Wallburg Pöhlde
| Wallburg Pöhlde | ||
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 Excavated pincer gate of the Wallburg |
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| Creation time : | presumably Early middle ages | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, Wallburg | |
| Conservation status: | ring-shaped rampart | |
| Place: | Poehlde | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 36 '29.4 " N , 10 ° 18' 49.2" E | |
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The Wallburg Pöhlde , also called King Heinrichs Vogelherd according to a legend , is a former castle wall on the Rotenberg near Pöhlde . It was divided into a larger fore and a smaller main castle . According to archaeological studies, it was a fortification that was used sporadically as a refuge between the 9th and 12th centuries .
location
The hill fort, which is now under the forest, is located on the ridge of the Rotenberg about 500 meters south of the center of Pöhlde. Old ground reliefs of sunken paths lead from the facility in the direction of Pöhlde, which suggests an earlier connection between the site and the facility. The place on the Rotenberg was suitable for the construction of a rampart, since the northern slope drops steeply in the direction of Pöhlde and therefore does not need to be fortified. The south side was more strongly fortified, as there was only a trough crossed by a stream as a boundary.
The fortification was located directly on the Fastweg as an army and trade route leading west from Central Germany . In this context, it could have served as a road block.
Outer bailey
The older part is the oval-shaped outer bailey with the dimensions of 220 × 120 meters, which takes up almost the entire ridge. It had a wall and a wall with a moat , whereby the wall is consistently well preserved. The Fastweg led into the outer bailey from the east. Between the outer and main castle there was a mighty pincer gate with a gate width of 4.6 meters and a 15 meter long gate lane. The outer walls of the gate are 2 meters thick, the inner walls are just over 1 meter thick.
Main castle
The almost circular main castle was subsequently pushed into the outer bailey in the west. It has a diameter of about 100 meters and had two elaborately constructed pincer gates. The west gate is located on the mountain that slopes steeply to the northwest in the direction of Pöhlde. It had a gate width of 3.3 meters and an 8.5 meters long gate lane. The walls remained up to a height of 1 meter. In the interior next to the west gate there was a funnel-shaped depression in the ground, which was viewed as a cistern , but in which no corresponding layers of deposits were found. The archaeological investigations showed that the younger main castle was surrounded by a free-standing wall.
Wall and wall construction
The excavations revealed that the rampart of the outer bailey on the steep northern slope was a wood and earth construction. The outer edge of the rampart consisted of a vertical dry stone wall made of sandstone . In front of the wall was a 1 to 2 meter wide berm and a 1.7 meter deep ditch .
The fortification on the south side of the complex, on which there was no protective steep slope, was much more powerful. Even today, the difference in height between the crest of the wall and the bottom of the trench is around 5.5 meters. The southern wall was also a wood and earth construction, to which a red sandstone wall mortared with plaster was subsequently placed in front of it. Because of the higher risk on the south side, the ditch was designed as a pointed ditch .
Excavations
In the years 1934, 1951 and 1955 to 1974 excavations were carried out on the site in several campaigns , the 35 excavation sections of which brought to light only little dated finds. The finds were mainly vessel fragments that could be assigned to the time between the 9th and 10th centuries. A C14 dating of wood residues from the rampart of the outer bailey, the older part of the complex, resulted in a dating for the years between 750 and 1100.
The investigations led to the assumption that the outer castle was built first and the main castle was built later. The terrain of both represents a uniform, flat area with no special features. No evidence of building was found inside the ramparts. The traces of settlement were so weak that prolonged use could be ruled out. Therefore, the function of the complex was seen as a sporadic fleeing castle and by no means as the court of Heinrich I, mentioned in a document in 919
legend
According to legend, Heinrich der Vogler is said to have received the news at Wallburg Pöhlde in 919 that he was the first Saxon to be elected King of Eastern France . That is why the facility was named "King Heinrichs Vogelherd ". Based on the excavations, an actual seat of power in the Wallburg is to be regarded as unlikely. According to another tradition, he is also said to have been busy with a Vogelherd in the Gasse Finkenherd in Quedlinburg when the news reached him. After the event, the alley was named "Finkenherd". After Heinrich was elected king, the Liudolfinger began to expand the existing royal castles around the Harz Mountains to form Falzes .
See also
literature
- Martin Claus : Pöhlde, Kreis Osterode , issue 5 in the series: Guide to the Prehistory and Early History of Lower Saxony , published by the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation on behalf of the Archaeological Commission for Lower Saxony , 1971, Hildesheim
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : The Wallburg on the Rotenberg , in: If stones could talk , Volume II, Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover 1992, pp. 46–48, ISBN 3-7842-0479-1 .
- Martin Claus, Adolf Gauert : The royal palace Pöhlde. In: Erhard Kühlhorn: Historical-regional excursion map of Lower Saxony. 1: 50000 sheets Osterode am Harz. Commission publisher August Lax, Hildesheim 1970, pp. 68–73
Web links
- Entry by Stefan Eismann zu Pöhlde, King Heinrichs Vogelherd in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
- Text on the excavation of the Wallburg ( Memento from December 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )