Abtenberg ring wall

Abtenberg ring wall
Creation time :	Early medieval
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Wall and moat remains
Place:	Community-free area Breitengüßbacher Forst - "Abtenberg"
Geographical location	50 ° 2 '46.3 "  N , 10 ° 54' 12.8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 2 '46.3 "  N , 10 ° 54' 12.8"  E
Height:	360.8  m above sea level NN

The small early medieval ring wall Abtenberg lies on a spur hilltop of the Abtenberg in the community-free area of Breitengüßbacher Forst between the valleys of the Itz and Mains . It is located 1350 meters east of the Kuratiekirche Mariae Himmelfahrt von Medlitz in the Upper Franconian district of Lichtenfels in Bavaria , Germany .

Time and purpose

The layout of the small refuge could point to an origin in the Carolingian - Ottonian period. However, the history of such fortifications or fortified settlement areas mostly goes back to prehistoric epochs. Since no archaeological artifacts have been found in the area of ​​the ring wall so far , an early medieval dating must remain speculative for the time being.

It would be conceivable, for example, to function as a village protective castle against the incursions of the Magyars (first half of the 10th century). The ground monument may indicate a regional conflict between the West Slavic Main-Rednitz-Wends and Germanic settlers who lived there. A dispute between the old Thuringian population and the Franks advancing from the west in the Main Valley should also be considered.

When Konrad Radunz cut a wall in 1959, the remains of a dry stone wall were found. No other finds from the complex are known. The fortification is dated to the Carolingian-Ottonian age due to its structural features such as the dry masonry and the moat in front of the wall. The ring wall is located on an old road , the Hohe Straße from Bamberg to Thuringia, an important medieval traffic connection.

The ring wall is registered as a ground monument D-4-5931-0030 "early medieval ring wall" by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation .

description

The ring wall is located on a spur crest of the Abtenberg facing southwest at 360.8  m above sea level. NN height and thus around 110  meters above the valley floor of the Main. Except for the hilltop at 366.6  m above sea level. NN slightly rising side in the northeast, the remaining sides drop steeply to the valley and were naturally well protected. The ring wall, which adapts to the spur's crest, is roughly rectangular-oval in shape and covered an area of ​​110 by 87 meters. The wall is relatively poorly preserved and heavily sanded, it only reaches a height of around one meter and a width of four meters. From the inside of the facility, the wall only reaches a height of 0.3 meters, in the west it is only preserved as the edge of the terrain, on the north-west side it is completely exposed in places. On the attack side in the northeast, where the adjoining ridge is slightly constricted and sinks a few meters and then rises again to the summit of the Abtenberg, the wall was also preceded by a shallow, approximately two to three meter wide ditch, which with the wall section at the northeast corner was destroyed by a sand pit.

literature

• Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archaeological Forays in Meranierland am Obermain - A guide to archaeological and monuments of the early and high Middle Ages . 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. District of Upper Franconia, Bayreuth 2006, ISBN 3-9804971-7-8 , pp. 76-77.
• Björn-Uwe Abels : Guide to archaeological monuments in Bavaria, Franconia Volume 2: Archaeological Guide Upper Franconia . Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0373-3 , p. 116.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archaeological Forays in Meranierland am Obermain - A Guide to Archaeological and Monuments of the Early and High Middle Ages , p. 76
2. ↑ List of monuments for the Breitengüßbach Forest (PDF) at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (PDF; 65 kB)
3. ↑ Location of the ring wall in the Bavaria Atlas
4. ↑ Source description: Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archaeological Wanderings in Meranierland am Obermain - A Guide to Archaeological and Monuments of the Early and High Middle Ages , p. 76