Gräbelesberg Castle

Gräbelesberg Castle
Creation time :	Prehistoric, fortified again in the early Middle Ages
Castle type :	Höhenburg, summit location
Conservation status:	Castle stable, wall and moat remains
Place:	Albstadt - Laufen an der Eyach - "Gräbelesberg"
Geographical location	48 ° 12 '37.7 "  N , 8 ° 55' 10.2"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 12 '37.7 "  N , 8 ° 55' 10.2"  E
Height:	915  m above sea level NHN

The Gräbelesberg Castle is an abandoned hilltop castle ( ramparts ) at 915  m above sea level. NHN high plateau of the Gräbelesberg 1500 meters south of Laufen an der Eyach , a district of Albstadt in the Zollernalbkreis ( Baden-Württemberg ).

Presumably, the two-part rampart, secured by a double moat system, is a Hungarian wall , which could have been reinforced in the Middle Ages . Finds at the front ramparts on the Gräbelesberg are dated to the early 6th century. The castle stable , now a ground monument , still shows the remains of walls and moats .

Other experts such as Kurt Wedler interpret the walls in connection with the Celtic burial mounds researched by Pastor Oetinger. Pastor Alfred Ludwig Oetinger (from 1856 to 1868 pastor in Meßstetten and Hossingen ) had extensive excavations carried out in the Hossingen district, initially on his own account, and later on account of the State Collection of Patriotic Antiquities. Stronger fortifications and defenses were built by the Celts, especially against invading Germans from 150 BC. BC, laid out on the edge mountains of the Swabian Alb, which are already protected by nature, such as the Dreifaltigkeitsberg , Schafberg and Lochenstein , the Gräbelesberg and the Schalksburg , the Rusenschloß near Blaubeuren and the Rosenstein , to name just a few. Our Gräbelesberg, which makes such an imposing impression especially from Laufen, takes its name from the still clearly visible trenches and ramparts that secured the mountain plateau, which slopes steeply on three sides, to the rear. Particularly impressive is the outer, angled rampart, which is the first bulwark to be led from rock to rock to keep the enemy off. Georg Schmitt interprets the finds as follows: The extremely massive and almost all-round steep rock of the Gräbelesberg (Fig. 32), which belonged to the district of Hossingen until the early 20th century. Its relatively flat plateau with an area of ​​around 5 hectares lies around 300 m above the Eyach Valley and is only connected to the Alb plateau by a narrow ridge. The mountain has several fortifications in the form of ramparts and ditches. Parts of these systems are sometimes dated to the early Middle Ages without any reliable evidence being available.

The exposed metal workshop (castle forge)

In 1939 the following finds were uncovered: Tongue-shaped lower part of a bronze model. The notch cut is cut so deep that the piece has already been broken through at one point. At the upper end it is clearly visible that there are further perforations, which was also the reason for the break at this point. The decoration consists of individual zoomorphic body parts such as two thighs with splayed toes and a head. L. 3 cm, width 2 cm, thickness 0.2 cm. Location: WLM Stuttgart.

Evaluation: The model can most likely be dated to the time around 600 due to the decoration in an animal style that cannot be determined with certainty. According to the interpretation of the find as a model, the piece can actually only be classified as a settlement find. If the place of discovery is original, it would result in the existence of a bronze smith's workshop on the Gräbelesberg with unhealed ore balls found there. A Hunnish metal mirror uncovered in Meßstetten was made from an unusual metal alloy (59% copper , 40% tin , 1% lead ). There is also evidence of a workshop at Meßstetter Talbach in Lautlingen.

Say

One knows fabulous memories from places gone. A place between Gräblesberg Castle and Tieringen Castle has disappeared. Behind the upper Tieringer tent with the former gate at the Torbühl (today Tieringen sports field) there would actually be space for three more tents up to Gräblesberg Castle. In addition to the still existing Stetten places on the Heuberger Hardt , Hermann Krauss also knows an abandoned Stetten. Nüwenghausen, a place mentioned in 1477, has not yet been assigned. But the residents are said to have not come to rest until today: An old legend reports that at certain times hindered traders under the Baienfelsen were visible. A brave Tieringer carter came on an empty trip with men from Hausen am Tann am Baienberg. At midnight he once called out at random to the junk dealers. All passengers survived the nightly haunt. The harnesses of the shy horses had to be cut off and the wagon stuck in the deep clay had to be left behind.

