Dietenhofen Castle

In the middle of the 16th century, the robber knight Hans Thomas von Absberg terrorized the imperial cities in Franconia and Swabia. He kidnapped merchants on their trade journeys and demanded a high ransom for their release. He sought allies who would support him in his raids and on whose castles he could flee in danger and hide his hostages. Kunz von Rosenberg also supported him in his feud, hoping to replenish his dwindling riches a little. In 1523, the Swabian League finally sent its troops to raze a total of 23 "robber's nests" to the ground. The League's troops, allegedly consisting of 10,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 horsemen, carried 100 cannons and 30 arquebuses as armament, for which they had 900 hundredweight of gunpowder. On June 11, 1523, they reached Dietenhofen Castle and completely destroyed the complex to prevent the Rosenbergs from returning.

The subsequently colored and inscribed woodcut by Hans Wandereisen states: XXI. Dyetenhofen belonged to Cuntzen von Rosenberg / Was burned by the Swabian League on the .XXI. day of July. 1523.

Dietenhofen Water Castle is depicted burning. On the right edge of the picture are some houses of the village with half-timbered constructions. The bank of the moat is secured with a palisade fence. A flat entrance building precedes the bridge and the gatehouse. The castle courtyard with its surrounding walls is shown in plan as an isosceles triangle, at the apex of which is the gatehouse and at its two other corners massive, broadly built towers can be seen. In the background, two buildings rise, their upper floors built as half-timbered structures. Between the buildings, a towering tower rises above everything. Further in the background, another source of fire seems to be located on an elevation in the terrain. The army of the Swabian League is positioned in the foreground of the picture. In addition to several horsemen on both sides, some individuals are drawn in particularly rich detail. One of the horsemen holds a transversely striped troop flag.