Ringwall Banzer Berg

Ringwall Banzer Berg
Creation time :	8/9 century
Castle type :	Höhenburg, summit location
Conservation status:	Disappeared, ramparts and moats preserved
Place:	Bad Staffelstein - Neubanz - "Banzer Berg"
Geographical location	50 ° 8 '17.8 "  N , 10 ° 59' 49.9"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 8 '17.8 "  N , 10 ° 59' 49.9"  E
Height:	447  m above sea level NN

The ring wall Banzer Berg is an abandoned early medieval fortification on the top of the eponymous Banzer Berg, immediately north of the Banz monastery on a small mountain range between the valleys of the Main and the Itz . It is located about 4000 meters north of the town of Bad Staffelstein in the Upper Franconian district of Lichtenfels in Bavaria , Germany . No historical or archaeological information is known about this circular rampart , the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation describes it as an early medieval fortification and, due to the structural features, was probably built and used in the Carolingian period. On this mountain range south of the Banzer Berg ring wall, in the area of ​​today's Banz monastery or castle, was Banz Castle ; About three kilometers north-north-west lies the Kulch ring wall on the Kulch . Of the three fortifications, the one on the Banzer Berg is the oldest. The Steglitz castle to the west on the mountain of the same name, on the other hand, is part of a castle building attempt by the Counts of Andechs-Meranien in the 13th century. Parts of the ring wall with slope ditches and outer wall have been preserved from the facility that was destroyed in the west.

history

The fortification was archaeologically examined in 1969 by Klaus Schwarz , Head of Department B for Prehistory and Early History of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation. A two-phase wall was discovered during these excavations. In the first construction phase, a two-fronted wood-earth wall with stone facing was erected, which, however, was reinforced in a second phase by a wall that was blinded using the same technique due to the lack of stability on the steep slopes. This construction of the wall determined by Klaus Schwarz has been questioned recently.

Schwarz sees a north Main castle in the center of the Banzgau , which was built by the Counts of Schweinfurt in the 8th / 9th centuries as part of the Carolingian state expansion . Century was built. This is also confirmed by the discovery of a shard from the same time. In addition, there was also an own church of the Schweinfurters in Altenbanz , which was founded no later than the 9th century. The location of the fortification was also well chosen in terms of traffic, it was at the intersection of the two old streets from Bamberg to Erfurt and the Königsstraße leading from Frankfurt to Bohemia , which is attested as recta strata 1195 near Banz.

The complex was probably abandoned during the 10th century when the margraves of Schweinfurt built a new castle complex at the southern end of the mountain range in the area of ​​today's monastery or castle Banz.

The earlier ring wall system is registered as a ground monument D-4-5831-0056 "Ring wall of the early Middle Ages" by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation .

description

The facility with a floor area of ​​around 500 × 500 meters is located at 447  m above sea level. NN altitude and thus around 190  meters above the valley floor of the Main on the roughly triangular summit of the Banzer Berg. This falls steeply to the north, east and west to the side valleys of the Main, only at the peaks of the mountain crest in the northwest and in the south are constricted mountain saddles a few meters lower , followed by the other mountain crests of this mountain range. The approximately ten hectare ring wall, the shape of which approaches a bell , was completely destroyed in its western part by a quarry ; in the south, at the top of the bell, it is interrupted by several recent breakthroughs, which are probably also related to the quarry work . In the northeast, east and southeast parts of the wall is well preserved, it lies on the edge of the natural step of the hill. In front of it is a sloping ditch five to seven meters deeper on the outside, in front of which there is a wall. This is still clearly recognizable on the north side, the middle of the east side and on the northeast tip. The previous access can no longer be reliably located.

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. 96-98.
• 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 , pp. 181-183.
• Klaus Schwarz: The prehistoric and early historical monuments in Upper Franconia . (Material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series B, volume 5). Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz 1955, pp. 161–162.

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. 98
2. ↑ Source history: Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archäologische Streifzüge im Meranierland am Obermain - A guide to archaeological and monuments of the early and high Middle Ages , p. 98
3. ↑ List of monuments for Bad Staffelstein (PDF) at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (PDF; 201 kB)
4. ↑ Location of the ring wall in the Bavaria Atlas
5. ↑ 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. 96 f.