Old Castle (Bühle)
| Old castle | ||
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 Hill of the former tower hill castle on the crest of the Alte Burg elevation |
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| Castle type : | Hill castle, moth | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall, castle hill | |
| Construction: | limestone | |
| Place: | Bühle | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 39 '10.9 " N , 9 ° 59' 48.7" E | |
| Height: | 313 m above sea level NN | |
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The old castle near Bühle is a defunct former fortification on the old castle ridge of the same name in southern Lower Saxony . Built in two different time periods, the facility was first in the pre-Roman Iron Age as Wallenburg and later in the Middle Ages by backfilling a Castle Hill as Turmhügelburg used (moth).
location
The castle site of the Höhenburg complex is located northeast of Bühle at the highest point of the 313 meter high Alte Burg . This is a wooded elevation on shell limestone with steep slopes, especially to the northwest. The neighboring mountains to the northwest and north are called Mäuseberg and Eulenberg and are designated as a nature reserve.
construction
According to its creation and use in two time phases (Iron Age / Middle Ages), the system has a different structure. The first phase was a hill fort that was built during the pre-Roman Iron Age. An approximate dating made possible the ceramic shards from the Middle Latène found in the wall area . At that time the fortification consisted of ramparts that ran below the top of the elevation. Today there are still two wall sections of around 70 and around 200 meters in length in the area, each with a ditch on the outside . The trenches are still up to 13 meters wide and have a depth of 1.4 and 1.8 meters between the crest of the wall and the bottom of the trench. The embankment consists of set limestones , some of which have glowed red from earlier exposure to fire. The findings and findings allow the conclusion that the fortifications consisted of a wall in the form of a wood-stone-earth construction during the pre-Roman Iron Age, which burned down.
In the second, high medieval phase, a tower hill castle was built on the top of the elevation, which today is a castle stables . The castle hill that was poured in for this purpose currently has an area of around 20 × 30 meters and is up to 3 meters high. The foundation walls of an earlier round tower with a diameter of 5 meters lie in the ground on the hill . In front of the castle hill there is a 1 meter deep ditch , which ends on the northeastern steep slope of the mountain. In three places on, next to and away from the castle hill, there are depressions in the ground, which are probably smaller modern stone quarries.
history
There is no closer historical record of the medieval tower hill castle. In a document from the Lords of Hardenberg , it is mentioned as Olderburg in 1440 . On a map from 1784 the complex is called Bühler Burg .
Research history
Until recently, the historical literature assumed that the fortifications were built in the Middle Ages. It was not until 1979 that a local researcher discovered the ramparts in front of the tower hill castle. He undertook a small excavation cut and realized that the walls are much older than previously assumed. The question of whether they continued to be used in the Middle Ages as a possible obstacle to the approach is open, as a major archaeological investigation of the complex has not yet taken place.
rating
Externally, the fortification gives the impression of a small high medieval tower hill castle with ramparts. However, the studies carried out so far show a two-phase fortification that was used during the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. Permanent use as a fortified residential building during the Middle Ages is unlikely due to the small size of the complex. Similar systems in southern Lower Saxony are the Pipinsburg near Osterode am Harz , the fortifications on the Hünstollen in the Göttingen Forest and the Motte near Troughs , which, however, did not have protrusions.
literature
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf : The old castle at Bühle. An Iron Age fortification and its environment in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , Volume 2, Oldenburg, Isensee Verlag, 1999, pp. 42–44
Web links
- Entry by Gudrun Pischke and Stefan Eismann about Alte Burg in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
Individual evidence
- ^ Erhard Kühlhorn: Historical-regional excursion map of Lower Saxony, sheet Moringen ; Hildesheim: Commission publisher August Lax, 1976; P. 120 ff .; ISBN 3-7848-3624-0