Sassenburg (castle)
| Sassenburg | ||
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 Drawing of the complex from 1905, the outer bailey on the left, the ring wall on the right |
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| Alternative name (s): | Balkenbarg, Balkenburg | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg, moth | |
| Place: | Dannenbüttel | |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 29 '46.4 " N , 10 ° 36' 33.5" E | |
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The Sassenburg , including bar Barg or Balkburg called, was one of a rampart existing lowland castle in Lower Saxony . It was located south of the Aller near Dannenbüttel within the Allertal nature reserve between Gifhorn and Wolfsburg . The area belongs to the urban area of Gifhorn , the center of which is four kilometers away.
Verifiable knowledge about their origin, duration and function are not yet known. The neighboring community of Sassenburg , founded in 1974, was named after the complex .
description
The remains of the fortifications are to the west of Dannenbüttel and south of B 188 and Aller. You are on a flat sand dune in the lowlands of the meandering Aller. A bend in the river now flows around the ramparts in the east and north. According to a description from 1836, the ring wall had a diameter of 200 paces, which corresponds to about 60 meters. In 1965 the wall was still 2.50 to 3.50 m high. In 1905, the prehistorian and castle researcher Carl Schuchhardt drew the complex and published it in the 1916 atlas of prehistoric fortifications in Lower Saxony. Today the complex is a semicircular elevation overgrown with pines and ferns . The entire area has an irregular character with small elevations and valleys. A wall is no longer recognizable. Immediately to the west, a bailey is suspected in the likewise raised and fern-covered area .
function
As no archaeological investigation has yet taken place, details of the time of origin and the function of the fortification are not known. Because of the location in the swampy river valley, there is the possibility of a refuge for the population in the old Saxon times around the 8th century. Another possibility is the function as a smaller aristocratic residence in the Middle Ages , a view that Carl Schuchhardt shared at the beginning of the 20th century. He saw it as an early medieval aristocratic residence and compared the Sassenburg with the ring wall of Burg . According to recent assumptions, a moth on a mound of earth is assumed inside the wall , according to which the complex can be dated to the 12th to 13th centuries. Another assumption is that there was a ford through the Aller near the facility . This is where a bridge now crosses the river.
history
There is no historical tradition for the fortification; its name as Sassenburg is based on an old field name . By the residents of Dannenbüttel, however, the place was called Balkenbarg or Balkburg, as in their opinion the real Sassenburg should have been located on the heights of the Aller Urstromtal near Westerbeck.
During the Lower Saxony regional and administrative reform in 1974, six previously independent municipalities around Westerbeck merged to form the municipality of Sassenburg. She named herself after the fortification. The community created a coat of arms based on the Sassenburg , which shows a golden castle tower with a silver gate surrounded by a palisade wall . The coat of arms of the village of Westerbeck also includes a palisade, which, according to the description of the coat of arms, stands for an old Saxon defense system on the Aller. Saxons were the builders of the Sassenburg, although there is no evidence for this interpretation.
literature
- Sigrun Ahlers: Topographical-archaeological investigations into prehistoric and early historical fortifications in the districts of Gifhorn, Helmstedt and Wolfenbüttel and in the urban district of Wolfsburg , (dissertation), Hamburg, 1988
Web links
- Entry by Stefan Eismann and Christian Frey zu Sassenburg in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Sassenburg or Balkburg in the Lower Saxony Monument Atlas
- Description of the system at the museums of the Gifhorn district