The House of Rötteln was a noble family based in the Basel area that can be documented between 1102/3 and 1316. The family, whose castle was located near Lörrach, had large estates in southern Breisgau, particularly in the Wiesental, where a member of the family elevated Schopfheim to the status of a town. Around the middle of the 13th century, the family was at the height of its power, the Röttlers and became bishops of Basel, was about to become provost of the cathedral and bishop elect. With him, the family died out in the male line in 1316 and was inherited by the Margraves of Hachberg-Sausenberg. The Röttler inheritance was an important step in forming the later Markgräflerland.
History
The time of Dietrichs The Lords of Rötteln are first mentioned in 1102/3,In the literature (see e.g. Johann Wilhelm Schmidt: Die Badische Markgrafschaft) and on websites (see e.g. www.breisgau-burgen.de), there are repeated references to the fact that one of the Lords of Rötteln took part in what was supposedly the first knights' tournament in Magdeburg as early as 938. This goes back to the tournament book of Georg Rüxner, here link to the 1566 edition, entry "Ruprecht Grave zu Rettel". Although Aegidius Tschudi had already labelled the tournament book a forgery in 1541, the content was included in the last edition of the Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster) from 1628 (see p. 1204; Internet Archive). Johann Christian Sachs also cited this misinformation with reservations (In Friedrich Holdermann: From the history of Roetteln). In memory of the jubilee celebration of the five hundredth anniversary and the rebuilding of the church (Gutsch, Lörrach 1903, p. 7), there is no reference to a "Walther von Rötteln" who took part in a tournament in Magdeburg in 938. Thus "Ruprecht Grave zu Rettel" then became "Walther von Rötteln" in the flyers on the castle ruins of Rötteln occasionally issued by the Röttelnbund. In any case, there is no evidence of the Rötteln family before 1102. when the Bishop of Basel, Burkhard von Fenis, appointed a Sir T. von Rötteln as bailiff over the possessions of the on the right bank of the Rhine. The "T." is unanimously regarded in the literature as "Dietrich" (Theodericum). The areas governed by Dietrich von Rötteln included the churches of Lörrach, and Kandern as well as property in Rheinweiler and Ambringen.; In the following years, Saint Alban's possessions on the right bank of the Rhine continued to expand, with a certain concentration in the area around Lörrach.
In the first half of the 12th century, only family members with the name Dietrich appear. As there are no further characterisations, it is difficult to provide a more precise name or genealogy. A family tree attempted by distinguishes Dietrich I (named until 1123) from Dietrich II (named between 1135 and 1147).See the family tree in the appendix in . From 1147 onwards, the family remained completely silent for almost three decades, with a Dietrich von Rötteln not appearing again until 1175. One possible explanation is that the Dietrich (II) mentioned before 1147 died quite young, possibly on the Second Crusade. His widow probably married a lord of . This also explains why Dietrich III, mentioned from 1175 onwards, referred to the cleric Konrad von Tegerfelden as his brother. Conversely, Konrad later also donated a death anniversary memorialization for the salvation of his "brother" Dietrich von Rötteln, among others.; . The connection with Tegerfelden also seems to have influenced the naming of the Röttler family, as Dietrich III's children include the names of his presumed half-brother and stepfather, Konrad and Lüthold. Dietrich III no longer appears in the documents after 1187. In 1204, his half-brother Konrad von Tegerfelden donated a bereavement ceremony for him and other relatives.; for the anniversary see . As for Dietrich II, Roller also considers a death on the crusade for this Röttler. adopts a rather sceptical view of the crusade hypothesis for the two Dietrichs.
Dietrich III probably also died relatively young, and it is assumed that his half-brother Konrad von Tegerfelden, who was already a canon of Constance at this time, took care of Dietrich's children. With them, the four brothers Walter/Walther, Lüthold, Konrad and Dietrich (IV), the family became more clearly recognisable and reached a peak of power and development.
Bishops Walther and Lüthold
Dietrich III's two presumably eldest sons embarked on an ecclesiastical path. Walther von Rötteln joined the cathedral chapter of Constance as a canon in 1209 or before. Apparently encouraged by his step-uncle Konrad von Tegerfelden, who had meanwhile risen to become , Walther became provost of the cathedral in 1211 against the opposition of a faction of the cathedral chapter. The defeated faction took the matter to the Pope, but was defeated. In 1213, he was elected Bishop of Basel and subsequently appears in the documents surrounding King Frederick II. However, complaints soon arose against him that he had squandered church property, and he was deposed in 1215.. The charters in which Walther appears in the context of Frederick II can be found in the , Volume V, among others: No. 711, No. 717, No. 718, No. 724, No. 725, No. 754, No. 755, No. 758, No. 759, No. 760, No. 761, No. 762, No. 765, No. 766, No. 789 and No. 793. Walther returned to the diocese of Constance. He had renounced his position as provost of the cathedral after his election as bishop, so that he was initially only a simple canon, but later became archpriest of Constance, archdeacon of Burgundy and cathedral scholastic of Constance.
