Wallburg Semberg

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the homonymous community-free area in the Bamberg district in Bavaria, see Semberg .

Semberg and Horn (right) near Schwerzen

Wallburg Semberg
Ring moat in front of the main castle carved out of stone - probably well or cistern
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Burgstall, wall and moat remains in the forest
Construction:	Leftovers in the area
Place:	Wutöschingen - Schwerzen -Willmendingen
Geographical location	47 ° 38 '20.5 "  N , 8 ° 21' 40.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 38 '20.5 "  N , 8 ° 21' 40.7"  E
Height:	470  m above sea level NN

The Semberg (also: Semperbuck ) is a hill near the village of Schwerzen (municipality of Wutöschingen ) in the district of Waldshut , Baden-Württemberg . The mountain, sloping steeply on three sides, not only offered a favorable defensive position, but also dominated the old road connection over the pass at Bechtersbohl below the Küssaburg into the middle Wutach valley . Recognizable from the hilltop castle are several ramparts and ditches on the Semberg and some other relics that suggest a locally significant (military) use. Archaeological investigations or even excavations did not take place. References can be found in the older literature, as in the past there were also remains of walls and inspections allowed even more conclusions. Whether there is a connection to the nearby Hallstatt-era burial mounds is open. Just 2 kilometers to the south-west there is also an early installation on the Schloßbückle .

Position and dimensions of the fastenings

In his contribution to the Chronicle of Wutöschingen published in 2006, the local history researcher Horst Merkel gives in his contribution to prehistory with reference to an extensive documentation by Egon Gersbach , 1969, dimensions of the system in connection with an old map with the title “Won in the Rütteli "To:" The flat mountain ridge, rising about 100 meters above the Wutach valley, tapers to a narrow spur in the west. The foremost tip with a total length of approx. 70 m is separated by a now dilapidated rampart with a ditch in front of it. ”All around this 'foremost tip' is encompassed on three sides with a ring ditch and a high rampart (in the south the steep wall drops almost vertically ). This “main castle” is shown on the map as a square with a side length of 20 meters, the plateau to the east with a length of 54 meters and a width of up to 38 meters. The plateau is also cordoned off from the east by ramparts and ditches. The round depression carved into the stone in the ring ditch in front of the main castle is interpreted on the map as a "fireplace".

See: Documentation Topography and Findings

Historical uses

Celts

Wutachtal. Horheim on the left, Schwerzen opposite and then the Semberg on the right: the cleared square denotes the area in front of the Wallburg

An assignment as a Celtic hilltop castle is obvious, as the Upper Rhine region was demonstrably settled by Celtic tribes in the centuries before our era . Summits with comparable barrier walls and steeply sloping slopes, which are attributed to the Celts and which also dominated important path connections, are known several times in the area: "The Küssaburg [...] may also have arisen from a prehistoric ring wall castle with its special location , such as [...] the Hornbuck near Riedern am Sand and the Napberg near Weisweil . ”Known from a novel - Heinrich Huber: Das Blaue Licht - is the Birnberg near Grießen , the plateau of which can be seen on inspection and is sealed off by a well-preserved wall . The oppidum near Altenburg-Rheinau , which is also located in the region and has been intensively researched, is known nationwide.

Romans

The end of the settlement of the oppidum is related to the establishment and occupancy of the legionary camp near Dangstetten (15 BC to 9 AD) and thus the first Roman access to the Upper Rhine line, which led to the subjugation of the local Celtic population. The Roman cultivation of the region in connection with the Black Forest campaign in 73/74 AD is considered certain. On the basis of general, historically based conclusions and various 'find pictures', the archaeologist Jürgen Trumm also assumes that the Roman settlement in Klettgau was earlier can have taken place - after the Celts were subjugated there. Trumm: "Based on early troop camps in Zurzach and Hüfingen, the civil settlement of the Klettgau could already have taken place in the late Iberian-Early Claudian period , as is becoming more and more likely for the Upper Rhine region to the west." Voellner also believes: . When they crossed the Rhine near Zurzach, they first made the Wutach the border line. ”The direct route from Bechtersbohl to the Wutach led past the Semberg.

