Brunsburg: An Early- and High-Medieval Fortified Site in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Brunsburg is an early- and high-medieval fortified site in Germany, occupying the Brunsberg near Höxter-Godelheim. Its history includes a presumed Saxon hillfort, a late twelfth-century castle built for the Abbey of Corvey, and the later abandonment and destruction of the medieval stronghold.
Saxon and Carolingian period
The Frankish Imperial Annals state that Charlemagne, the Frankish king who expanded his rule across much of western and central Europe before becoming emperor in 800, marched to the Brunsberg in 775. He defeated the Saxons there and forced a crossing of the Weser. The annals do not mention a fortification, but archaeological interpretation assumes that a Saxon hillfort occupied the site at that time. No evidence indicates that Frankish forces reused it.
Early-medieval pottery has been found in the castle area, although the pieces cannot be securely connected with particular buildings. The ramparts on the western and southwestern edges, along with the northern rampart-and-ditch system that cuts across the plateau, are therefore only tentatively assigned to the Carolingian period, the era associated with Charlemagne and his successors.
The Corvey castle
The first securely documented castle on the Brunsberg was built by Widukind, abbot of Corvey from 1189 to 1203. Corvey was a major medieval monastery in Westphalia whose abbots exercised religious and territorial authority. The castle was intended to protect the monastery, and a charter issued there by Widukind in 1198 indicates that it was probably nearly complete or already finished by then.
During the high Middle Ages, the castle served the abbots of Corvey as a secondary residence. Abbot Heinrich von Homburg stayed there several times. A fifteenth-century tradition says that the bishop of Paderborn and the count of Schwalenberg destroyed Brunsburg in 1294. Considering the historical circumstances, the castle’s abandonment is more broadly placed between 1288 and 1303.
Later destruction
An excavated lime kiln from the fourteenth century shows that limestone was burned at the site to make mortar. Its presence supports an end for the castle in the period around 1288–1303. Further damage took place at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when stone from Brunsburg was removed for road construction. The site is associated with Corvey and is regarded as an early- and high-medieval castle site, a fortification, and a rubble mound.
Remains
Early hillfort defenses
The presumed Saxon fortification occupied about 6.6 hectares on the Brunsberg, a hill projecting westward into the Weser valley. Its defenses followed the western and southwestern edges of the hill spur, while a northern rampart-and-ditch system cut off the plateau. Excavated rampart sections had a basal width of about 6 metres and retained a height of approximately 1.40 metres. They were made from local soil mixed with limestone, with no additional reinforcement on the outer face.
High-medieval castle enclosure
The high-medieval castle covered about 1.9 hectares. A ditch 16 to 24 metres wide was cut deeply into the bedrock on three sides, while on the southern side it continued into a natural fissure. Inside this defensive line stood a ring wall, an enclosing defensive wall around a castle or settlement, built of mortared limestone and about 1.40 metres thick. A gate complex probably occupied the southeastern side.
Interior structures
The castle interior is represented by rubble mounds and depressions. Three features have been interpreted as wells or cisterns. A palas, the principal residential and representative building of a medieval castle, measured 48 by 23 metres. Beneath a rubble cone near the northern ring wall lies the keep and an adjoining building. A square tower with sides measuring 6.60 metres has also been identified.
Construction installation
A fourteenth-century lime kiln within the castle area was used to burn limestone for mortar. Along with the fortifications, rubble mounds, depressions, and other archaeological traces, it forms part of the material evidence for the site’s medieval occupation and later history.
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