The saying: "In Retäbach de Deifel huckt uff em Dach..." used to be used to tease the people of Rötenbach from the neighbouring villages. However, opinions are still divided today as to how this teasing came about. There were probably more fires in Rötenbach than anywhere else. There were three brickworks in the village alone in the last century. Of course, these were not built to be as fireproof as today's brickworks and were therefore destroyed by fire at almost regular intervals. Another version is linked to the construction of the Höllental railway at the turn of the century. At the time, the railway had to be built right through the middle of the village. The steaming fire horses sprayed sparks and set fire to quite a few houses along the railway line. This quickly gave rise to the legend, not only in the neighbouring villages, that a firebug was wreaking havoc in Rötenbach. The people of Rötenbach quickly found a remedy. All the houses along the railway line were fitted with a tin roof and the fire devil was soon out of the picture. So the Rötenbach devils undoubtedly have a historical origin.