Confiscated shovels from treasure graves on the Schloßbückle

One scenario exists in local history research in connection with another, unexplored place with conspicuous ramparts and ditch structures called " Schloßbückle ", which is in visual contact with the Semberg: "The Schloßbücklein, above the sewage treatment plant, should have been a Roman position post, which served to observe the ring castle on the Semberg, or to support an attack on this high ring wall. "The author also gives information on the tactical situation:" A Roman road ran from Klettgau over this height in the immediate vicinity of the Schloßbücklein to Willmendingen and via Schwerzen to Horheim, where you could cross the Wutach by means of a bridge. From Horheim this road climbed across the courtyards, past the so-called Altstädli in the direction of Bonndorf. ”In his article, the author also refers to an older source:“ Samuel Pletscher from Schleitheim / Switzerland wrote in a report published on December 21, 1890, About the old fortifications on the Semberg, that the close proximity of the Schloßbücklein fortification point to the Sembergringwall, mainly the design of the former as a fairly regular square, suggests that it could be of Roman origin. ”The one at today's Breitwiesenhof was probably also on this street Roman estate proven before Ühlingen .

middle Ages

H. Merkel calls the fortifications on the hill, summarized by Gersbach, 1969, an "early medieval fortification". A part could, however, “have been created in prehistoric times and have been incorporated into the overall system later. [...] The final expansion, which can be seen today, can only have taken place in the late Carolingian - Ottonian period. [...] It is possible that this defense system is the seat or refuge of the Lords of Schwerzen, which can be documented for the first time between 1090 and 1100. "

The inner wall on the Schloßbückle

At that time, the Schloßbückle could also be "a residence or castle stables that was located on an important street that led from Zurzach up the Wutachtal."

present

Table of the Way of the Cross on the summit of Sembergs with the burial of Jesus

Today there is a way of the cross from the foot of Sembergs to its summit.

"In summer 2003, the Sembergs was by Rev. Karl Boll occasion of his Golden priests anniversary with the support of several volunteers built the small Sembergkapelle in memory of the emerged from Schwerzen and Horheim priests and nuns at the foot." From 1967 demolished chapel of the castle Willmendingen was by Hans Mayer "the coat of arms of the Beck family from the castle chapel, which he saved and guarded for 36 years (installed)."

Documentation topography and findings

The precise description of the topography of the Semberg in Egon Gersbach's prehistory of the High Rhine is an extraordinary document that is hardly accessible today (private property). Therefore here the unabridged reproduction:

“To the south-east of the village [Schwerzen], two watercourses, which are only modest today, have cut an elongated mountain tongue, the Semperbuck, out of the watershed between the Wutach and Klettgau valleys . The subsoil consists of main muschelkalk and bears a mighty blanket of diluvial nails and gravel, which are deeply embedded in the area of ​​the 'Rüttili', in the eastern part.

Semberg from the direction of Schloßbückle

The Buck jumps out of the watershed towards the west towards the Wutach as a nearly 700 m long and almost triangular ridge, the valley width of which it overlooks by 105 m. It is only connected to the hinterland by a constricted and therefore very narrow neck, which was excellently suited for the construction of defensive works. Its southern flank consists largely of Nagelfluh walls that plunge almost vertically into the depths; it is practically inaccessible. The western tip falls in a steep slope interspersed with Nagelfluh parts to the lower terrace of the Wutach, on which an old street leads up to the Wutach, which has its starting point in Zurzach, the Roman Tenedo. In its western part, the northern flank also rises rather steeply from the Wutach lowlands, gradually loses its steepness towards the east and finally flows into the gully torn by the Schwerzener Dorfbach.

The ridge itself is fairly flat in the longitudinal axis and only dips slightly more to the north. At its narrowest point, just under 600 m from the top, it is sealed off from the eastern hinterland by two ditches with a slightly elevated intermediate rib - width about 1.50 to 2.00 m. "

Outside line of defense

“Both trenches - approx. 80 m long, 2.00 m wide, approx. 1.00 m long - start at a deep channel in the south, cross the narrow neck in a straight line, only interrupted by a path, and attack over the north slope and then swing in an arc shape to the gradually steeper slope where they unite. At the flattest point of this slope section there is a third trench - width about 2.00 m, T. about 0.70 m, which joins the two main trenches after about 40 m. From the innermost trench, a securely artificially steep slope rises suddenly, it has a height of 4-6 m and can be followed as a clear slope terrace far beyond the trench. There are no traces of an embankment on the terrace; possibly it was only secured by a strong palisade at the edge. The access is undoubtedly to be looked for on the south side, but its exact location remains unclear for the time being, because the terrain in this section has undergone major modern changes. "

