Burg Brattenstein

Burg Brattenstein stands in Röttingen, a small town in Unterfranken on the Tauber river. Built in the high Middle Ages, it sits at the north-eastern corner of the town wall. The castle was first mentioned in 1230 and changed hands several times. For more than a century it belonged to the Lords of Hohenlohe before passing to the Hochstift Würzburg. In 1438 it was captured and its outer wall strengthened. The fortress played a part in local wars and served as the seat of a prince-bishop’s official from about 1520. After the bishopric was dissolved in 1803 it became a Bavarian revenue office. During the Second World War the Reichsarbeitsdienst occupied the site, and after 1945 it housed refugees and a clothing factory. In 1971 the east wing collapsed, killing four workers, but it was rebuilt and restored. Today the castle courtyard hosts the annual Frankenfestspiele Röttingen. Visitors walk along the old town wall to reach the castle. Inside, the rebuilt east wing and the preserved Zehntscheune frame the festival stage. The original manuscript of Kurt Freudinger’s Heimatspiel, first performed here in 1954, is kept in the town. The castle’s outer defences and the nearby town gate show how the fortress was woven into Röttingen’s defences centuries ago.