Borwall

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Borwall
Plan of the Borwall from 1879

Plan of the Borwall from 1879

Creation time : 13th century
Castle type : Niederungsburg, moth
Conservation status: Burgstall, castle hill
Place: Braunschweig - Querum
Geographical location 52 ° 18 '4.5 "  N , 10 ° 34' 57.7"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 18 '4.5 "  N , 10 ° 34' 57.7"  E
Borwall (Lower Saxony)
Borwall
Reconstructed moat and castle hill, 2007
Appearance of the castle hill before the reconstruction, 1986

The Borwall is an abandoned tower hill castle (Motte) from the 13th century east of the Braunschweig district of Querum ( Lower Saxony ), which is located in the once marshy Schunteraue . The earthworks of the Niederungsburg , which had been largely removed in earlier centuries , were restored in 2005 and included in the renaturation of the nearby Schunter.

construction

The castle lay in the marshy valley of the Schunter , which offered natural protection with its oxbow lakes . The main castle consisted of a heaped up mound of earth on which there was a multi-storey residential tower made of stone and probably ancillary buildings. In front of it there was a crescent-shaped outer bailey with farm buildings, delimited by a moat . A moat and a wall lined with palisades offered external protection .

history

The name Borwall, which appeared in the middle of the 18th century, is a dialectic form for castle wall, which the population gave to the already dilapidated complex. The former name of the castle, its builders and the reason for its construction are not known. In a document from 1307 the complex is mentioned with locus castri quondam as a castle near Querum and described as abandoned. There are no other written certificates. According to assumptions, the castle protected a tithe courtyard of the Halberstadt diocese , 200 m to the west , in which the farmers' taxes were stored. From the 14th century onwards, the castle, the Zehnthof and a mill located there probably fell into disrepair.

Destruction and under protection

The ruins of the Borwalles castle had largely been preserved until the Schunter was straightened and their oxbows were removed in 1820. After that, farmers sold roe stones as building material from her. According to a description from 1861, the castle hill is said to have been 10 m high and surrounded by a mighty moat. Then the moat was filled in and the remnants of the hill were used for sand extraction. In the 20th century, from the 1920s until the Nazi era, the castle site was a nudist area, at times cattle pastures and wild debris. At the instigation of Braunschweig regional archaeologist Alfred Tode , the remains of the castle were placed under protection as the first archaeological monument in Braunschweig. In the 1980s, the area was fenced off because the castle hill was destroyed by grazing cattle and motocross riders . Due to the protective measures, the vegetation on the site developed strongly and covered the remains of the fortifications.

reconstruction

In 2004 the Schunteraue, in which the Borwall lies, was renatured. As part of the measures, the remains of the castle were restored in 2005 and 2006, the area decussed and incorporated into the Schunter's new flowing and still water concept. In cooperation with the hunters, nature conservation authorities and archeology, the earthworks of the castle could be restored in an authentic way to the state before 1820. The area developed into a habitat for threatened animal species through the water areas with reed beds and reed belts .

In connection with the reconstruction, archaeological investigations were carried out at the castle site through almost 20 excavation cuts in order to be able to model the site with the main castle , outer castle and moat as true to the original as possible. It was found that the moat was covered with a one meter thick layer of sand from the castle hill. It also did not completely enclose the castle hill, but only in the west and south. The protected oaks on the castle hill set limits to the reconstruction. The earlier castle buildings could not be restored because there were few traces of them due to the stone removal in earlier centuries. The reconstructed bailey plateau today has a diameter of approx. 100 meters. It was dumped about three feet above normal ground level. The entire castle is surrounded by a restored double moat and a slightly suggested wall. In the middle of the outer bailey is the main castle hill, which is only half surrounded by a moat. It was poured from a residual height of 3.5 meters to a height of 5 meters and has a diameter of around 20 meters. Even if it is not possible to enter the castle grounds directly due to the moat, it can be experienced through the paths leading past.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Borwall  - collection of images, videos and audio files