Old Castle (Altenstein)

Old castle
The exposed section of the wall from the inside
Creation time :	Early medieval
Castle type :	Hangburg, spur castle
Conservation status:	Wallburg, remains of the dry sandstone wall
Construction:	Cuboid
Place:	Maroldsweisach- Altenstein
Geographical location	50 ° 10 '29.3 "  N , 10 ° 46' 13.8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 10 '29.3 "  N , 10 ° 46' 13.8"  E
Height:	405  m above sea level NN

The old castle is an early medieval ring wall between Altenstein and Lichtenstein in the Maroldsweisach market in the Lower Franconian district of Haßberge in Bavaria .

Geographical location

The rampart is at 405  m above sea level. NN high rocky promontory on the north slope of a ridge of the Franconian Haßberge , which also carries the nearby, high medieval castles Altenstein , Lichtenstein , Rotenhan and Teufelsstein . Just 150 meters to the east is another ground monument , also known as the Old Castle , in the forest.

description

The middle-sized (approx. 115 × 150 meters) hill fort, which was interpreted as early medieval, is secured to the northeast and southeast by a steep slope and is surrounded by a sandstone wall that has been preserved in remnants . This wall consists of sandstone blocks laid one on top of the other without mortar and is mostly in a wall up to five meters high on the outside. A short piece of the curtain wall was exposed in the south, and there are still some well-preserved remains on the steep slope.

In front of the wall is a ditch about five meters wide and one to one and a half meters deep. The inner wall height is up to two meters. The gate is in the northwest, the wall bends inwards like a pincer at this point, the northern flank is pushed forward in the shape of a nose.

An approximately 50 meter long moat inside the castle is considered to be the remains of an older predecessor complex. This inner trench is only about half a meter deep, three meters wide and runs from north to south.

The exposed section of the wall from the outside

The ramparts were archaeologically examined in 1964, the survey by Eugen Ixmeier from the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments took place in 1970. The topographical record was published in 1979 (see literature).

In the spring of 2007, the eastern part of the ground monument was affected by a wind break and the subsequent clean-up work. There was also some loss of substance in exposed parts of the wall.

The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments lists the ground monument as a circular rampart from the early Middle Ages under monument number D 6-5830-0007.

Geotope

The sandstones on which the castle stands form the summit area of ​​the hilltop and partially slide down the slope on the clay and clay marl stones of the Feuerletten below. Elaborate renovation measures are used to counteract the further deterioration of the ruins. The rocks are designated by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment as Geotope 674A010. See also the list of geotopes in the Haßberge district . The geotope is provided with information boards as part of the Hassberge castle history trail.

literature

• Björn-Uwe Abels : The prehistoric and early historical site monuments of Lower Franconia . (Material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series B, volume 6). Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1979, ISBN 3-7847-5306-X , p. 89.

Web links

Commons : Alte Burg (Altenstein)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description and maps of the facility

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry
2. ↑ Geotope: rocks at the Altenstein castle ruins (accessed on October 14, 2013; PDF; 279 kB)