Hinterer Schlossberg (Mering)

The ring wall Hinterer Schlossberg is located at the southern end of the Hartwald near the Merching district of Hochdorf in the Aichach-Friedberg district in Swabia . The rampart is called an early Celtic (400–800 BC). dated, but in its final stage of development could also have served as an early medieval Hungarian defense castle .

description

The castle wall is about 1.5 kilometers southeast of the Vorderen Schlossberg on a low hill, only about ten meters above the valley floor. The floor plan is approximately pentagonal with rounded corners. The gate was on the west side, the short gate cheeks bend inward like pincers.

The southern part, which today is densely covered with young forest, is best preserved. The rampart fortification corresponds to that of the Vorderen Schlossberg . The approximately five meters wide and on average 1.5 meters deep ditch is in front of an earth wall - about four meters high. During an excavation in the 19th century, a dry stone wall made of mud bricks is said to have been found within the earth fill. Inwardly, the wall raises the ground by around 1.5 meters.

The northern half was probably already severely disturbed by clearing work in the 19th century or earlier and is still largely free of trees after a wind break.

Here the crest of the wall lies behind a step - up to five meters wide - in the upper wall section. However, this berm seems to be due to the forestry measures, the wall construction probably originally corresponded to that of the southern part.

The time of the moats visible today is unclear. However, the well-preserved southern part and the similarity to the Vorderen Schloßberg suggest an early medieval dating. However, the castle square itself has been in use since the Latène period . Traces of settlement from the Roman Empire were located below the complex (BLfD: Monument number D 7-7732-0027)

The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments records the ground monument as a ring wall of prehistoric times under the monument number D 7-7732-0002.

Time and purpose

Just a few kilometers southeast of Mittelstetten is another similar weir system on a hill ( Mittelstetten ring wall ). About eight kilometers to the north, the earthworks of the ring wall in Ottmaringer Holz, interpreted as a Hungarian period by the land monument preservation department, can be traced. The "Hintere Schlossberg" could have been a member of the Hungarian fortress system on the Lechrain in its last expansion stage , which Widukind von Corvey already mentioned in his chronicle. The "Vordere Schlossberg" is also assigned to this type of castle.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation: Entry ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. 

Coordinates: 48 ° 15 ′ 0 ″  N , 11 ° 2 ′ 15 ″  E