bavaria .

Since 1919

The history of Rothenfels Castle as a Christian educational establishment began in 1919 with the sale of the castle by the Löwenstein Princely House to Quickborn . The castle became known beyond its borders through the work of the famous theologian Romano Guardini (1885–1968), who was castle manager from 1927 to 1939. Under Guardini's leadership, the castle's chapel became the heart of the liturgical movement , which anticipated key ideas from the Second Vatican Council . Inspired by the Dessau Bauhaus and the student days under the master builder Hans Poelzig in Berlin, the architect Rudolf Schwarz designed the interiors as well as many of the furnishings at this time.

After Quickborn bought Rothenfels Castle in February 1919, Klemens Neumann and many volunteers prepared the castle for the First German Quickborntag in August 1919. The then annual Quickborn Days made Rothenfels Castle known as a place where boys and girls, boys Women and men designed work weeks together out of the Christian spirit and tried out new ways, especially in the organization of church services, the reading of scriptures, in community life, in music and dance.

The equipping of the chapel with (still existing) sacred devices was the responsibility of a "work group" of teachers and students from the Aachen School of Applied Arts , namely Fritz Schwerdt for the large ever-light chandelier, Anton Schickel and Fritz Schwerdt for the small crucifix and Hein Minkenberg, under the direction of Schwarz for the corresponding ivory body. The designs for the altar, altar candlestick and tabernacle - mostly with nailed silver sheet - come from Rudolf Schwarz himself, while Anton Schickel carried out the design.

The fruitful work at Rothenfels Castle, which was forcibly interrupted with the seizure of Rothenfels Castle in August 1939 for education, liturgical movement and peace movement, was continued after the war under the direction of the Munich oratorian Heinrich Kahlefeld and spoke with their Easter and Whitsun conferences, work weeks for young people all Circles and other events to many people. From 1959 the castle management consisted of Heinrich Fleckenstein, Würzburg; Bernhard Casper, Freiburg and Bruno Leuschner, Schlüchtern. In the sixties, the Burgrat was set up, an advisory committee responsible for the castle's educational work, which consists of nine volunteers. Since that time there has also been a full-time education officer, u. a. Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz (1975 to 1984), Ludger Bradenbrink (1986 to 1995), Joachim Hake (1995 to 2006), Achim Budde (2007 to 2018). The honorary priest was Rolf Zerfaß , Würzburg, from 1983 to 1991 , Gotthard Fuchs , Wiesbaden , from 1996 to 2018 and Joachim Negel , Friborg / Switzerland since Whitsun 2018 .

Bearer of the castle

As the legal entity of the Quickborn Federation, the Quickbornfreunde eV association was entered in the register of associations at the Lohr District Court on November 20, 1917 . She bought Rothenfels Castle from Prince zu Löwenstein on February 21, 1919. The first chairman was Bernhard Strehler , Prefect in Neisse, from 1925 Rector Josef Emonds, Dormagen, from 1927 Rolf Ammann, Cannstatt. Rothenfels Castle was the first youth castle to emerge from the German youth movement.

The castle manager Romano Guardini in particular wanted to make it clear by changing the name of the club that Rothenfels Castle did not only appeal to Quickborner, but to all open-minded Christians. With the statutes of August 27, 1933, the association renamed itself to the "Association of Friends of Burg Rothenfels eV"; Rolf Ammann remained chairman, followed in 1939 by businessman Josef Seipel, Düsseldorf. The association was dissolved by a circular issued by the Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police on July 24, 1939, and Rothenfels Castle was confiscated on August 7, 1939.

On April 16, 1948, the association was reopened under the chairmanship of Josef Seipel, from October 1948 chairman of the manufacturer Josef Heinrich Sommer, Düsseldorf. In 1961 Ernst Ludwig, President in Saarbrücken, took over the chairmanship, from 1964 Werner Hamelbeck, from 1970 Klaus Boisserée, Düsseldorf, from 1971 Friedrich Bayerl, Munich, from 1979 Meinulf Barbers , Korschenbroich, from 2007 Mathilde Schaab-Hench, Aschaffenburg, from 2019 Claudia Hamelbeck, Bonn.

The member magazine of the Association of Friends of Burg Rothenfels eV is the Burgbrief , since 2003 konturen - rothenfelser burgbrief . In 2019 the Association of Friends of Burg Rothenfels eV celebrates the 100th anniversary of the purchase of the castle under the slogan "100 years of our castle".

Todays use

View from the keep of the inner courtyard, the old town of Rothenfels and the Main

The castle from the city

Originating from the Catholic youth movement Quickborn and in the tradition of Romano Guardini , Burg Rothenfels offers its guests a culturally demanding educational program: You can attend theological, philosophical and literary conferences as well as cultural and experience-oriented seminars on lifestyle or bodywork. There are also dance weekends, instrument making courses and musical and creative weeks for families and older people.

In the youth hostel and the conference house, children and youth groups, choirs and study conferences of various kinds will find the best leisure and working conditions. 280 beds, three dining rooms, ten work and group rooms between 20 and 70 seats and the knight's hall with 300 seats (particularly suitable for theater and music groups) allow an individual tailoring for all imaginable needs from a stay in a school camp to a study conference.

Rothenfels Castle has been thoroughly renovated since the early 1970s and converted into a modern youth and adult education facility (initially the east and south palaces of the castle, from 1979 the west palaces and the outer castle; from 2008 the castle received a wood chip heating system, and in 2014 the bower in the south palace the castle revised). Burg Rothenfels holds around 50 own events of the Association of Friends of Burg Rothenfels annually (the largest are the Rothenfels Easter Conference from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday and the New Year's Work Week of the Quickborn Working Group from December 28th to January 4th, both with almost 300 participants) and stands ready for numerous guest events. The castle, which is part of the Bavarian Adult Education Association and the Bavarian Youth Hostel Association, is one of the largest youth hostels in Lower Franconia. Youth hostel groups and school classes can also offer educational modules such as B. book with ecological or historical focus.

Today the castle is supported by the "Association of Friends of Rothenfels Castle", which is a member of the Bavarian Adult Education Association. Both the rooms of the inner castle and those of the outer castle in front have been fundamentally renewed and modernized in the past decades.

Individual evidence

↑ Hausmann, Friedrich, “Grumbach, Markward II. Von”, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 7 (1966), p. 211 [online version]; URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd13614716X.html
↑ 100 years of the Rothenfels Castle educational facility. February 25, 2019, accessed on February 25, 2019 (German).

literature

Walter Schilling: The castles, palaces and mansions of Lower Franconia . 1st edition. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-429-03516-7 , pp. 357-358.

Alexander Antonow: Castles in the Main Square. Breuberg, Freudenberg, Miltenberg, Prozelten, Rothenfels, Wertheim, Wildenberg . (Handbook series historical buildings 1). Antonow, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-924086-30-3 , pp. 81-92.

Winfried Mogge: "This ancient house on a rocky ground ...", Rothenfels am Main: History and shape of a Lower Franconian castle . Verlag Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2012, 464 pages, ISBN 978-3-8260-4989-7 .

Association of the Friends of Rothenfels Castle (ed.): Rothenfels Castle, Rothenfels 1955: (1) Rothenfels Castle, 1986; (2) 60 years of Rothenfels Castle, in the field of tension between youth movement, church and society (Rothenfelser Schriften, Vol. 6, Rothenfels 1979), (3) Rothenfels Castle on the Main, Rothenfels 1982

Web links

Commons : Burg Rothenfels - Collection of images, videos and audio files