Struvenburg
| Struvenburg | ||
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 View from the Ziegenberg to the Struvenberg , at the western end of which (outside the picture) are the remains of the Struvenburg |
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| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Earth walls | |
| Place: | Gasoline electrode | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 50 '1.7 " N , 10 ° 52' 24.6" E | |
| Height: | 285.8 m above sea level NN | |
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The Struvenburg was a medieval castle in Benzingerode in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt . Only a few earth walls are evidence of the hilltop castle today, and very little is known about them. Her name is probably derived from the adjective struf = scruffy or uneven.
Geographical location
The castle complex was directly east of Benzingerode, an eastern part of the city of Wernigerode . It was located on the 285.8 m high western part of the limestone ridge of the Struvenberg ( 305.7 m ) north of the Harz in the Harz foreland, which descends to the village of Benzingerode and to the southeast through the Ziegenberg ( 315.7 m ) with the nature reserve Ziegenberg continues at Heimburg . The ascent to the castle was made from the western side (village side).
investment
While a steep slope with a slope of 60 ° offered natural protection on the south side in the direction of the Harz Mountains , the other sides were protected by straight ramparts with ditches .
The ramparts, which can still be seen today, clearly show the two adjacent rectangular castle complexes , of which the eastern one is to be understood as the main castle due to the deeper ditch in front of it and the higher rampart .
The entire facility was around 350 x 90 m in size. The dimensions of the main castle were around 70 × 100 m, those of the outer castle around 50 to 70 × 135 m. Another Vorwerk with a length of about 70 m lay on the outer western slope of the ridge.
The Struvenburg was a typical resin for Wallburg .
Research history
Stübner, a chronicler of the Principality of Blankenburg, describes the location of the Struvenburg in 1788 as follows:
“If you climb the mountain from the north side, you can see remains of masonry in sections at a low altitude, further up features of the fencing of a garden, even higher up a moat with masonry. Towards morning (east) you can see a longer moat and traces of a large building and tower, furthermore several building departments surrounded by a moat. From this point you climb the highest height of the mountain where the castle stood. The palace square was built on with many buildings and enclosed by a wall. "
There is no precise written record of the age of the castle. Due to the rectangular floor plan and some finds, the age can be roughly determined. Paul Grimm was of the opinion that with the surface finds made on the Struvenburg from the Neolithic , the Bronze Age and z. T. from the imperial era, the Struvenburg was first a more or less fortified hilltop settlement. There are fragments that cannot be precisely dated. It remains to be seen whether they belong to the 8th or 9th century and were perhaps a remnant of a fleeting presence of Saxon warriors in the course of Charlemagne's Saxon War .
Erich Schafranek, on the other hand, writes in hiking booklet No. 77 Blankenburg and the surrounding area about the age of the castle, that it was a Franconian, square refuge with a large floor area and is said to have been built around 700. He was of the opinion that the castle was abandoned 300 years later after the Ottonians had built the nearby Derenburg in the 10th century .
Another source reports that the Knights of Benzingerode resided at the castle until the 13th century before moving to the Unterhof.
Walther Grosse pointed out in an article that the Struvenburg must have been older than the castles of Wernigerode and Blankenburg. Since around 800 a permanent settlement and most probably also the associated construction of the double rectangular castle can be assumed. A special fund was a spur of bronze with an iron tip. Such bronze spurs were found in Frankish-Alemannic graves as grave goods , but at most until the time of Charlemagne.
There is another indication of the Carolingians from other finds that were made near the castle. When clearing under the main wall, post holes from the castle complex were found in the area of the entrance gate, as well as two lance-shaped arrowheads made of iron. Also were also found stone axes and a Tüllenaxt . The disc brooch found at the foot of the complex with a figurative representation in colored cell enamel also corresponds to the Carolingian-Ottonian period.
Summarizing interpretation
The castle could be a complex from the Carolingian era, since the finds date back to the 9th century. Due to the other finds, which are clearly of Saxon origin, it cannot be ruled out that the castle complex, as it was in the 9th century, was preceded by a previous building and that an even older date is possible.
Nothing can be said about the importance of the castle. Due to its strategic location - the castle was close to an important road crossing - the complex was probably of particular military importance at that time, especially in connection with the subjugation of the Saxon population here by the Franks.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saxony-Anhalt Viewer
- ↑ a b c Entry on Heimburg Castle in the private database "Alle Burgen".
literature
- Erich Schafranek: Blankenburg am Harz. Bodetal, Regenstein, Rübeländer caves (= our little hiking booklet . 77). Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1958.
- Fritz Schlimmer: The "Struvenburg" near Benzingerode , under Kultstätten AZ, Benzingerode, Struvenburg, texts at http://www.harzkult.de/auflistung/struvenburg.htm ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) .
- Johann Christoph Stübner: Memories of the Principality of Blankenburg and the same incorporated Walkenried Abbey. Part 1. Self-published, Wernigerode 1788, p. 417 .
Web links
- Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun