Reitlingstal
Coordinates: 52 ° 12 ′ 26 " N , 10 ° 44 ′ 57" E
The Reitlingstal is a valley in the north-western part of the Elm ridge near Braunschweig and a popular destination for Elm visitors. The valley cuts from the Elmrand near Erkerode more than four kilometers to the east. On the surrounding hilltops you can find the remains of the Reitling fortifications , early historical ring walls , which probably gave the population protection in times of war until the Middle Ages .
Surname
The valley was first mentioned in a document in 1260 as Rethlinge and five years later in today's spelling as Reitling . The name derives from reid for the plant sedge from. Such stands of plants show that the valley floor with the Wabe stream flowing through it was originally swampy.
geography
description
The Reitlingstal extends almost east-west in the north-western part of the Elm . Its upper end is around 4.5 km east of Erkerode. This part of the valley is called "Hell". There the brook Wabe rises at about 227 m height , which drains the valley to the west and whose course the valley floor essentially follows. After a narrow point at the western end of “Hell”, the valley opens into an approximately 800 m wide basin, the three flanks of which are formed by the Burgberg, the Kuxberg and a western branch of the Herzberg (all a little over 300 m high). In this basin, the honeycomb has been dammed up several times to form ponds, the largest of which is called “Big Pond”. Today there is a pasture with horse stables, where a moated castle stood in the Middle Ages (see history ). To the west of the basin, the valley narrows again for around 1.5 km before it merges into the Elm region at around 150 m above sea level at Erkerode .
The Reitslingstal lies largely in the conservation area "Elm"; three smaller areas - the headwaters of the honeycomb and the fish ponds - are designated as the “Reitlingstal” nature reserve.
geology
The valley floor and the lower slopes of the Reitlingstal consist of the clayey layers of the Upper Buntsandstein ( Röt ), while the surrounding hills, like the rest of the Elm, are made up of the geologically younger limestones of the shell limestone . The formation of the valley is closely linked to the salt tectonics , which are responsible for the formation of the Elm Mountains as a whole. The valley was formed because at this point the limestones of the shell limestone were lifted furthest out of the subsoil and consequently completely eroded . The clayey layers of the Röt are far less resistant to erosion than the limestone, which is why a valley formed in them. The Reitlingstal is thus an example of relief reversal . The valley (like the Elm) received its current shape in the course of the Quaternary . The honeycomb and the streams flowing towards it played a decisive role in the creation of the valley.
tourism
The valley is used for tourism as a recreation and hiking area. It can be reached from Erkerode on a country road that runs along the honeycomb and continues into the Elm to the Tetzelstein . As in other places in the Elm, there has been a forest restaurant above the Reitlingstal since the end of the 19th century. From there you have a good view of the valley, which is one of the most popular places with Elm visitors. A 4.5 km long "Reitling nature adventure trail" with 7 adventure points begins at the car park. The path was set up by the Open-Air and Adventure Museum Ostfalen (FEMO) based in Königslutter .
history
Finds from pre- and early historic suggest time that the Reitlingstal one of the oldest settlements in Elm is. There are finds from the Old Stone Age . The Stone Age hunters are believed to have camped on the slopes of the Elm.
Prehistoric fortifications
At the end of the Reitlingstal there are the remains of the Reitling fortifications , early historical ring walls , which are also known as ramparts . The first construction phase of the plant was the pre-Roman Iron Age around the 5th century BC. BC , the La Tène period . The Middle Ages around 1300 can be considered as further construction phases. These are the following defenses:
- Krimmelburg (also castle wall) at 311 m above sea level. NN high castle hill: 2.5 ha, 300 m long, 100 m wide, with a square, trench-protected plateau 25 m long from the high Middle Ages.
- Brunkelburg (also Kuxwall) on the 306 m above sea level. NN high Kuxberg: 4 ha, 450 m length, 190 m width.
- Wendehaiwalls elongated walls 1 km north of Reitlingstal with almost leveled walls.
Archeological investigations of the ramparts were carried out randomly in 1905 and 1954/55, but they could not conclusively determine their exact function. The ramparts were not fortified permanent settlements, as hardly any remains were found inside the ramparts. Therefore, everything speaks in favor of refuges for short stays in times of war. The Reitlingstal with its fortification system probably offered the population of the western Elmvorland protection over a period of almost 1500 years in different periods.
Medieval fortifications
The “Wurtgarten”, a formerly circular rampart with a diameter of 120 m, is located on a ridge that slopes gently towards the Reitlingstal. Only the northern half of it has survived, which is now under the forest. According to excavations from 1905 and 1954/55, the complex is a defensive installation from the 9th and 10th centuries, and it was probably a refuge that was only inhabited temporarily.
In the High Middle Ages, near this area on the Wabe brook , there was a moated castle fortified with ramparts, 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. 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.
Oil drilling
From 1931 to 1934 an English drilling company carried out an unsuccessful deep drilling in the Reitlingstal to search for oil . It was a larger project on the grounds of the Lucklum manor . The drilling site on an open field was fenced in in 1931 and barracks were built to accommodate the drilling workers. Heavy machines were brought in by train and horse and cart. The derrick was powered by coal-fired steam engines, and the necessary water came from the Wabe brook running in the valley. The first search drilling was carried out in 1932 . The drilling operation ran around the clock. The ground conditions often only allowed half a meter of tunneling per day. In 1934, a depth of 1,935 meters was reached without encountering oil. Then drilling was stopped with the official reason that the diamond drill was stuck. Unofficially it was said that the English company was concerned about the 1933 seizure of power by Adolf Hitler . After that, the borehole was backfilled and iron-reinforced concrete blocks remained at the edge of the forest as the last evidence.
literature
- Richard Andree : Braunschweiger Volkskunde. Brunswick 1901
- Paul Jonas Meier and Karl Steinacker : The architectural and art monuments of the Wolfenbüttel district , Wolfenbüttel, 1906
- Heinz Röhr: The Elm. Braunschweig / Schöppenstedt 1962
- "Reitling" nature adventure trail . Open-air and adventure museum Ostfalen (FEMO), Königslutter 1998
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : Natural monuments of Lower Saxony . Hanover 1980, ISBN 3-7842-0227-6
Web links
- Nature adventure trail "Reitling" of the open-air and adventure museum Ostfalen (FEMO)
- Reitlingstal on Braunschweig tours
- Oil drilling in Reitlingstal 1931-34
- "Reitlingstal" nature reserve in the database of the Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN)
- Description of the ramparts above the Reitlingstal