Lüningsburg

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Site of the Lüningsburg, today a field. In the animation, the discoloration of the floor inside the former castle is highlighted.
Soil discoloration: left light earth from the inner area of ​​the former castle, right dark earth from the wall

The Lüningsburg was an early medieval hill fort near Neustadt am Rübenberge in Lower Saxony . The 1.4 hectare ring wall used to serve as a refuge for the population . It was created on the edge of the valley above the Leine lowland. After several archaeological investigations, the area is now used as arable land and cemetery.

location

Gate of the Lüningsburg cemetery, named after the castle

The Lüningsburg is located about 2 km southeast of the city center of Neustadt am Rübenberge. In the Middle Ages it was called "Loghingeborch". The name is probably derived from its location in Loingau ( Leinegau ) on the border with Marstemgau in the south . It was built on an approximately 5 m high terrace ledge on the western edge of the Leine floodplain. Today, half of the remains of the wall are located in the Lüningsburg municipal cemetery and half in an adjacent field. The ramparts were already shown on a map of the Electoral Hanover land survey from 1782. Before the cemetery was set up, it can be clearly seen in aerial photographs from the 1970s and even in current satellite images as a dark discoloration of the ground.

description

Despite an agricultural use of the former castle grounds in the past centuries, the wall is still recognizable as a circular elevation with a diameter of about 135 m and a height of up to 2 m. The inner area is about 1.4 hectares. According to excavation findings, the ring wall was created as a wood-earth construction in at least three construction phases, in which the wall was reinforced and raised. The archaeologists were unable to date the individual phases; they may have been decades or centuries apart. In the first phase, the rampart was 4 m wide, in the second phase 8 m and finally 14 m wide. In the last expansion stage, the wall could have been up to 5 m high. The outside of the wall was clad with logs placed in front of it, so that attackers stood in front of a vertical wall. Two trenches in front of the ring wall provided further protection against attacks. The inner one was only about 1 m deep and 4 m wide. In contrast, the outer trench, around 2 m deep and 6 m wide, was designed much more complex.

During random excavations inside the ramparts, a house floor plan of 14 × 9 m was discovered. The building could be dated to the early Middle Ages on the basis of ceramic shards. Otherwise, there were only sparse traces of settlement in the interior in the form of clay , post holes and remains of stone paving. A cultural layer that would speak for a longer-term settlement was not found. Unlike many other hill forts the Lüning Castle had no outer bailey . An oxbow of the Leine, which is still a lake-like body of water today, offered natural protection to the north and east.

Excavations

Archaeological excavations took place in 1934 and 1975 and 1981/82. They brought a number of prehistoric finds to light. These included fragments of a burial, remains of urns and objects from the pre-Roman Iron Age . Other finds were a sword from the 8th century and ceramic shards from the same time. The most important find of the excavation in 1981/82 was a bronze brooch in the shape of a horse, which was made between the 9th and 10th centuries. Century was assigned. During the excavation in 1975 a gate opening of the ramparts was found. It presented itself as a 7 m long and 3.5 m wide gate chamber, the sides of which were lined with wooden planks. A 14 C dating determined the age of the wood initially to around 600 AD, according to more recent opinion not before the 10th century.

Interpretation of use

The prehistoric finds indicate that the 5 m high terrace ledge into the Leine valley was visited by people as early as the Neolithic and used as an urn cemetery in the Iron Age . It is unclear whether there was a previous system at this point at that time. The written records do not contain any information on the builders or users of the Lüningsburg. The finds led to the assumption that the complex was essentially used around the 10th century . The shape and size suggest that it was used as a refuge by the population in times of danger.

Similar fortifications in the vicinity

Fortifications of this kind were originally regarded as Saxon or Heinrichsburgen by archaeological research . The more recent research assigns the structures in the area of ​​the Central Weser and the Leine to a period from 8th to 12th centuries. Century too. 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 Lüningsburg near Neustadt am Rübenberge in: Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments, Volume 49, Part II Excursions, Mainz 1981
  • Hans-Wilhelm Heine, Norbert Steinau: The Lüningsburg near Neustadt am Rübenberge , Hanover 1985
  • Hans-Wilhelm Heine: The excavations on the Lüningsburg 1981/82 in: Excavations in Lower Saxony. Archaeological monument preservation 1979–1984. Stuttgart 1985.
  • Hans-Wilhelm Heine: The prehistoric and early historical castle walls in the administrative district of Hanover. Hannover 2000, ISBN 3-7752-5645-8 , pp. 101-107.

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 11.7 "  N , 9 ° 28 ′ 21.4"  E