Vietzer Schanze
The Vietzer Schanze , also known as Höhbeck-Kastell , is a quadrangular hill east of Vietze , which is located on the elevation of the Höhbeck on the Elbe . Excavations have shown that the fort- like complex with a rectangular floor plan resembles the fortification that, according to the Franconian Annals , was built by Charlemagne in the early 9th century under the name Hohbuoki .
location
The fortification is located on the approximately 2 × 4 kilometer high elevation of the Höhbeck, which is a glacially formed compression terminal moraine . The striking slab of Pleistocene gravel, sand and marl boulder towers over the Holocene Elbe valley by around 60 meters and acts as a landmark that can be seen from afar . This island location used to be a convenient point to cross over the Elbe, as the river valley at Höhbeck is only 2 to 3 kilometers wide in other places, up to 12 kilometers wide. From the strategically favorable position on the Höhbeck, the crossing over the river and the shipping traffic of the Elbe could be monitored.
Building description
On the northern steep bank of the Elbe, a rectangular fortification measuring around 70 × 170 meters with around 1.2 hectares has been preserved. It is the only fortification with a rectangular plan in the area of the Middle Elbe. To the west and south the complex was protected by ramparts and moats. In the north and east there was also a steep slope to the Elbe and a brook valley.
The wall was a wood-earth construction about six meters wide, which at that time appeared to the outside as a vertical wall. Today the wall is 10 meters wide at the base and still two meters high. It consists of an embankment of sand and clay, which has been stabilized and stiffened inside by transverse wood. A lot of low-quality timber and deadwood was probably used, which the dendro data suggests. The outer front of the wall was formed by a row of posts made of individual posts that were two meters apart and whose post pits have been preserved. An earlier wall made of boards or wickerwork is suspected between the posts . A parapet walkway with a width of up to three meters, protected by a wattle fence or a board wall, is also suspected on the top of the wall . The height of the wall is estimated to be a maximum of four meters for the substructure without structural timber connections.
The rampart of the fortification consists of light-colored sand with enrichment bands made of clay. This proves that the ramparts only had one construction phase. Calculations showed that around 2500 m³ of wood and 5700 m³ of earth were required for the construction of the wall. 55% of the wood used was mainly oak ; elm was used a good third . Estimates indicated that the construction of the fortification required the clearing of a forest area of 14 hectares. It can therefore be assumed that the elevation of the Höhbeck was largely free of forests after the completion of the facility.
Outside the wall there was a 2 meter wide berm made of sand, wood, sod and boulders . The outwardly facing trench 2.6 meters deep had a width of 10 meters; this is still about 1.2 meters deep today.
history
According to the Franconian Annals, Charlemagne moved across the Elbe towards the Wilzen in 789 . Fortifications in the Höhbeck area may already have been built at this time. For the year 808, the annals report two unnamed fortifications on the Elbe, one of which could have been the Höhbeck fort. A connection with Karl's campaign against the Linons and Smeldingers is believed to be the reason for the construction of the facility . In the year 810 the Höhbeck fort was first mentioned as castellum hohbuoki on the occasion of its destruction by the Wilzen. In 811 it was mentioned again in the Franconian Annals about its reconstruction. According to the written source, the fort had an East Saxon garrison under the leadership of the imperial legate Odo .
Word meaning
The traditional name Hohbuoki for Höhbeck is etymologically interpreted as the name of a high-lying beech forest, which can no longer be proven. While the elevation of the Höhbeck is densely forested today, it was also temporarily bare in earlier times. It is not known what the vegetation was like when the fortifications existed. The previous archaeological investigations of the Vietzer Schanze did not reveal any significant use of beech wood, which would have been obvious if the surrounding area had been forested with beech at the time. As early as 1924, the prehistorian Carl Schuchhard put forward the hypothesis that the traditional term Hohbuoki was reinterpreted according to folk etymology to Hohbeke for a high-lying stream. In fact, there are springs on the Höhbeck that feed the Talmühlenbach. It crosses the elevation and flows into the Elbe after a steep drop. In 1963 a linguistic analysis was carried out. As a result, from a philological point of view, it is considered possible that the term developed from Hohbuoki to Höhbeck, but this cannot be seen as reliable evidence for the Höhbeck fort.
Research history
Theories and first dig
As early as 1828, the bailiff Wedekind from Lüneburg put forward the thesis that the Vietzer Schanze on the Höhbeck was a castle belonging to Charlemagne. A local researcher ruled out this thesis in the 19th century because he dated the creation of Vietz Schanze during the Thirty Years' War . Instead he saw the nearby fortress of the Schwedenschanze as Charlemagne's fort. In 1897 the prehistoric scientist Carl Schuchhardt carried out an excavation on the Vietz Schanze, which lasted only a few days, in order to find evidence of its origin and period of use. He assessed the complex as one of the most important prehistoric monuments in Germany.
Second dig
In 1920 Carl Schuchhard undertook a four-and-a-half week excavation during which he examined the wall, the interior and the main gate in the south wall. He assumed a 6 meter high wall made of wood and clay. In the west he discovered two small gates 1.5 meters wide. Inside the ramparts, ceramic shards and post holes from earlier buildings were found. According to the research, there were paths made of pure sand, an open space and several buildings inside. Schuchhardt assigned the found ceramics to Franconian and Saxon origins. It was probably older and came from the Roman Empire , as the dating was not that advanced in Schuchard's time. Metal objects were found in only two cases. It is an iron lance tip 45 centimeters long that lay in the berm of the north wall. Furthermore, a bronze knife sheath fitting from the 11th to. Found 12th century. The documentation of the excavation and the finds were lost during the Second World War .
