Riding attachments

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The Reitling fortifications are several ring walls and ramparts on the hilltops and in the lowlands of the Reitlingstal in the Lower Saxon Elm ridge, about 20 km southeast of Braunschweig . These are the remains of defensive structures from different phases of development. As an early historical facility, they began around the 5th century BC. And ended with centuries of non-use in the Middle Ages around 1300. The purpose of the refuges was to protect the population in times of war. In addition, there was a medieval moated castle in the valley floor that no longer exists.

Map of Reitlingstal (colored green) with the prehistoric fortifications (brown)

Prehistoric fortifications

The prehistoric ramparts above the Reitlingstal skilfully nestle against the topography, especially when using a triangular terrain spur of the "Brunkelburg". The builders made extremely clever use of the existing terrain. The saved material and labor. With a height difference of around 7 m from the crest of the rampart to the bottom of the trench, the ramparts are still of considerable size. The facilities are not signposted. Finding them is made easier by using forest roads that cut through the ramparts.

Krimmelburg

Wall of the Krimmelburg, steep slope on the left
View from the ditch, to the left the wall
Breakthrough of the wall through a modern forest path

The Krimmelburg, also known as the castle wall, is located at about 312  m above sea level. NHN high castle hill. It protrudes about 100 m over the Reitlingstal. With the dimensions of 300 m length and 100 m width it has an area of ​​2.5 ha. The wall height is up to 4.6 m with a trench depth of up to 2.6 m. The complex is reinforced on three sides by a wall with a moat. One side is on a steep slope that gives natural protection.

During the excavations in 1905 and 1954/55, three separate phases of construction of the ramparts and a further phase of use were found. In the first two construction phases, the walls were piled up with marl material. Palisades must have stood on some wall sections. Find material was ceramic shards from the pre-Roman Iron Age. The use ended in the 1st century BC. Traces of a third building phase were only found from the early Middle Ages in the 7th and 8th centuries. Stones were used for the construction of the wall, from which a dry stone wall was created on the wall. The last phase of use took place in the High Middle Ages around 1300. There was an installation inside the Krimmelburg. A square, trench-protected plateau with a side length of 25 m was created. Based on the findings in this facility (roof tiles, horseshoes), research sees the guard station of a mounted unit of the Teutonic Knight Order, which operated a farm not far in Reitlingstal.

  • Krimmelburg with a retrofitted, square plateau

  • Section through the wall and moat of the Krimmelburg

Brunkelburg

Brunkelburg, on the right wall rest on the slope
View from the valley to the Kuxberg with Brunkelburg

The Brunkelburg lies at 306 m above sea level. NN high Kuxberg and is sometimes referred to as Kuxwall. The elevation is on the side of the Reitlingstal, which is opposite the Burgberg with the Krimmelburg. With a length of 450 m and a width of up to 190 m, the facility has an internal area of ​​around 4 hectares. It is located on a pointed mountain spur that leads down to the top. For the most part, the steeply sloping side surfaces today only contain walls that have been preserved at a low height. The approximately 190 m long side on the plateau has been protected with a double wall-ditch system. The height of the rampart is still around 4 m, the trench is around 2 m deep. The remains of a main and a secondary gate were found in this wall section.

Other components of the system are three individual walls that lead from the castle down into the Reitlingstal. They are only preserved at a low height of half a meter. During the archaeological investigations of 1905, a rampart led through the entire valley floor to the opposite elevation on which the Krimmelburg lies. It is therefore assumed that it was a barrier wall that shielded the basin from the outside.

Today's findings on the Brunkelburg are based solely on the excavation of 1905. As with the Krimmelburg, several construction phases were determined. The start of construction on the complex was dated to the earlier pre-Roman Iron Age due to a bronze ring found. At first there was only a 1 m high embankment as embankment and a 1 m deep trench. In the second construction phase, the wall was raised to 2 m and received a picket fence. In the third phase, the fortification was reinforced by an additional outer wall and an imposing trench 11 m wide.

  • Brunkelburg on a pointed mountain spur

  • Section through the wall and moat of the Brunkelburg

Wendehai ramparts

Wendehai ramparts

The Wendehaiwalls are two elongated walls that are about 1 km north of the Reitlingstal in the forest. They run parallel at a distance of about 100 m. When the site was first surveyed at the end of the 19th century, they were still around 500 m in length; today they are much shorter and largely leveled. It was named after the Wendehai forest area there. The finds made in 1905 indicated that the ramparts were built during the Latène period . They probably served as an obstacle to the approach of the Krimmelburg and also to secure access to a spring from the castle.

Excavation history

Research into riding school fortifications began in the last years of the 19th century. The engineer P. Kahle and the historian H. Lühmann had measured the geological formations of the Reitlingstal and also recorded the fortifications. The maps produced at that time are still valid today. The aroused interest in the historical grounds led to the first archaeological excavation in 1905, which concerned the Krimmelburg, the Brunkelburg, the Wurtgarten and the Wendehai ramparts. The Braunschweig History Association had commissioned Lühmann to do this. Most of the finds made at that time have been lost and have not been evaluated. Lühmann only published his findings in 1927.

The Braunschweig regional archaeologist Alfred Tode carried out an excavation in the Krimmelburg and Wurtgarten in 1954/55. No further excavations were originally planned. Therefore, today's findings on the Reitling fortifications are based on two excavations.

Excavation results

View from the Krimmelburg to the Reitlingstal , on the left the Großer Teich , on the right Weidehof Reitling, formerly a medieval castle

The previous, random sample excavations could not conclusively determine the exact function of the facilities. It is certain that they were built in several construction phases over a period of several centuries. This could be seen from the temporally separated marl fillings of the walls. Found dry stone walls show that the facilities did not only consist of earth walls, but were also secured with walls and probably also by hedges and palisades .

