Uhlenburg
| Uhlenburg | ||
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 Southern embankment of the main castle at today's pond, stone pouring from 2004 against erosion |
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| Creation time : | around 1350 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall | |
| Standing position : | Nobles | |
| Place: | Essel | |
| Geographical location | 52 ° 41 '15.1 " N , 9 ° 39' 58.5" E | |
| Height: | 25 m above sea level NN | |
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The Uhlenburg is the stable of a 14th century Niederungsburg near the Aller near Essel in Lower Saxony . The late medieval aristocratic seat existed for only a few decades towards the end of the 14th century and was forcibly destroyed in 1393/94.
location
The former castle site is in the Engehausen district about 2 km east of Essel and about 2 km north of Buchholz (Aller) in the floodplain of the Allerniederung at 25 m above sea level. The site is located in a bend in the river, about 250 m from the Aller. The former castle grounds, like the rest of the extensive lowland area, are used extensively as grassland .
description
The Uhlenburg consisted of a small main castle and a larger outer castle , which was adjacent to it to the north. The almost square main castle was located on a castle hill with a side length of about 30 m, which today is still about 1.5 m high and adjoined by a pond to the south. In 2004 the embankment to the pond was secured against erosion with stones. A wall is in front of the moat to the west of the castle hill. The entire complex was surrounded by a moat , and the main and outer bailey may have appeared as islands in a larger area of water. On the castle hill there is a plateau-like depression in the east with an area of 11 × 20 m. From here a dam leads over the moat, so that the earlier access can be assumed here. A row of stakes was found in the pond, which formerly belonged to the castle and which could have been palisades .
The area of the outer bailey is slightly raised compared to the surrounding lowland. It is about 100 m long and up to 40 m wide. The entire castle complex is surrounded by a narrow arm of the water, whereby in the west and north it could be the loop of an oxbow lake of the Aller.
Archaeological research
The first excavation at the castle site was probably not carried out properly in 1906. Individual objects made of iron, such as a chain, were found. In 1926 excavations were carried out by a teacher and his students. According to the records, rubble from a building was found in the area of the main castle without a floor plan being able to be determined. Finds were bricks, clay, field stones and ceramic shards as well as bones. It was noticeable that there was charcoal everywhere, which suggested that the system had been destroyed by fire.
Because of the good state of preservation of its remains, the castle complex became increasingly popular with archaeologists from 2001 onwards. Since then, extensive prospecting has been carried out. This included site inspections , a magnetometer inspection , a soil resistance measurement and photos from aerial archeology . The explorations suggested that a layer of rubble was hidden in the earth of the castle hill. Wooden piles found from the damp subsoil were subjected to a dendrochronological age determination and dated to 1370–1380. Other finds during inspections were ceramic shards and pieces of roof tiles. The discovery of a seal stamp made of a lead-tin alloy was outstanding . It shows the coat of arms of the Lords of Hademstorf as former lords of the castle.
Despite the intensive exploration, an excavation has not been carried out recently and is also not planned. The ground monument is intended to serve as a future research reserve, as the conservation conditions in the humid lowlands of the Aller are ideal for this.
history
The owners of the castle were the lords of Hademstorf , whose family was first mentioned in 1237. In 1372 the brothers Bruno, Johann and Heinrich are mentioned as the lords of Hademsdorf. The Uhlenburg is mentioned in a document from 1394. In it, the Lords of Hademsdorf complained to the Lüneburg district administrator that the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg Heinrich I and Bernhard I had destroyed the Uhlenburg, which would have violated the Lüneburg Sate . The dukes probably took action against the country nobles in order to extend their domain and to take over the customs office on the Aller. According to the document, the keep and two kemenaten were destroyed and some other buildings were saved. In 1410 after his captivity Heinrich von Hademsdorf swore against Heinrich I. Urfehde . However, it is not known whether the imprisonment was related to the destruction of the Uhlenburg.
Similar fortifications in the vicinity
In the lower area of the Aller there were a number of other medieval castles, some of a similar design, which existed only a few kilometers apart. These include fortifications in Bierde , Ahlden (Aller) ( Bunkenburg ), Essel ( Blankenburg Castle ), Hodenhagen ( Hodenhagen Castle ), Rethem (Aller) , Grethem ( Blankenhagen Castle ).
The Uhlenburg is one of the former castles that were examined in more detail in the Burgenlandschaft Aller-Leine-Tal (BALT) project between 2003 and 2005. The project was supported, among other things, by the European LEADER + funding program , as the castle complex is located in the Aller-Leine-Tal region.
literature
- Castles in the river , publisher: Landkreis Soltau-Fallingbostel, Bad Fallingbostel, 2005, ISBN 3-00-017281-5
- Eckhard Heller: The Uhlenburg, one of the many castles in the Aller-Leine Valley - an aerial archaeological example from the BALT project , online article (pdf)
Web links
- Entry by Stefan Eismann zu Uhlenburg in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Description of the Uhlenburg (pdf, 300 KB)
- Newspaper report on the castle site and the seal find from 2003