Inner surfaces I and II

“This first line of fortifications shields the interior I, the north edge of which at least in parts gives the impression of an artificial steepening. The inner surface has an approximately high trapezoidal outline, is about 800 m long and measures almost 180 m at the broad base in the W. Here the mountain tongue pulls in strongly from the north and narrows down to a narrow spur that protrudes in the S by a good 100 m to the W. The narrow neck is sealed off by a second earthwork . "

Access from interior area II to the summit plateau

“The wall - L. a little over 30 m, max. Base width 11 m, max. Height 2 m - is made of loamy-gravelly material and has an arched line. It begins in the south only a few meters inward of the abruptly breaking rock face, reaches its highest crest height here and then, steadily losing height, leads over to the north slope, turns into the EW line of the slope edge, where it gradually disappears. This sharp slope edge should also be artificially steeped. On the outside of the embankment there is a ditch that is now fairly shallow - width about 2.00 m, T. about 0.70 to 1.00 m. Its north end stretches out in the steep slope embankment, in the S it is slightly changed by a mule path, which, closely following the plateau edge, marks the former access to interior space II. The approximately rectangular inner surface measures around 50 × 40 m and is almost flat. Its narrow western side abuts the third and last line of defense, the core structure, which consists of a shield wall with a trench.

The mighty wall - length about 20 m, base width. about 9 m, H above the interior about 5 m, above the bottom of the trench about 9 m - starts a few meters inward of the vertically breaking rock face in the S, rises steeply to its full crown height and runs in a straight line to N. There, he thought of the Ringraben just as steep. It was heaped up from the gravel of the trench and Nagelfluhbrocken, has a very steep outer slope and should not have had a stone front. The horseshoe-shaped outer trench - width approx. 3-5 m, T. max. 4 m - starts in the S at the Nagelfluhfelswand and joins the same rock face again 30 m to the west. It broke out of the Nagelfluh cap, which was particularly hard as concrete in the O; Here, on the bottom of the trench, cubic meter-sized blocks of nails are lying around, and it is impossible to tell whether they fell from the top of the wall or simply remained in the ditch because it was too difficult to remove. Even the western arm of the trench was not dug consistently with the same care and depth. This reinforces the impression of a trench that has remained unfinished, be it that the Nagelfluhfels opposed the external excavation too much, or that the work could not or should not be completed for other reasons. "

The rampart rising towards the main castle (left)

Inner attachment

“The horseshoe-shaped trench encloses the approximately 20 × 25 m interior III ('Semberg') and protects it from the foremost mountain peak both to the east and north and to the west. This interior is raised like a podium by leveling out the trench excavation and therefore slopes down into the trench border with steep slopes. To the east, the low, level podium, on which a tower is believed to have risen, connects to the steep inner base of the shield wall. The access to this last, extremely heavily fortified fortification was on the south side, hard against the vertical rock wall; he should have used the same route as today's mule track. "

Hand ax from flint found in the construction of the elevated tank of water supply on the Semberg

Findings

“Traces of construction are not visible in any of the interior spaces. The search trenches that W. Albiker, Schwerzen, dug in the 1920s in the eastern arm of the horseshoe-shaped trench, as well as on the east and south sides and in the middle of Interior II, remained without findings in this regard. At least nothing of the kind has come to light. There are no finds so far. Silex devices that were superficially collected on the plowed ridge of interior space I ('Rüttele') (see find catalog. Schwerzen) only indicate that this dominant ridge was visited as early as the Neolithic . They are irrelevant for the age of the system.

In terms of its type, this three-part fortification with defensive structures staggered one behind the other fully corresponds to that of Berau . In both cases, the mighty shield wall of the strikingly small 'core complex' with its inner podium, presumably intended for a tower, clearly points to an origin in prehistoric, more precisely late Carolingian - Ottonian times. The deeply staggered trenches and the artificial slope of the slope of interior space I rising behind them, the artificial steepening of the slope slope of interior space II, at least in parts, are also characteristics of weir systems from this period. The functions of the individual fortifications are currently beyond our knowledge, and it is also uncertain whether the entire complex was created in one piece.

