Mönchgraben (Baabe)

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Monk's pit in Baabe
Monk's moat and fortifications at Baabe

The Mönchgraben is a medieval landwehr in Baabe on Rügen , which separated the Mönchgut peninsula from Rügen.

Location and appearance

The system was originally about 1.5 kilometers long, consisted of a wall and a ditch and ran from the Selliner See in an easterly direction to the Baltic Sea - initially in a straight line from the lake to a lowland, then slightly south to the former border of the forest and then north again. While ramparts and ditches are still preserved in the western section, a course towards the Baltic Sea is no longer recognizable. However, it is listed as continuous on the Swedish register card from 1695, which is also the oldest representation on a card, and on a Prussian general staff card from 1836.

The still preserved wall is about two to three meters high and five to seven meters wide. The trench is about two meters wide. It is assumed that both the wall and the ditch were originally much more pronounced. The only crossing was where the B 196 crosses the ditch today . At this point there is a gate today, which symbolizes the access to the monk's estate.

history

In documents from 1276 and 1295, a fortification is mentioned for the first time as the northern border of the state of Reddevitz to Rügen, which bears the name "Mönchgraben". According to legend, the trench was dug up on the orders of the Abbot of Eldena in 1295 as a mark of the outer border of the land belonging to the monastery. The Mönchgraben is named after Alfred Haas in 1295 fossatum quod vulgariter landwere appellatur (ditch commonly called Landwere) and in 1276 vetus fossatum (old ditch). After Theodor Pyl , the Mönchgraben is called the old ditch in 1252 and Landwere in 1276 .

The Mönchgraben as a defensive wall and the probable land connection between Rügen and Ruden in the 12th and 13th centuries

Contrary to the legend of the Cistercians of the Eldena monastery, the origin of the wall can probably be traced back to the Ranen . No major archaeological excavations have been carried out so far, which means that the time of origin and the original function are unknown. The wall is located north of the ditch, which means that the system - contrary to the legend - is not facing north, but south. As Schmidt notes, it is therefore strange who wanted to protect himself from whom here.

It is possible that the formerly existing land connection to Ruden and thus the geographically closed coastline to the island of Usedom could have been the cause of the construction of the Landwehr near Baabe. Pyl also suspected that the wall was built up on the instructions of the Rügen princes to repel Danish and Saxon military campaigns. In the 12th century, the Ranen achieved a naval supremacy in the southern Baltic region, which protected them from seaward attacks. The wall thus functioned as a locking bar against threats from land armies from the south, such as. B. during the campaign of Heinrich von Alt Lübeck in the winter of 1113–1114.

After it was acquired by the Eldena Monastery , the moat served as a demarcation for Mönchgut. The monastery farmers of the Mönchgut had to entertain a riding messenger on the wall every day.

literature

  • Georg Jung: embracing the sea and chalk green, Rügen from AZ. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8319-0381-8 , page 86.
  • Nils Petzholdt: The Mönchgraben near Baabe and the land connection between Rügen and the Ruden In: Pomerania. Journal of Culture and History. Issue 1/2014, ISSN  0032-4167 , pp. 4–8. or Nils Petzholdt: The Mönchgraben near Baabe and the land connection between Rügen and the Ruden In: Stralsunder Hefte für Geschichte, Kultur und everyday life, Stralsund 2014, ISBN 978-3941444928 , pp. 94–99.
  • Ingrid Schmidt: Hünengrab and sacrificial stone: soil monuments on the island of Rügen. Hinstorff, Rostock 2001, ISBN 3-356-00917-6 , page 80.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ingrid Schmidt: Hünengrab and Sacrificial Stone , Rostock 2001, page 80.
  2. ^ Alfred Haas, Fritz Worm: The Mönchgut peninsula and its residents , Stettin 1909, pages 10-11.
  3. ^ Alfred Haas: Castle walls and barrows on the island of Rügen in the folk tale , Stettin 1925, page 28.
  4. ^ Theodor Pyl: History of the Cistertienserkloster Eldena , Greifswald 1880–1881, page 336.
  5. ^ Jung: Rügen from AZ. Page 86.
  6. ↑ Ingrid Schmidt: Hünengrab and Sacrificial Stone , Rostock 2001, page 80.
  7. ↑ Nils Petzholdt: The Mönchgraben near Baabe and the land connection between Rügen and the Ruden In: Pommern. Journal of Culture and History. Issue 1/2014, ISSN  0032-4167 , pp. 4–8. or Nils Petzholdt: The Mönchgraben near Baabe and the land connection between Rügen and the Ruden In: Stralsunder Hefte für Geschichte, Kultur und everyday life, Stralsund 2014, ISBN 978-3941444928 , pp. 94–99.
  8. ^ Alfred Haas, Fritz Worm : The Mönchgut Peninsula and its residents , Stettin 1909, page 11.
  9. ↑ Helmold von Bosau: Chronik der Slaven , Stuttgart 1986, page 126.

Coordinates: 54 ° 21 ′ 49.6 "  N , 13 ° 42 ′ 20.1"  E