Burgruine, Medieval castle ruins in Bad Kissingen, Germany

Burgruine Botenlauben is a medieval fortress on a hillside above Bad Kissingen with stone walls and defensive structures still standing. The site contains remains of multiple buildings arranged across the terrain, showing where residential and fortification areas once existed.

Botenlauben Castle was probably built around 1180, possibly by Burgrave Berthold I of Henneberg, and was first documented in 1206 as the seat of Otto von Botenlauben. From 1220 to 1242 it was the home of Otto and his wife Beatrix de Courtenay, who sold it in 1234 to the Bishopric of Würzburg. In 1244 it became the seat of an administrative office; after destruction in the German Peasants' War it was rebuilt, destroyed again in 1553 during the Margravial War, and from the 17th century served as a quarry for Reiterswiesen.

The castle's name probably combines the personal name Boto with Laube, meaning residence; spellings shifted from Bodenlouben (1206) to Botenlauben (1242). Otto von Botenlauben, a minnesinger, called his wife Beatrix "jewel of the Orient". Each September the Burgfest re-enacts medieval life in the ruins.

The ruin stands at 340 m above sea level in the Reiterswiesen district, southwest of Bad Kissingen. It is listed as Bavarian monument D-6-72-114-119. Since the 17th century the walls served Reiterswiesen residents as a quarry, so much of the masonry is gone; paths cross uneven ground.

The castle's name may come from a landowner named Boto, whose estate below the hill was given to Fulda Abbey in 797, long before the castle existed. The spelling shifted repeatedly: Bodenlouben in 1206, Bothinloibin in 1226, Botenlauben by 1242.