The rather worn section wall and the also heavily flattened ditch placed in front of it, which shield the interior II from the interior I, could have originated in prehistoric times; both defenses would later have been incorporated into the new facility. Whether this is so can only be proven by excavations. If that is the case, they would have originally cordoned off the approximately 100 m long and not yet subdivided mountain spur as independent fortifications. Perhaps two large Hallstatt-era burial mounds, which are just 2.2 km southeast of the plateau as the crow flies, can be associated with what is believed to be the oldest fortification. However, there can be no doubt that the weir system did not undergo its final expansion, as it is today, until the late Carolingian-Ottonian period. It is very likely that it is a seat and a refuge, or at least the latter, the noble gentlemen of Schwerzen, who can be recorded for the first time between 1090 and 1100. "

References E. Gersbach

"CF Mayer, Anthr. Corr. Bl. 16, 1885, 114 f. - W. Deecke, Mitt. Bad. National association f. Naturkde. and Natursch. Freiburg NF 1, 1922, 228. - Ders., Bad. Fundber. I, 1925–1928, 133 f., Fig. 59. - W. Albiker, The Semperbuck near Schwerzen, Eine voristorliche Niederlassung, Alb-Bote v. June 12, 1922. - WH Mayer, home book for the district of Waldshut, 1926, 11, - G. Bernhard, Die alten Erdwerke im Klettgau, 1926, 22 f. - R. v. Uslar, studies on the early historical fortifications between the North Sea and the Alps, 1964, 172. - A. Krieger, Topographical Dictionary of the Grand Duchy of Baden, 2, 1905, 960, keyword Schwerzen. - H. Maurer, The land between the Black Forest and Randen in the early and high Middle Ages, 1965, 147 and note 11. "

literature

• Egon Gersbach : Prehistory of the High Rhine (finds and sites in the districts of Säckingen and Waldshut). , Badische Fund reports, special issue 11, catalog volume, State Office for Prehistory and Early History, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1969.
• Horst Merkel: From prehistory and early history. In: Wutöschingen - then and now, Ed .: Ortsverwaltung Wutöschingen 2006.
• Hans Ruppaner: The Beck family from and to Willmendingen. in: Wutöschingen - then and now, Ed .: Ortsverwaltung Wutöschingen 2006.
• Heinz Völlner: The castles and palaces between the Wutach Gorge and the Upper Rhine. , Heimat am Hochrhein series of publications , Hochrhein-Geschichtsverein (Ed.), 1975.
• Ernst Wellenreuther: The Küssaburg. in: Heimat am Hochrhein, series of publications by the district of Waldshut, 1965/66.

Remarks

1. ↑ An author with the abbreviation “uy” wrote in the Südkurier in 1988: “There are still some remains of the wall on the Semberg .” In: Was there a castle on the Semberg? , Südkurier dated August 27, 1988.
2. ↑ Heinz Voellner: The Bürgerwald bei Tiengen - a cultural-historical consideration , in: Heimat am Hochrhein, series of publications des Landkreis Waldshut, 1969/70, p. 43. Voellner is wrong about the time - the Rhine crossing took place as early as 15 BC. Chr.
3. ↑ On the map by Hans Conrad Gyger of Zurich from 1667 (Zurich State Archives) the road does not lead directly from Bechtersbohl to Willmendingen, but first to Oberlauchringen and then from there on the hill along the Wutach (and past the Schloßbückle) to Willmendingen. The direct route to Rechberg also led from here. A road corresponding to the course of today's federal highway 34 through the Klettgau is not registered. Gyger, who was a military engineer, is considered reliable in his portrayal. Map section printed in the introduction in: Wutöschingen - then and now .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Illustration of the map in: Horst Merkel: From the prehistory and early history , in: Wutöschingen - once and now; Ed .: Ortsverwaltung Wutöschingen 2006, p. 34.
2. ↑ Ernst Wellenreuther: Die Küssaburg in: Heimat am Hochrhein, series of publications by the district of Waldshut, 1965/66, p. 9.
3. ↑ Jürgen Trumm: Roman Villas in Klettgau , Institute for Pre- and Protohistory Freiburg, 2007, p. 33, footnote 8.
4. ↑ Author (abbreviation: uy): Was there a castle on the Semberg? , Südkurier dated August 27, 1988.
5. ↑ Horst Merkel: From prehistory and early history. In: Wutöschingen - once and now, 2006, p. 34.
6. ↑ Hans Ruppaner: The Beck family from and to Willmendingen in: Wutöschingen - once and now, 2006, p. 76.
7. ^ Egon Gersbach : Prehistory of the High Rhine (finds and sites in the districts of Säckingen and Waldshut). , Badische Fundberichte, special issue 11, catalog volume, State Office for Prehistory and Early History, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1969, p. 218 f.