Which to use
“Rothenburg” and “Rottenburg” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,890
- “Rothenburg” frequency rank
- #24,100
- “Rottenburg” frequency rank
- 58990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Rothenburg | Rottenburg |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Stadt in Sachsen, Deutschland | eine Stadt in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland |
Where the eye mixes Rothenburg and Rottenburg
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Rothenburg and Rottenburg follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Rothenburg with Rottenburg
A purely visual mix-up. Rothenburg ([ˈʁoːtn̩ˌbʊʁk]) and Rottenburg ([ˈʁɔtn̩ˌbʊʁk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - h in “Rothenburg” becomes t in “Rottenburg”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Rothenburg is recorded at frequency rank #34,890, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈʁoːtn̩ˌbʊʁk]. Rottenburg is at rank #24,100, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈʁɔtn̩ˌbʊʁk].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 58990, this pair ranks #841,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Rothenburg vs Rottenburg
Shared letters: begnortu. Private to "Rothenburg": h. Private to "Rottenburg": -.
"Rothenburg" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "Rottenburg" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Rothenburg ← orthenburg · rohtenburg · rotehnburg · rothebnurg · rothenbburg · rothenbrug · rothenbugr · rothenburgg
- Rottenburg ← orttenburg · rotetnburg · rottebnurg · rottenbburg · rottenbrug · rottenbugr · rottenburgg · rottenburrg
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Rothenburg" for "Rottenburg" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Rothenburg" vs "Rottenburg" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Rothenburg" and "Rottenburg" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Rothenburg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Rottenburg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #841,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Rothenburg" and "Rottenburg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rotenburg vs Rothenburg". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #841,489 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.