Ringwall Gickelsburg

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Ringwall Gickelsburg
Wall with stone decorations

Wall with stone decorations

Creation time : Late Hallstatt period
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Burgstall
Place: Friedrichsdorf
Geographical location 50 ° 16 '7.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 20.7"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 16 '7.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 20.7"  E
Height: 470.9  m above sea level NN
Ringwall Gickelsburg (Hesse)
Ringwall Gickelsburg

The ring wall Gickelsburg is a Celtic ring wall system , which is assigned to the late Hallstatt period . It is located on the mountain called Gickelsburg about 1.0 km east of the Saalburg fort near Friedrichsdorf in the Hessian Hochtaunuskreis . The Burgstall is now a ground monument .

Location and description

The facility encloses the top of the Gickelburg. Except to the west, all sides of the mountain drop steeply. To the west, there is a flat transition to the Fröhischemannskopf. This location suggests that there was only access to the facility from here.

Local information on the system

The facility, which is completely in the forest, is oval in shape and covers an area of ​​around 1.6 hectares. The system is approx. 100 m wide in the north-south direction and approx. 175 m in the west-east direction. In the direction of the flat north-west or west side, which is critical from a defense point of view, a wall with an associated ditch with a total length of approx. 170 m is in front. This upstream trench has a width of 6.0 to 6.5 m and a depth of 1.5 m to 2.0 m. The sole is approx. 2.0 m wide. The wall consisted of a dry stone wall . Remains of the wooden reinforcement inserts were found at a distance of 2.0 m. It is assumed that the rampart was built after the main rampart. This upstream wall is followed by a 6.0 m to 7.0 m wide kennel . This is then followed by the main wall.

The main wall also consisted of a 4.2 m wide dry stone wall. In contrast to the matrix, there was no evidence of wood reinforcement.

In the north of the main wall, the entrance was in the form of an overlapping wall section.

A narrow annex connected to the complex in the southeast . However, this annex can no longer be identified today.

One of the decorations

In today's representation, local signs prompted people to build stone towers and other works of art with the stones lying around. Accordingly, there are many such decorations on the complex. Extensive sidewalks and walls are also marked with stone laying. However, these probably do not correspond to the historical representation.

Research history and findings

Before specific research was carried out on the rampart, it was used as a quarry . In 1875 small excavations were carried out on the wall under Karl August von Cohausen , as well as in 1896 by Louis Jacobi . The annex was discovered in Cohausen's time. There were more extensive investigations under Christian Ludwig Thomas in 1912. These excavations produced extensive finds from the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods . At that time, the erosion as a result of the use of the quarry was already so severe that the annex could no longer be traced. Based on the find situation, it is now assumed that it will be used as a fortified hilltop settlement.

Monument protection

The area of ​​the ramparts is a ground monument according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

literature

  • Bavarian Land Surveying Office Munich (Ed.): Topographical map. Federal Republic of Germany. TK 50. Sheet: 5716. Oberreifenberg. Standard edition, 2nd edition, comprehensive update 2008, individual results 1/2009. Bayerisches Landesvermessungsamt - State Office for Surveying and Geoinformation Bavaria, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-89446-326-7 .
  • Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann , Albrecht Jockenhövel et al. (Hrsg.): The prehistory of Hesse. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0458-6 .
  • Christian Ludwig Thomas : The Gickelsburg next to the Saalburg. In: Saalburg yearbook. 3, 1912, ISSN  0080-5157 , pp. 112-127.
  • Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann : The prehistoric finds and the site monuments of the Obertaunus and Usingen districts. A catalog. In: Saalburg yearbook. 17, 1958, pp. 13-46, here pp. 34f.

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