Schanzenköpfle: A High-Medieval Castle Ruin in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Schanzenköpfle is a high-medieval castle ruin in Germany above Leutershausen, now a district of Hirschberg an der Bergstrasse in northwestern Baden-Württemberg. Probably established at the beginning of the twelfth century, it is considered to have been the original Hirschburg of the noble Hirschberger family, formerly known as the Hirzbergers.
The Hirschberger stronghold
The castle’s early history is connected with the Hirschberger family, whose members probably built both the stronghold on Schanzenköpfle and the later castle at Hirschberg. Pottery fragments indicate that Schanzenköpfle belonged to the high medieval period. Pottery and metal finds date no later than the beginning of the thirteenth century.
A lower castle, now called the Hirschburg ruin, was probably constructed around 1200 by a branch of the family known as the Strahlenbergers. A hollow way, a sunken route formed through long use and erosion, connected the two sites. The lower ruin stood about 500 metres to the northwest.
Abandonment and later references
The castle was never recorded under the name Schanzenköpfle. Around 1400, a document referred only to the “upper castle hill above Hirtzberg.” This wording suggests that the castle had already been abandoned and survived by then only as a castle site. The date and reason for its abandonment remain unknown.
Remains
Hilltop setting and enclosure
The ruin occupies a spur of the Hohe Waid at approximately 400 metres above sea level, on the western edge of the Odenwald and southeast of Leutershausen. An artificially shaped hill supported a plateau measuring about 30 by 35 metres. A ring wall enclosed the plateau, and sections of this wall have been exposed at two locations.
A ring ditch surrounds the spur on three sides, where the ground descends steeply. On the northern side, a bank lies outside the ditch. Together, the plateau, enclosing wall, ditch, and bank define the castle’s surviving hilltop layout.
Entrance and surviving fabric
Foundations of a pincer-type gate survive on the southern side. This was a fortified entrance with flanking walls projecting outward to help control access. The remaining physical evidence consists of wall fragments, ditches, and banks, while the exposed wall sections and gate foundations indicate the form of the former enclosure.
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