Rotteln Castle, Germany

Roetteln Castle located above the Loerrach suburb of Haagen, lies in the extreme southwest corner of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The fortification was one of the most powerful in the southwest, and today is the third largest castle ruin in Baden. The castle has probably existed since the beginning of the 11th century. In the year 1102 is the first documented mention of a lord of Roetteln, the bailiff of St. Albans near Basel. The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed large portions of the city, and the castle suffered severe damage. From 1618 to 1648 during the Thirty Years War the castle was occupied by both Swedish and Imperial forces. During the Franco Dutch War, on June 29, 1678, the castles was destroyed by the army of the French Marshall Crecque. Due to the extreme poverty after the war, the castle ruins were thereafter used as a source of building stone. The Black Forest Society of Baden began to survey the ruins in 1884 in order to preserve it. Since 1925 this has been the concern of the Roettelnbund club based in Loerrach-Haagen. Today the ruins have been restored to approximately their condition after their destruction in 1678 The ruins of the castle are situated on a widely visible forested hill 422 metres (1,385 ft) above sea level. The keep lies on a spur projecting from the steep sided east side of the lower Wiese valley.

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