Walther's brother had also joined the cathedral chapter of Constance in the meantime, appearing in documents as a canon from 1215. In the years that followed, Walther and Lüthold often appeared together as witnesses in diocesan documents before Walther died in 1231 or 1232. and registers Nos 48, 52, 53, 55-58, 61f., 68, 70, 72-75, 77, 78, 80-82. Lüthold held the offices of Archdeacon of Breisgau and Archdeacon of Burgundy in Constance before he was elected Bishop of Basel in 1238. As such, he is Lüthold II. In the dispute between Emperor Frederick II and the Pope, he proved to be very loyal to the Pope; . and therefore came into conflict with the city's more pro-imperial burghers: in 1247 he was expelled from Basel and the bishop's palace was stormed and destroyed. Lüthold resigned as bishop in 1248 and died in 1249.
Secular Lords of Rötteln The two remaining brothers Konrad and Dietrich IV probably administered the Rötteln estate jointly at first, and only later does there appear to have been a division: Konrad kept Rötteln Castle, Dietrich moved to near Wieslet and founded the secondary branch of the Rotenberg family. However, some possessions continued to be administered jointly, such as the feudal lordship over the vassals. The name of Rotenburg Castle and the collateral branch named after it was probably chosen because of the similarity in sound to the name and castle of the main branch. Dietrich IV died before 1248 and Konrad, who was married to a daughter of Count Ulrich von , apparently took over the guardianship of Dietrich's children Dietrich (V), Konrad and Walter.; It was probably during Konrad's time that Schopfheim was elevated to a town and a deep castle was built there; as Konrad was also buried in the in Schopfheim, he is regarded as the founder of Schopfheim. Konrad von Rötteln had three sons: Walter (II), Otto and Lüthold. Lüthold embarked on a clerical career (see more on this below), Walter and Otto managed the estate together. However, Walter apparently died relatively early and without heirs. After this, Otto took care of the administration of the Röttler dominion and also took part in several feuds. In the disputes between the knights' unions of Basel, the lords of Rötteln are identified as being on the side of the Psitticher. After the reconciliation of the two parties, Otto also appears to have moved closer to the Habsburgs and received the offices of Burgrave of Rheinfelden and Imperial Bailiff of Basel from King Albrecht.;
The relationship between the Röttlers and the Rotenbergers apparently deteriorated: when the childless Dietrich V von Rotenberg settled his inheritance in 1278, he gave his property to the monastery of Saint Blaise with the condition that a community of heirs from five families be enfeoffed with it - his Röttler cousins were not among the enfeoffed.; Saint Blaise document book, deed no. 531. Two months before this will, Dietrich had already agreed with the Basel cathedral chapter that the fiefs he held from the monastery would revert to the latter if he died without male heirs. In 1279, the Colmar annals mention a feud between the Bishop of Basel and Otto von Rötteln. According to Otto Roller, the Rotenberg inheritance withheld from the Röttelns was the subject of this feud, in which Otto was ultimately victorious. In any case, the main line seems to have regained possession of the Rotenberg inheritance, albeit possibly via detours.
At the end of the 13th century, there are signs that the financial situation of the Röttlers was no longer so good; Otto von Rötteln sold estates near Schwand to the monastery of Saint Blaise in 1289 to pay off a debt, and in the following years he and his son Walter also renounced further income and sold other estates. The family's entitlement to high ecclesiastical offices may have been one reason for the financial problems: This necessitated an appropriate, expensive lifestyle with marriages befitting their status, in which the daughters had to be endowed with property accordingly. Together with the division of property between Röttler and Rotenberger in the middle of the 13th century, this may have led to a drain on financial resources. It is striking that Otto's debts became acute in 1289, around a year after his brother Lüthold had become Basel's cathedral provost (see below).
Otto von Rötteln became Burgrave of Rheinfelden in 1302 and probably died around 1305. His family is listed in the deed of sale of 1289 and included his wife Richenza, his son Walter and his two daughters Agnes and Benedicta, one of whom was married to Margrave Rudolf von Hachberg-Sausenberg.
Lüthold II von Rötteln