The town is famous for its medieval center and for its traditional carnival (called "Fasnet" in the local Swabian dialect).

Rottweil was founded by the Romans in AD 73 as Arae Flaviae and became a municipium, but there are traces of human settlement going back to 2000 BC.

[6] Rottweil lost both its status as free city and its alliance with the Swiss Confederacy with the conquest of the region by Napoleon in 1803.

[14] A trading and shopping town with a high level of innovation that benefits from its well developed educational and transport infrastructure, Rottweil has many industrial companies and a steadily growing proportion of knowledge-intensive service jobs.

Rottweil station has regular (at least hourly) regional services to Stuttgart, Villingen, Singen, as well as many nearby towns.

In 2003, the Ringzug concept was established, providing rail service to many previously abandoned stations in the region between Villingen, Rottweil, Tuttlingen and Donaueschingen, which became a major success.

Rottweil is located on the Neckartal-Radweg [de] along the Neckar River via Horb, Tübingen, Stuttgart, Heilbronn and Heidelberg to Mannheim.