Paul Schreckenbach

King of Rothenburg Paul Schreckenbach

The novel "The King of Rothenburg" appeared in 1910. The main character of the novel is Heinrich Toppler, a man whom historians compare with the uncrowned kings of cities-republics of the Italian Renaissance. With him, a small settlement Rothenburg ob der Tauber turned into one of the richest and most influential cities of the German Empire with a status of imperial city. The novel describes the conflict of the free imperial city Rothenburg under the leadership of burgomaster Heinrich Toppler with the burggraf of Nuremberg, Friedrich von Hohenzollern. Hohenzollern seeks to bend the city to his influence, while Toppler wants to keep Rothenburg as an independent imperial city. This conflict dramatically changed the fate of both Rothenburg and Heinrich Topler himself.