Rotenhan Castle

The Rotenhan family has its roots in three von Langheim brothers, who were the co-founders of Langheim Abbey in 1132. Later the name "de Rotha(ha)" was used. In 1229, reference is made to a Winther and Wolfram "de Rotenhagen" in connexion with an allodial holding of the family rather than a fief. The doorway to the staircase entrance belongs to the late Romanesque-early Gothic period. In 1323 the castle was besieged by the Bishop of Würzburg, Wolfram Wolfskeel von Grumbach, for a year under the pretext of that the family had been involved in counterfeiting and a breach of feudal loyalty. After it was finally captured, the structure was destroyed and, according to a treaty of 1324, was never to be rebuilt. Later, the House of Rotenhan built a new castle, Eyrichshof, further down the hill below the site of Rotenhan. ==Photo gallery==

Image:Burg Rotenhan 5.jpg|Total view from the south Image:Burg Rotenhan 4.jpg|The south eastern part of the castle with the gatehouse Image:Burg Rotenhan 9.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 13.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 6.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 10.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 7.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 11.jpg|The eastern part of the gatehouse Image:Burg Rotenhan 14.jpg Image:Burg Rotenhan 8.jpg|the Well Image:Burg Rotenhan 2.jpg|The last stones of the old castle on the eastern rock Image:Burg Rotenhan 15.jpg == Literature ==

• Genealogisches Handbuch des in Bayern immatrikulierten Adels. Band 13. Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch/Mittelfranken 1988, P. 567–578. • Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Vol. 125, Adelslexikon, 2001, C.A. Starke Verlag, • Die Kunstdenkmäler des Königreichs Bayern, III, 15, Bezirksamt Ebern, P. 197–201. (Munich, 1916) • Isolde Maierhöfer: Ebern (Historischer Atlas von Bayern, Teil Franken, Vol. 15). Munich, 1964 • Joachim Zeune: Burgen im Eberner Land, Ebern 2003, Eberner Heimatblätter, 2 volumes • Bitha Rotenhan: Rotenhan-Häuser - ein Bilderbuch. Bamberg, 1988 • Gottfried Frhr. von Rotenhan: Die Rotenhan. Genealogie einer fränkischen Familie von 1229 bis zum Dreißigjährigen Krieg. (publications by the Society for Frankish History, Series IX, Vol. 34). Neustadt an der Aisch, 1985 • Julius Frhr. von Rotenhan: Geschichte der Familie von Rotenhan älterer Linie. 2 volumes, 1865 • Siegfried Frhr. von Rotenhan: Geschichte der Familie Rotenhan. Rentweinsdorf, self-publication, 1989