Isenburg (Landringhausen)
| Isenburg | ||
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 Arable land under which the remains of the Isenburg lie |
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| Alternative name (s): | Ysenburg | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall | |
| Place: | Barsinghausen - Landringhausen | |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 21 '53.3 " N , 9 ° 26' 43.1" E | |
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The Isenburg, formerly also known as Ysenburg , was an early medieval hill fort , which was located in the district near Barsinghausen - Landringhausen and Groß Munzel in the Hanover region . The ring wall , which was built in a swampy valley in the 10th to 11th centuries , probably served as a refuge . Its remains were completely leveled above ground in the 19th century for use as arable land . Only an excavation in 1982/83 gave more detailed information about the structure and the period of origin.
location
The former fortification is located in a field about 2 km west of Groß Munzel and about 1.5 km northwest of Barsinghausen-Landringhausen. The area now used for agricultural purposes is around 250 m east of the BAB 2 and a few meters east of the Büntebach. The ramparts are located on a spur-like elevation in the ground that rises 1.5 m above the surrounding area. This used to be a damp depression that offered the facility natural protection. Today the original landscape with its swampy meadows has been transformed into dry arable land by drainage and canalized streams.
history
The ring wall system with a rectangular outer bailey can be found in field and forest maps from the 18th century, in which it is referred to as the "Old Castle". At that time it was within the Sundern wooded area , which saved it from destruction. As part of the land consolidation around 1860, the forest was converted into arable land. The walls were leveled and the trenches filled in so that hardly any remains could be found. In 1870 a local researcher described the complex, which he still knew with a wall and a ditch in front of it. In the written tradition there are no references to the builders, who probably belonged to the regional nobility. In times of danger, the population of the area with their cattle was the user of the fortification, which was apparently only temporarily inhabited as a refuge. The date of origin of the facility, determined by an excavation (see there), falls into the period of the Hungarian invasions in the 10th century. It could have served as protection from it. Its construction is also conceivable due to the Viking invasions during this time.
Rediscovery and excavation
Due to its leveling in the 19th century, the complex did not appear in relevant literature on castle and fortifications. It was not until 1931 that archeologists from Hanover visited the complex at the instigation of a local homeland researcher. Wall remnants were recognized. In 1981 experts carried out another site inspection with strong oblique light. In connection with aerial photographs of the national survey , the floor plan of the facility emerged clearly. An excavation took place in 1982/83 in order to gain knowledge before further destruction through agricultural use. During the excavation, no solid material was found from the original wooden parts of the structure. The wood had completely dissolved in the ground and only ground discoloration could be determined. Nevertheless, this material was sufficient for radiocarbon dating, according to which the facility was built between 920 and 1050. A phosphate mapping did not reveal any evidence of more intensive or permanent settlement inside the facility.
Building description
The excavation and the aerial photos gave a picture of the earlier construction of the ramparts. It consisted of a circular rampart as the main castle with a diameter of 75 m and a width of 9.5 m at the base. The size of the walled inner space was around 0.5 ha. To the south was a rectangular outer bailey 110 m long and 100 m wide with a usable area of around 0.8 ha. The ramparts of the main castle were made in a more elaborate wood-earth construction. The front of the wall consisted of a wooden shell-box construction with tree trunks and processed wooden planks. This around 3.5 m high vertical double wooden wall prevented the intrusion of attackers. The rampart of the outer bailey only had a simple wooden wall. The bottom ditch around the ramparts was about 6 m wide and around 2.5 m deep.
Construction time calculation
A subsequent model calculation of the work involved showed that the fortification system could be built by 100 workers in around 150 days with 10 hours of daily work. This represented a relatively short construction time compared with similar systems. During the earthworks for the Isenburg, the builders had to pile up around 400–500 m of wall and dig trenches of the same length. This required around 2,700 daily works of 10 hours each. The woodwork was significantly more complex because the trees first had to be felled and in some cases converted into planks. The effort for this was calculated with around 11,700 daily work.
Similar fortifications in the vicinity
- In the plane:
- Lüningsburg near Neustadt am Rübenberge
- Düsselburg near Rehburg
- In height:
- Heisterburg near Lauenau - Feggendorf
- Wirkesburg near Lauenau-Feggendorf
- Barenburg near Eldagsen
- Heisterschlösschen near Beckedorf
- Kukesburg near Springe -Altenhagen
- Bennigser Castle near Bredenbeck- Steinkrug
- Sachsenwall near Nordstemmen
At the Isenburg there was no stone wall, but a wood-earth construction. Fortifications like the ones listed above were originally viewed by archaeological research as Saxon or Heinrichsburgen (after Heinrich the Vogler ). The more recent research assigns the structures in the area of the Central Weser and the Leine to a period from the 8th to the 12th century. Due to the lack of settlement, the facilities are likely to have only been used sporadically and have served as refuges. In the case of the facilities in the Deister area (Wirkesburg, Bennigser Burg, Heisterschlösschen) it is typical that they were built on sloping mountain ridges and near a stream.
literature
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine : The Isenburg near Landringhausen. In: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 3/1983.
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine: The Isenburg near Landringhausen (city Barsinghausen, Ldkr. Hannover) - an early medieval castle in the Calenberger Land. In: News from Lower Saxony's prehistory , Hildesheim 1985.
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine: The excavations on the Isenburg 1982/83. In: Excavations in Lower Saxony. Archaeological monument preservation 1979–1984. K. Theiss, Stuttgart 1985.
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine: Castles around 1000 between the Middle Weser and Leine. In: Klaus Günther (Ed.): Monastery church, castle chapel, family grave? Results of the interdisciplinary colloquium at the Wittekindsburg. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 1999, pp. 21–32 ( PDF; 502 kB ).
- Hans-Wilhelm Heine: The prehistoric and early historical castle walls in the administrative district of Hanover. Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 2000, ISBN 3-7752-5645-8 , pp. 98-100.