Rotenburg Castle

The first fortified complex on the left bank of the Fulda was built in 1470 under Ludwig II, but was destroyed in a city fire in 1478. Subsequently, a new stone castle was built, which became a summer residence and dower house for the landgraves. In 1540, Landgrave Philipp of Hesse's morganatic marriage to Margarethe von der Saale took place here. Between 1571 and 1607, Landgrave Wilhelm IV and his son Moritz erected a new two-story, four-winged building in Renaissance style with stair towers at all corners. Of this, the south wing and the stable are preserved today. From 1627 to 1834, the castle was the residence of the collateral line Hesse-Rotenburg, which governed the Rotenburg Quart. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was plundered multiple times but not destroyed.