Rottenmann Old Town Tour

The town of Rottenmann

is one of the oldest towns in Styria. About 30 years after the founding of the town of Graz, in 1279, Emperor Rudolf von Habsburg stayed in Rottenmann and may have elevated it to the status of a town at that time. Like many other towns, Rottenmann does not have a document on its elevation to the status of a town. However, the town charter was reconfirmed by Duke Rudolf in a document from 1360.

The special feature of the Rottenmann town complex

Many towns developed from existing settlements from Roman times or later centuries. In Rottenmann, on the other hand, we find the peculiarity that the urban fortification and house structure was planned on a greenfield site, practically on the drawing board by a "locator", a town planner, and built on this basis. The castle gate possibly still represents a remnant of the old structure. However, mining was already carried out in the Paltental valley in the Late Bronze Age through the extraction of copper ore. The nearby mining industry may also have been the reason for building the town on the present site.

Old Rottenmann was located in St. Georgen

The first settlement, already mentioned around the year 930, was located about 1 km east of today's Inner Town, in St. Georgen. The area around the Romanesque church in St. Georgen belonged to the bishopric of Bamberg from 1048 onwards on the basis of a deed of donation by the emperor.