Small Harzburg

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Small Harzburg
Remains of the palace of the small Harzburg

Remains of the palace of the small Harzburg

Alternative name (s): Small castle hill
State : Germany (DE)
Place: Bad Harzburg
Creation time : Around 1068
Castle type : Höhenburg , Spornburg
Conservation status: Ruin with few remains
Standing position : Reichsburg
Geographical location: 51 ° 52 '  N , 10 ° 34'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 52 '28.1 "  N , 10 ° 33' 57.5"  E
Altitude: 436  m above sea level NN
Small Harzburg (Lower Saxony)
Small Harzburg

The Kleine Harzburg is the ruin of a high medieval spur castle on a spur 300 m north of the Große Harzburg near Bad Harzburg in the Lower Saxony district of Goslar .

description

View from the Großer to the Kleiner Burgberg

The Kleine Harzburg is located on the Kleiner Burgberg , a northern sub-peak of the Großer Burgberg , with its highest point in the southwest corner. The irregular trapezoidal main Burg has an extent of about 53 x 87 m. The ring wall follows in the course of the irregular terrain edge principal buildings were based from the inside of the ring wall. In the north and east a ditch with a rampart surrounds the main castle, in the west the steep slope made a ditch superfluous. Traces of a second wall with a ditch are visible in the north 20 m below the slope. To the south of the main castle, a mighty neck ditch 15–20 m wide cuts through the ridge and the older moat. A second moat is adjacent an approximately 30 m wide Vorburg from that still has in each case to the neck trenches toward a wall. A round mound of earth to the east above the outer neck ditch possibly marks the location of a tower.

In the southeast of the castle area is large Palas of 25 × 7 m in size, which is divided by a transverse wall. A second, larger building is recorded to the north in the excavation documentation. Next to him is the well , which was cleared in 1905 to a depth of 32 m. The depressions of two cellars and a cistern can still be seen in the area . Access is from the southwest, but no gate system is visible.

The construction of the castle in two phases, assumed in earlier research, of which the second was not completed, is now doubted. To this hypothesis, it can be done by the time of the excavations in the early 20th century still imperfect excavation techniques have come.

history

There is no historical information that could expressly relate to the Kleine Harzburg. The dating and role of the castle were therefore controversial in research. The most plausible is the interpretation as a forward bastion of the Great Harzburg. It would have been created at the same time as this one under Henry IV after 1068. This is also supported by the similarities in construction technology and design. It could therefore be assumed that the Kleine Harzburg also had the status of an imperial castle. The finds suggest a short existence. No artifacts can be assigned to the period of use of the Great Harzburg under Otto IV in the beginning of the 13th century . The archaeologist Wolf-Dieter Steinmetz assumes that the castle remained desolate after the temporary abandonment of the Great Harzburg in 1076.

literature

  • Hans Adolf Schultz : The imperial fortress Harzburg. (Castles and Palaces of the Braunschweiger Land, issue 2), Braunschweig 1957, p. 22.
  • Wolf-Dieter Steinmetz : History and archeology of the Harzburg under Saliern, Staufen and Welfen 1065–1254. Bad Harzburg 2001, pp. 57-71.
  • Friedrich Stolberg: Fortifications in and on the Harz from early history to modern times: A manual. (Research and sources on the history of the Harz region 9), Hildesheim 1968, pp. 144–146.
  • Gerhard Laub: A strange melting place on the Kleiner Burgberg near Bad Harzburg. In: Harz-Zeitschrift 57 (2005), pp. 63-72.
  • Maria Kneibel-Maier: The Harzburg. In: Goslar, Bad Harzburg. (Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments 34), Mainz 1978, pp. 209–226.

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