Rottenbuch, Romantic Road

Rottenbuch is a small village with a mere 1800 residents, but its history is deeply tied to the former 11th-century Augustinian monastery. When the clergy were given property, income, and land by the Duke of Bavaria in 1073, they began building a monastery, then a church, and provided rental properties to craftsmen and employees in their service.

For several hundred years, the community thrived until the Middle Ages, when the monastery suffered financial hardship due to weak leadership. Although saved by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian from financial ruin, riots and fires broke out within the monastery and the church, and the tower eventually collapsed.

New leadership ensued, the tower was rebuilt, and a new lease of life was breathed into Rottenbuch. By the end of the 16th century, it was one of the largest Bavarian monasteries. Once again, fires raged through the monastery during the Thirty Years’ War, followed by the plague, followed by looting during the War of the Spanish Succession.

However, nothing prepared the Rottenbuchers for what was yet to come. In 1803, the monastery was closed due to the secularisation sweeping Bavaria. The buildings, chapels and their noteworthy library were either demolished or auctioned off and all of a sudden, a 730-year history since the foundation of the monastery came to an end.

The ramifications of secularisation were felt not only by the clergy but also by the community. Those providing services to the monastery suddenly found themselves unemployed, without social security, medical care or education. It took the community years to obtain ownership of their farms, and those who could not make an income eventually had to move away.

Rolling into the 20th century, the community was impacted once again by the two world wars and the losses they endured. After WWII, refugees found a home in Rottenbuch. Construction flourished, with new housing and better infrastructure developed and expanded. By the 1990s, the town centre and monastery complex began renovations to make way for a town hall, school and various other facilities.