Hamlet hill

Hamlet hill
Hamlet hill near Alsbach-Hähnlein. View from the south. Tower hill on the right, outer bailey on the left.
Alternative name (s):	Alt-Bickenbach, Old Castle
Creation time :	11th century
Castle type :	Niederungsburg, moth
Conservation status:	Castle hill, rampart and ditches recognizable in the area
Standing position :	Ministeriale
Construction:	Wood-earth plant
Place:	Alsbach chicken
Geographical location	49 ° 45 '2.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 8.1"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 45 '2.2 "  N , 8 ° 35' 8.1"  E
Height:	92  m above sea level NHN

Hamlet hill near Alsbach-Hähnlein. View from the north. Tower hill on the right, Melibokus and Auerbach Castle in the background .

Site plan of the Weilerhügel castle complex.

View of the 11 m high tower hill from the west.

View of the outer bailey from the west.

The inner ditch is still clearly visible in places at the foot of the tower hill.

The so-called Weilerhügel is a medieval low castle near Alsbach-Hähnlein in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse . Due to fewer written sources, she is associated with the von Bickenbach gentlemen . Due to its good preservation, the hamlet hill is a good example of a high moth (tower hill castle), a typical design of low castles in the 11th to 13th centuries.

location

The remains of the castle are located between the villages of Hähnlein and Bickenbach near the federal motorway 5 (within walking distance from the Alsbach-Hähnlein rest area), parcel "In the hamlet". The surrounding area is very swampy, especially north and west of the facility, as it is in the loop of an old Neckar river . The marshy terrain complemented the double trench system as an approach obstacle.

history

The first documentary mention of the Lords of Bickenbach and probably also of the hamlet hill is in a document from the Archbishop of Mainz, Adalbert, dated November 29, 1129, in which the consecration of a Bartholomäus chapel by the Bishop of Strasbourg on behalf of Konrad I of Bickenbach is mentioned . The chapel, consecrated in the presence of high ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries, was endowed with goods from Alsbach and Bickenbach. The Lords of Bickenbach owned allodial property in Jugenheim , but the castle was obviously founded as a fief of the Lorsch Monastery . The chapel could have been in the outer bailey of the hamlet hill.

Already about 100 years later, the hamlet of the hamlet no longer seems to have satisfied the ministerials as a seat of power, because they had Alsbach Castle (also Bickenbach Castle ), first mentioned in 1241, built as a stone hilltop castle in a spur on the heights of the Odenwald above the Bergstrasse . The outdated layout of the hamlet hill was used as a farm for a while, according to the ceramic finds from the 11th to the 15th century.

Other documentary mentions designate the tool 1310 as curia antiquarian , 1466 as old castle and in 1516 in a Weistum as Weyler uf Alt-Bickenbach . The latter suggests that the castle complex had already fallen into disrepair by this time.

exploration

Only a few excavations have taken place on the hamlet hill. After smaller probes in 1838, the Historical Association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse carried out excavations in the outer bailey in 1876, which were able to prove various wall foundations there. In 1913, a small investigation produced evidence of a wall on the top of the tower hill. In the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt , a box of broken fragments from the excavations is kept, mainly from medieval pottery.

investment

The hamlet hill is the classic example of a moth , a common low castle from the 11th and 12th centuries. A contemporary representation of such a system can be found on the Bayeux Tapestry . These castles were initially only built from ramparts, moats and wooden palisades , some of which were later built in stone. The excavation from the trenches was used for the ramparts and a central tower mound.

Due to the few findings that have been excavated, it cannot be determined whether the complex was built in one go or whether parts such as the outer bailey or the outer moat were added later. The enormous height of the preserved tower hill could document the end of a development from the core moth to the high moth.

Today the castle complex belongs to the nature reserve " Altneckarlachen von Alsbach, Hähnlein and Bickenbach ", the area of ​​the outer bailey occupies a meadow orchard . While the inner ditch can still be clearly seen, the outer ditch has been almost completely leveled.

Tower hill

The truncated cone-shaped tower hill, which is still 11 m high, is particularly impressive. At its base it has a diameter of about 55 m. In earlier times, attempts were made to interpret the structure as a Roman watchtower or Celtic burial mound, but this was largely unfounded. Finds of prehistoric and Roman times from the hill can be explained by the secondary displacement of a large amount of earth material from the area for the construction of the hill in the high Middle Ages. At the beginning there was probably a wooden residential tower, which was later replaced by a stone building or a curtain wall.

Outer bailey

The outer bailey , which also has sides of 55 m, connects to the south-west of the tower hill . The hill of the outer bailey rises about a meter above the surrounding area. This site is privately owned.

Moats

The two castle mounds were surrounded by two moats , these are privately owned. The inner ditch can still be seen well in places at the foot of the hill. The outer trench had an approximately pentagonal shape and enclosed an area of ​​300 × 210 m.

Monument protection

The castle grounds and the monuments in the area are cultural monuments according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . All research, be it excavations, prospecting, digging, targeted collections of finds and changes to the inventory are subject to approval. Accidental finds are to be reported to the monument authorities.

See also : List of German hill towers

literature

• Thomas Biller: Castles and palaces in the Odenwald. A guide to history and architecture. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1711-2 , pp. 64–67.
• Horst Wolfgang Böhme : The tower hill castle near Alsbach-Hähnlein and the territorial development on the middle mountain road in the early and high Middle Ages. In: Jahrbuch RGZM 30, 1983, pp. 503-519.
• Holger Göldner: The hamlet hill near Alsbach Hähnlein. Leaflet for a medieval hilltop castle in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district. Wiesbaden 1989, ISBN 3-89822-081-8 (=  Archaeological Monuments in Hessen 81 ).
• Rudolf Knappe: Medieval castles in Hessen. 800 castles, castle ruins and fortifications. 3. Edition. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 519f.
• Jörg Lindenthal: Cultural Discoveries. Archaeological monuments in Hessen. Jenior, Kassel 2004, ISBN 3-934377-73-4 , p. 10f.
• Jörg Lotter, Martin Posselt: Geophysical investigations on the Niederungsburg "Weilerhügel" - castle research in Alsbach-Hähnlein. In: hessenARCHÄOLOGIE 2013. Yearbook for archeology and palaeontology in Hessen. Theiss, Darmstadt 2014, ISBN 978-3-8062-2984-4 , pp. 140-143.
• Thomas Steinmetz: Early low castles in southern Hesse and adjacent areas. Ober-Kainsbach 1989, pp. 10-12.
• Thomas Steinmetz: Castles in the Odenwald. Verlag Ellen Schmid, Brensbach 1998, ISBN 3-931529-02-9 , p. 27f.

Web links

Commons : Weilerhuegel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ W. Möller: An old fastening system in the reed. Archive Hess. Business u. Altkde. NF 14, 1925, p. 120 Note 1.
2. ↑ Böhme 1983, p. 508.
3. ↑ Böhme 1983, p. 512 and 514.
4. ↑ Göldner 1989, p. 8; Böhme 1983, p. 504f.
5. ↑ The description of the system follows the data in Göldner 1989 (see literature).
6. ↑ Böhme 1983, p. 504.
7. ^ After Böhme 1983, p. 503 60 × 60 m.