Ottersleben megalithic grave
The Ottersleben Hünengrab was a prehistoric burial complex west of the Magdeburg district of Ottersleben . The grave complex no longer exists. However, the name megalithic tomb has been retained as a field name for the area.
location
The barrow was on a hill on the eastern edge of the Magdeburg Börde . The hill is of Ice Age origin and has a height of 121.6 meters above sea level . The hill is north of a field path, the extended Königstraße, also called Hohendodelebener Graseweg here. To the west of the area runs the federal highway 14 , to the north and east of the Hängelsberge landfill site .
history
There is no longer any information about the original appearance of the tomb. In the Chronicle of Ottersleben , written by Christian Peicke in 1902, it is described that the stones of the graves were already used as curbstones in Ottersleben in the past . Ash vessels found were probably also lost. A stone ax found on the megalithic grave came into the possession of the former Natural History Museum in Magdeburg .
In the vicinity of the megalithic burial area, a sand pit was created in which molding sand was extracted for use in Magdeburg foundries . Since the soil of the surrounding area is not very fertile, there was only limited agricultural use. In the western part there is a 20 cm thick layer of humus on loamy fine sand, which is in turn on a layer of rubble . In the eastern part the culture layer is only three to five cm thick. The area was therefore only used as a sheep pasture . The western part was also used as arable land for a time, until around 1948. Another sand pit to the north of the megalithic grave was filled with mother earth by the Ottersleben people's estate in the 1960s and incorporated into the adjacent fields.
During the Second World War , an anti-aircraft battery was installed on the elevation as part of Magdeburg's air defense . In April 1945 there was fighting with the US troops advancing from the west towards Langenweddingen . Several of the young flak helpers who died in the process are buried in the Ottersleber cemetery.
With the end of agricultural use after 1945, the area of the megalithic grave degenerated into a wild garbage dump . An attempt by the farmer Georg Prescher to grow giant honey clover there in the 1950s failed. In 1971 the Jagdgesellschaft Südwest managed to induce the city of Magdeburg to clear the area. The illegal garbage was shoved together with a dumper and taken away. The hunting party planted bushes, especially bladder bushes . Conservation workers, beekeepers and hunters then took an initiative to transform the area into a field wood. Further plantings took place from 1972. Among other things, bladder bush, field maple , mock indigo , blackthorn and sugar maple were planted. In the spring of 1974 linden , locust and snowberries were added. This was supported by the local LPG Freie Erde , which had been obliged to plant replacement trees due to illegal felling of poplars on the Wiesengraben. In 1975 several thousand pine seedlings were planted after there had been major losses in the seedlings . In the following years the plantings, including poplars, were continued. In 1988 there were temporary plans to remove the wood and build a pit there for the storage of faeces from the Magdeburg city drainage system. However, protests from the population and those who had previously been active in the creation of the field prevented the planning from being implemented. However, there were still problems caused by illegal private garbage dumping, which also included various wrecked cars.
The woody barrow served as a habitat for small game , pheasant , partridge and songbirds. In 1993 a nightingale was observed. Then, however, there were significant further interventions in the landscape of the surrounding area. The landfill to the north was renovated and rebuilt. Larger amounts of excavated material were deposited on the edge of the wood. With the construction of the A 14, large amounts of gravel, sand and clay were removed south of the wood, so that a deep depression was created that reaches down to the water table. At times, a water surface is exposed there. There was a lowering of the groundwater. A bypass road for Ottersleben was built a little further to the east. Overall, the landscape has been heavily used, which severely limits the ecological value of the area and also its suitability as a recreational area for people.
literature
- H. Wieduwillt, The district "Hünengrab" near Ottersleben , Citizens for Ottersleben eV 1997
Coordinates: 52 ° 5 '38.2 " N , 11 ° 32' 1.6" E