Rosenheim -Bavaria

Rosenheim – Independent City/Seat of Administration

Rosenheim the independent city is situated in the centre of the district of Rosenheim – Upper Bavaria and is also the seat of administration of this province. Rosenheim is the third largest city in Upper Bavaria having over 61,000 inhabitants.

It is one of 23 administrative centres in Bavaria and hence the economic centre as well as the busiest place in this region. Landscape surrounding Rosenheim was shaped at the time of the last ice age from the progress of the Inn Valley Glacier.

Thereafter from the Rosenheim lake which existed about 10,000 years back covering the entire Inn Valley till the Wasserburg am Inn around 25 km north of Rosenheim. In several places around the city, the earlier shoreline is recognised where the past flat lake bed changed suddenly into a moderately steep mound.

The development of Rosenheim can be traced from its location on interconnecting major trade roads. In earlier times, too, the city’s interconnecting traffic inspired its development as a market town and consequently evolved from market to salt trade and then railway town to present day’s wood and college town.

Various Theories on Origin of Name of City

The origin of the name of the city is not totally clear. Mentioned first in 1234, Rosenheim castle which is on the eastern bank of the Inn, present day’s castle hill, overlooks a new bridge over the Inn. The name could have come from the Rosenheim Rose emblem of the Wasserburger Earl Hall who had built the castle.

Some other theory state that originally the name Ross was derived from the Rossern steed which were utilised during the medieval times in order to pull the river transport vessels for which there were large stables in Rosenheim. Being in use still in present time, the street names Am Esbaum or Am RoBacker are probable indications.

Yet another theory suggest that there could have been a kindred word Roas, Roze oder Ried which meant swamp and peat bogs that are still to be found around Rosenheim obvious by the name of the neighbouring town or Rosenheim Kolbermoor. The name could also be derived from Rosenheim personal names like Roso/Hrodo.

Importance of Rosenheim – Inn & Matching Inntal

Important to the establishment of Rosenheim is the Inn as well as the matching Inntal. The Romans who had arrived under the leadership of Drusus and Tiberius, in the year 15 BC had founded the East right area of the Inn, the province Noricum and towards the west of the Inn, Rhaetia.

 A road through the burner to Castra Regina was built by the colonizers and one running east-west road from Iuvavum to Augusta Vindelicum. Interconnection of these two massively important trade routes was protected by military station by the name `Pons Aeni’. The Romano Celtic settlement prevailed for some 500 years with that name.

Pons was in the midst of Aeni Isinisca. The town became important as a hub for all kinds of goods which were transported to the Inn, receiving the 1328 Markets status. Rosenheim ship masters had made the region very wealthy during this period through the transport of goods owing to the location between the Hall in Tirol the Inn and towards the Danube down to Vienna and Budapest.

However during the 17th century, Rosenheim experienced economic decline due to the decline of Inn Shipping Company and the significances of the Thirty Years Wars. Beside this, there was also a plague epidemic and a market fire.