Third dig
In 1954, the prehistorian Ernst Sprockhoff resumed excavations, which continued in almost annual campaigns until 1965. After his death in 1967, the investigations were suspended. His documentation and the finds were in the Museum for the Principality of Lüneburg . This includes around 1000 shards that were first inventoried in 1985. Most of them have been dated as imperial and late medieval . After the excavations were completed in the 1960s, a Hamburg sports club used the site of the fortification as a sports and camping site for children. From the 1980s onwards, the area gradually overran and overgrown.
Fourth dig
In 2006 the University of Göttingen began a 5-year research project on Slavic settlement in the lower Middle Elbe region, with the Höhbeck and its surroundings selected as the geographical focus. This is due to the numerous early medieval fortifications in this area.
In 2008 an excavation was carried out as a section through the well-preserved west wall of the Vietzer Schanze. The aim was to find datable material. Charred wood, the location of which was known from earlier excavations in the 1950s and 1960s, was suitable for this purpose. The cause of the burning of the wood is suspected to be a smoldering fire in the wall, which started on the outside of the wall. A C14 dating of the fire layer gave the year 885 AD plus / minus 80 years as the time of the fire.
During the excavation, numerous pieces of wood were found in the wall, 25 of which were examined dendrochronologically . For three pieces of wood, the year of felling could be precisely determined as 805, 809 and 810 AD, as the edge of the forest was still there. Other woods were felled between 656 and 724 AD. These dates show that it is the fort mentioned in the written sources.
In addition to late medieval artefacts, ceramics were found to be of Slavic, Saxon and “Western” origin from around the year 800 AD.
rating
With the last excavation in 2009, datable material from around the year 800 was found. This led to the conclusion that it is the Höhbeck castle mentioned in the historical sources. The rectangular shape, which is unusual for the Elbe region, and the other archaeological evidence, especially a proven renovation of the gate after it was destroyed by fire, speak in favor of identification with the fort built by the Franks on the Höhbeck. Apparently, it was supposed to serve as a Saxon-Franconian outpost for border security against the Slavs living on the eastern side of the Elbe in conjunction with the Schwedenschanze, which is located just under a kilometer to the east . It is believed that the Saxons left the Höhbeck area in the middle of the 9th century and that it was subsequently settled by Slavs.
The fortification might have made an extraordinary impression on the people of that time. With its size of 170 × 70 meters and its location on the elevation of the Höhbeck, it protruded from the landscape. At the three-meter-deep trench and the up to six-meter-high, board-clad wall, the viewer stood in front of a nine-meter-high vertical wall. This optical effect can also be assumed from a greater distance, such as from the Elbe. The intent of the builders apparently was to demonstrate power through monumental construction.
tourism
The facility is located on the Wendland circular path and is accessible to tourists through the installation of information boards on the history and a wooden structure as a hiking shelter, which is intended to represent the former appearance as a tower. In 2017, a local politician from the Lüchow-Dannenberg district called for the Vietzer Schanze to be promoted more touristically, as it had recently received public attention through the telenovela Rote Rosen . According to the storyline, the archaeologist “Dr. Arne Fries ”( Christian Rudolf ) prove with excavations at Höhbeck that the Varus Battle did not take place in the Kalkriese region , but on the Elbe near Höhbeck.
See also
literature
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : The fort on the Höhbeck , pp. 84–86, in: If stones could talk. Volume I, Landbuch-Verlag, Hannover 1989, ISBN 3-7842-03973 .
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine : Early castles and palaces in Lower Saxony. From the beginning to the Middle Ages . 2.3.1 The castles of the Saxon Wars. Hildesheim 1995, pp. 31-36
- Thomas Saile: Early historical castle walls at Höhbeck near Lenzen In: Mamoun Fansa , Frank Both, Henning Haßmann (ed.): Archeology Land Lower Saxony. 400,000 years of history. Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch, Oldenburg 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1926-5 , pp. 562-565.
- Jens Schneeweiß: Archaeological highlights from Höhbeck. For the 1200th anniversary of its first mention. From the beginning to the Middle Ages. Nordlanddruck, Lüneburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-031553-4 .
- Jens Schneeweiß: News from Höhbeck-Kastell in: News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory , Vol. 81, 2012, pp. 81–110. ( Online )
- Jens Schneeweiß: The Hohbuoki Fort and the town of Schezla on the Elbe In: Rainer-Maria Weiss, Anne Klammt (ed.), Mythos Hammaburg , pp. 346–356. ( Online )
Web links
- Entry of Sandy Bieler about Vietzer Schanze in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Excavations at the Höhbeck fort around 2008
- Mention of the Vietzer Schanze by: Slavs on the lower Middle Elbe
- Brief description
- Lecture: Charlemagne and the Wendland from 2010 in Dannenberg
Individual evidence
- ↑ Requested: Advertisement for excavations in Vietze in Elbe-Jeetzel-Zeitung of October 19, 2017
- ↑ Christian Rudolf as Arne Fries ( Memento of the original from July 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The 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. at ard.de about Rote Rosen
Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 20.8 " N , 11 ° 25 ′ 23.4" E