The oldest finds made during the excavations are shards from the younger pre-Roman Iron Age around the 3rd century BC. BC, the Latène period . The Middle Ages of the 8th to 10th centuries come into question as a further construction phase. The last construction project was a square complex within the wall of the "Krimmelburg", which dates from around the 13th century.

Function determination

The low density of finds inside the ramparts indicates that the ramparts were not permanent settlements. Therefore, they were probably refuges for short stays in times of war. The Reitlingstal with its fortification system probably offered the population of the western Elmvorland protection in a period of almost 1,500 years in different periods. Cattle herds could also be accommodated in the extensive basin. However, there is also a theory that assumes a cultic background of the ramparts.

Quotes for function interpretation

Archaeologists involved in investigations and excavations had this to say about the ramparts:

"According to the current state of research, there is a high probability that an older core recognizable in the ramparts represents an old community castle from the time of the birth of Christ ... Everything speaks for the fact that the ... ramparts were old Germanic people's castles"

- Alfred Tode 1956

"If this confirms that this main castle was built in the late Latène period , there is a possibility that it formed an oppidum together with the southern main castle , which should have a special meaning in this border area between Teutons and Celts."

- Alfred Tode 1958

"Two castles in the Elm have occasionally been interpreted as Celtic structures, but they have never been extensively investigated and the finds are too sparse to support this assumption."

- Gesine Schwarz-Mackensen 2001

Medieval fortifications

Wurtgarten

Cut wall of the Wurtgarten

The Wurtgarten is located on a ridge that slopes gently towards the Reitlingstal. It was a ring wall with a diameter of 120 m and an area of ​​1.2 hectares. Only the northern half of it remains, which is now under forest. The southern half, on which there is now a field, was leveled in the middle of the 19th century for agricultural reasons. The remaining, semicircular piece of rampart has a height of 2 m and the ditch depth 1.5 m. The wall was crowned by a 1.5 m thick stone wall. The name Wurtgarten goes back to the historical field name “Würzegarten” or “Wötegarten”, as a garden was probably operated in the ramparts during modern times .

Excavations took place in the Wurtgarten in 1905 and in 1954/55. The defensive system is to be assigned to the time of the 9th and 10th centuries with its circular ramparts, and it was probably a refugee castle . Due to its location on the hillside ( Hangburg ), it differs significantly from the surrounding Reitling fortifications, which are located on the summit.

  • Wurtgarten with the northern half still preserved

  • Section through the wall and moat of the Wurtgarten

Reitlingstal moated castle

Vorwerk Reitling 1901

At the bottom of the Reitlingstal on the Wabe brook there was a moated castle fortified with ramparts in the High Middle Ages, which was owned by the Bishop of Halberstadt . Until the middle of the 13th century it was enfeoffed to the Knights of Asseburg , but in 1260 it was transferred to the Teutonic Knight Order . A short time later, the order relocated its administrative headquarters to Lucklum, a few kilometers away, and turned the castle into an outbuilding . This agricultural enterprise cultivated the arable land on the valley floor and carp was kept in the ponds built up from the honeycomb. Over time, the swampy floodplain of the honeycomb was reclaimed. In the Middle Ages, the usable arable land in the valley was insufficient for the construction of a village. Today the old half-timbered buildings form a pasture for horses. They were probably built in the 18th century on the foundations of the old castle complex. In 1840 the ramparts around the Vorwerk were leveled.

More Elm castles

On the wooded ridge of the Elm , other medieval castle locations have been identified in various places :

  • At the former settlement of Langeleben , the gable wall of a moated castle has been preserved on a hill protected by ditches .
  • Warburg Castle was a high-medieval hilltop castle of a noble family on the eastern slope of the Elm. According to tradition, it was stormed and violently destroyed in 1200, which is confirmed by archaeological research in the 1960s.

literature

  • Richard Andree : Braunschweiger Volkskunde , Braunschweig, 1901
  • Paul Jonas Meier and Karl Steinacker : The architectural and art monuments of the Wolfenbüttel district , Wolfenbüttel, 1906
  • Heinz Röhr: The Elm Braunschweig and Schöppenstedt, 1962
  • Hans Adolf Schultz : Castles and palaces of the Braunschweiger Land , Braunschweig, 1980, The riding castles “Wurtgarten” “Krimmelburg” “Brunkelburg” “Das Vorwerk” , pp. 54–56.
  • Lutz Grunwald: Protection and defiance in an impressive manner - the fortifications in Reitlingstal , in: News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory , 2003

Web links

Commons : Reitlingsbefestigungen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Reitlingsbefestigung im Elm - Part 1: The Krimmelburg on YouTube , May 7, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 (history and stories in Braunschweiger Land, 12:36 minutes).
  2. ↑ The Reitlingsbefestigungen im Elm - Part 2: The Brunkelburg on YouTube , May 11, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 (history and stories in the Braunschweiger Land, 36:32 minutes).
  3. ↑ The Reitlingsbefestigung im Elm - Part 3: Der Wurtgarten on YouTube , May 20, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 (history and stories in Braunschweiger Land, 10:49 minutes).
  4. ↑ The Reitlingsbefestigung im Elm - Part 4: The Vorwerk on YouTube , June 5, 2020, accessed on June 5, 2020 (history and stories in Braunschweiger Land, 12:32 minutes).

Coordinates: 52 ° 12 ′ 42 ″  N , 10 ° 44 ′ 46 ″  E