Zschaitz Castle Hill

Zschaitz Castle Hill
	Wendish ramparts to the southwest
Creation time :	before 928
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Ground monument
Geographical location	51 ° 10 '2 " N , 13 ° 9' 58" E Coordinates: 51 ° 10 '2 " N , 13 ° 9' 58" E
Height:	141 m above sea level NN

The Zschaitz Burgberg or Burgberg Zschaitz is one of the outstanding prehistoric and early medieval fortifications in the Central Saxon region.

location

The facility is located on a striking porphyry mountain spur above the Jahnatal, the steep slopes of which are surrounded by the Jahna in the west, south and north .

description

At the natural narrow points of the plateau, several section walls rise, which have been preserved in different ways and whose main wall is still 3 meters high today. An excavation campaign by the Saxon State Office for Archeology in 2009 revealed numerous medieval findings and fragments from the late Bronze and Iron Ages . During the excavation, pit houses of the Gatersleben culture (4,200 BC) were identified.

history

Due to the secured finds, the area was fortified between 800 and 950. Documented was Zschaitz on 2 July 1046 in the form castellum nomine Zavviza first mentioned. The Burgward Zschaitz was part of the early Burgward organization of the Ottonian Empire and early church. The village remained in the possession of the Meissen cathedral monastery until the 19th century . The church, located on a further hill in the village, is probably older than it was first mentioned in 1180 and is not on the site of the Zschaitz castle hill. Since the churches played a key strategic role in the Christianization of the unbelieving Wends , the conclusion that the location of the castle guard mentioned in the documents is not identical to that of the Zschaitzer castle hill is obvious. Evidence for this is the location of the Burgwardes in neighboring Schrebitz in the same period that was first mentioned and the lack of ceramics from the 11th century.

construction

The main wall consisted of an eight-meter-wide double- shelled wooden box construction, the space between which was filled with loess material. A six meter wide trench was in front of it. The magnetic measurements of the 2009 excavation campaign revealed a further three upstream trench systems.

fauna and Flora

Numerous animals and rare plants and plants can be found on and around the castle hill in the source depression and ravine forest locations:

fauna	flora
Fox , otter , Barbastelle , cuckoo , woodpecker , thrush , chiffchaff , nuthatch , garden warbler , chaffinch , lapwing , Nightingale , Willow Warbler , Great Tit , Blackcap , Great Reed Warbler , Golden Oriole , Klappergrasmücke , Blackbird , Redstart , Whitethroat , Marsh Warbler , Red Kite , Great hygromiidae , Feather ram	Norway maple , elm , small-leaved lime , oak , hornbeam , field maple , privet , celandine , apple rose , violets , Nick Perlgras , Veronica Triphyllos , wild carrot , finger-sedge , meadows Yellow Star , vineyard and leek , Spring Spark , about seventy yarrow species like the Achillea nobilis , Callus dandelions , field Yellow star , falcaria vulgaris , Oxlip , Little mouse's tail , Brown cranesbill , alder Schillerporling

Wendish ramparts - south side

Gana

The chronicler Widukind von Corvey reports that in the winter of 928/929 King Henry I took the main fortress of the Wenden, the Gana Castle , and advanced with his troops to the Mulde . The Zschaitz Castle Hill is repeatedly discussed as a possible location for Gana Castle. There are essentially three main arguments against the location:

There is no natural water supply on the entire site.

It is unlikely that only 115 years later the former main town of Gana would have a different, Slavic name, Zavviza .

The strategic location of the castle hill is militarily insignificant in relation to the Wendish central sanctuary Glomaci .

Soil erosion

Due to the intensive agricultural use, the soil monument is exposed to mechanical displacement and destructive soil erosion by the soil plow. The outer wall has already completely disappeared in the north.

literature

Hans Jürgen Brachmann: Slavic tribes on the Elbe and Saale in Volume 32: Writings on prehistory and early history. Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1978, p. 158.
Volker Bromme et al .: The Zschaitz castle hill in Lommatzscher Pflege. Landscape, nature and archeology. Archaeonaut Heft 9, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-910008-89-2
Herbert Ludat: Settlement and constitution of the Slavs between the Elbe, Saale and Oder. in connection with H. Jankuhn, W. Schlesinger and E. Schwart, Verlag W. Schmitz, Dresden, 1960.
Karl-Heinz Otto: Ethnographic-archaeological journal (EAZ). Volume 16 Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1975, page 425.
Werner Radig: The Meissen Castle Hill and the Slavengau Daleminzien. Early history in an east German castle wall landscape. in: Guide to Prehistory. Volume 8 in: Hans Reinerth, as before, at the other place.
Hans Reinerth: Guide to prehistory. Volume 2. Filser, Verlag C. Kabitzsch, Augsburg, 1929, pages 47, 48 and 60.
VR v. Streffleur: The old Heidenschanzen in Germany. in Austrian military magazine. IX. Volume, third volume, Vienna, 1868, page 78.

Web links

Link equating the Gana Castle with the Zschaitzer Burgberg on the website of the town of Döbeln, accessed on April 16, 2010.
Link Development of protection strategies for archaeological cultural monuments, accessed on May 15, 2010.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f State Office for Archeology and State Association of Saxon Heritage Protection (ed.): The Zschaitz castle hill in the Lommatzscher care - landscape, nature and archeology. In: Archaeonaut number 9, Dresden, 2010.
↑ Holger Schrapel: News about Podgrodici and Zavviza. in: Döbelner Allgemeine Zeitung , Döbeln, Tuesday, April 13, 2010, p. 15., Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, ISBN 978-3-326-00489-1 , p. 66.
^ Gerhard Billig : The Burgward organization in the Upper Saxon-Meissnian area. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, ISBN 978-3-326-00489-1 , p. 66.
↑ Werner Ziegner: The struggle for the Sorbs fortress Gana and the Daleminzierland in the year 929. Heimatverein Jahna e. V. (Ed.) Jahna - district of the municipality of Ostrau, Ostrau, 2009.
↑ Michael Strobel, Thomas Westphalen: Hidden Discovery - an archaeological-historical foray through the Lommatzscher care. in: Sachsenbummel issue 66, saxocon dmc, Glashütte, February 28, 2010, p. 19.

[arch-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f State Office for Archeology and State Association of Saxon Heritage Protection (ed.): The Zschaitz castle hill in the Lommatzscher care - landscape, nature and archeology. In: Archaeonaut number 9, Dresden, 2010.

[da1-2] Holger Schrapel: News about Podgrodici and Zavviza. in: Döbelner Allgemeine Zeitung , Döbeln, Tuesday, April 13, 2010, p. 15., Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, ISBN 978-3-326-00489-1 , p. 66.

[billig-3] Gerhard Billig : The Burgward organization in the Upper Saxon-Meissnian area. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1989, ISBN 978-3-326-00489-1 , p. 66.

[ziegner-4] Werner Ziegner: The struggle for the Sorbs fortress Gana and the Daleminzierland in the year 929. Heimatverein Jahna e. V. (Ed.) Jahna - district of the municipality of Ostrau, Ostrau, 2009.

[strobel-5] Michael Strobel, Thomas Westphalen: Hidden Discovery - an archaeological-historical foray through the Lommatzscher care. in: Sachsenbummel issue 66, saxocon dmc, Glashütte, February 28, 2010, p. 19.