Todays use

In 1901, Julius Wais describes the view from the Gräbelesberg as follows: The view of the surroundings has something high-mountainous about it. On page 39 in the Albführer an eight-day hike with train journeys to Hechingen, Mühlheim (alternative Jungingen) is described over the south-west Alb. On the second day, the Gräbelesberg (one of the most beautiful Alb mountains, Volksburg) is reached. Bean ore pits are attested on the Gräblesberg. In recent years, attempts have been made to make the site a museum. In order to offer half-day tourists an attractive destination, a specialist planner for hiking trails was commissioned to examine the area of ​​the city of Meßstetten. In the Upper Danube Nature Park, there is a synchronized offer in rail transport on all routes on weekends . Railcars operated by the Hohenzollerische Landesbahn operate here on Sundays and public holidays in order to make the local recreation area more attractive for tourism. Three circular walks in the districts Meßstetter Hossinger Hochalb , Felsquellweg Oberdigisheim and animal Inger Hörnle meet the high demands of the predicate trails . The 11.5 kilometer Hossinger Hochalp circular route leads over the Heimberg to the Gräblesberg. On the Baienfelsen ( 48 ° 11 '30.7 "  N , 8 ° 53' 50.85"  O ) and Spitzfelsen ( 48 ° 11 '17.42 "  N , 8 ° 53' 34.27"  O ) is about the Wall past to Hossingen Castle and over the Lerchenbühl to the Hossinger ladder . In the case of certification, the planned new circular hiking trail already achieved 58 out of 40 required points. The preservation of the cultural and historical heritage is combined with a special experience of nature. City administration employees advertise at the CMT trade fair in Stuttgart.

reachability

Access to Gräblesberg from Lautlingen train station

From the Zollernalbbahn , Albstadt-Lautlingen or -Laufen station, the Albtrauf can be hiked over the Hossinger Ladder ( 48 ° 11 ′ 38.71 ″  N , 8 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  E ). By car: Heimberg Hossingen hiking car park GPS: Laufener Weg 72469 Meßstetten Hossingen ( 48 ° 12 ′ 6.57 ″  N , 8 ° 55 ′ 2.68 ″  E )

literature

• The Gräbelesberg near Laufen an der Eyach (Zollernalbkreis). (= Cultural monuments in Baden-Württemberg. Small guides, page 13). Tübingen 1975, DNB 810026368 .
• J. Biel: Prehistoric hilltop settlements in southern Württemberg-Hohenzollern. (= Research u. Ber. Z. Vor und Frühgesch. Baden-Württemberg. Volume 24). Theiss, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0778-X , p. 294 ff.
• Günter Schmitt : Castles, palaces and ruins in the Zollernalb district . Published by the Zollernalbkreis district office. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7995-0186-6 , p. 324.
• Christoph Morrissey: Albstadt-Laufen: The Gräbelesberg. In the S. (Arrangement): Zollernalbkreis . (= Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany. Volume 43). Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8062-1763-7 , pp. 116-120.
• Kurt Wedler: Celtic fortifications in our homeland In: Heimatkundliche Vereinigung Zollernalb eV (Hrsg.): Heimatkundliche Blätter. Supplement to the Zollern-Alb-Kurier newspaper . March 3, 1958.

Web links

• Hiking trail to the Gräbelesberg at "wanderinstitut.de"
• hzl-online.de bike-hiking trains and buses

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry on Gräbelesberg Castle in the private database "Alle Burgen".
2. ^ Alfred Ludwig Oetinger: Reports on the investigation of several row and barrows near Meßstetten and Hossingen, D.-A. Balingen from the year 1864/1867. In: Writings of the Württemberg Alterthumsverein. Volume 2, Issue 2, 1875, pp. 38-52. (online at: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de )
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Georg Schmitt: The Alemanni in the Zollernalb district. Dissertation. Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz 2005, p. 149. (online at: ubm.opus.hbz-nrw.de , PDF, 5.8 MB) ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: Der Archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ^ Hermann Krauss: Local and Church History of Meßstetten . 75th anniversary of the church. Ed .: Organ Fund Pastor Peter Gall. Meßstetten 1989, p. 5 .
5. ↑ Landkreis Balingen (ed.): The will . District Office Gazette June 27, 1936. Balingen.
6. ↑ H. Dreher, M. Koch: Der Hemmadhäddlar von Thieringen - A Diaringer Goaschtgschicht . In: Schwäbischer Albverein Stuttgart (Ed.): Albvereinsblätter 15/10 (1903) . S. 325-328 .
7. ^ Julius Wais: Albführer . Ed .: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart. S. 361.39 .
8. ↑ Sigrid Hirbodian , Andreas Schmauder and Manfred Waßner (ed.): Community in transition . Volume 19 A city in transition The history of Meßstetten. No. 19 . Tübingen 2019, p. 24 , (1500 copies from the city of Meßstetten) .
9. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Schweizer: Meßstetten wants to inaugurate three premium hiking trails this year ( memento of the original from October 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Zollern Alb Kurier. April 24, 2013.
10. ↑ Karl Otto Müller: How many “eaves” should there be? . In: Zollern Alb Kurier. March 30, 2013.