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Location and structure
Early research
The first excavation
Robberies and post-excavations
The second excavation
Excavation results
The most recent phase
The inner surface
A possible tower mound
Excavation finds
Processing the excavations
Geomagnetic investigations
Forecastle area
Research chronicle

Double wall from Ostro

Place: Ostro (Panschwitz-Kuckau, Bautzen)
Type: Weirs/fortifications
Dating: Early Pre-Roman Iron Age | Billendorf Culture | Early Middle Ages | High Middle Ages | 780 - 500 B.C. | 850 - 1200 A.D.

Description

The Ostroer Schanze was already considered to be a historic hill at the beginning of the 19th century. It is one of the most important archaeological monuments in Saxony. Even today, with its ramparts up to 15 m high and covering an area of 28 ha, it is probably one of the most impressive fortifications in Upper Lusatia. The double rampart is pear-shaped and in its present appearance is divided into an upper and a lower castle by a wide transverse rampart and a moat. The district boundary between Ostro and Neustädel still runs along the transverse wall today. Excavations in the first quarter of the 20th century. However, up to four construction phases can be assumed. According to the finds, the oldest part of the complex dates back to the Iron Age Billendorf culture. The renewed fortification and main settlement of the complex took place from 9. up to 12. century by the Slavic Milzenians, about 1500 years later. In addition, a possible last phase of use in the late Middle Ages as a tower mound castle is being discussed.

Annemarie Reck

Location and structure

The Ostro redoubt is situated in an exposed position on a hilltop and is surrounded on three sides by the monastery water. Steep slopes fall away in places towards the narrow river; only in the east is the mountain spur connected to the hinterland, which it clearly overlooks. In the northern part, on an oval plateau, is the so-called upper castle, which is surrounded by a circular rampart that is only open in the west. The later transverse rampart and moat separate the upper castle from the so-called lower castle, which adjoins the upper castle in a crescent shape. The original entrance to the redoubt was in the form of a gate in the western rampart of the lower castle.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source R. Heynowski, Foto ©LfA 2005.

Early research

The Ostroer Schanze became famous as early as the 19th century thanks to Karl Benjamin Preusker, the father of Saxon archaeology, who published the first ground plan with a cross-section of the site in 1827. However, in addition to the pure description of the redoubt, he mainly dealt with the legend of a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary from the 17th century, which is said to have stood on a hill on the redoubt before it was moved to the chapel in Rosenthal. The Ostroer Doppelwall is then mentioned many times in the literature of the 19th century. An alleged documentary mention as Ostrusna around the year 1006, which Alfred Muschkau published in 1885 in "Den prähistorischen Alterthümer der Oberlausitz und deren Fundstätten", presumably refers to the village of Ostritz between Zittau and Görlitz.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source E. Blum, Plan ©LfA 1913.

The first excavation

As the Bautzen association could not afford an extensive and scientific excavation, they authorized the Görlitz museum director Prof. Feyerabend to carry out investigations at the Ostroer Schanze. Feyerabend's excavations began in 1909 and continued until 1922/1923, with interruptions due to the war. However, only the ramparts were investigated, as grain was still grown in the interior at the time. However, Feyerabend died, wounded and ill, without being able to produce a publication about the excavations and left behind only a few notes or lecture manuscripts.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source L. Feyerabend, Foto ©LfA 1914.

Robberies and post-excavations

However, the popularity of the redoubt meant that there were repeated excavations and damage as early as the 19th century. Preusker described both finds and features from the site as early as 1849, which testifies to early interventions. In 1869, Schuster spoke of "piercings of the rampart and re-excavations", which brought interesting finds to light. In 1902, the Bautzen Society for Anthropology and Prehistory of Upper Lusatia was informed that the owner at the time had removed around 300 tipper trucks of sand and uncovered a wall of 60 m², revealing charred beams, grain and bones. In the following years, several excavation reports were published by the Bautzen society, which aroused the interest of Prof. Ludwig Feyerabend, who headed the Görlitz branch association.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source OA 52620, 68 ©LfA 1902.

The second excavation

Even before Feyerabend's sudden death in 1927, Walter Frenzel, now a board member of the Bautzener Gesellschaft, began a second excavation campaign. In the area of an existing disturbance, Frenzel was able to make a complete breach in the rampart for the first time and record profile 33. A thin cultural layer under the oldest section of the rampart led Frenzel to conclude that there was an open predecessor settlement, which may also be connected to the construction of the complex. Above this, three construction phases could be identified in the rampart.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source W. Frenzel, Profilzeichnung ©LfA 1927.

Excavation results

The first construction phase is the rampart of the Iron Age Billendorf culture. It consisted of layers of beams that were alternately laid on top of each other and mortised into each other. According to Frenzel, the wall was still 1.50 m thick and up to 3.00 m high despite traces of fire. The interior of these wooden boxes was filled with earth and stones. The second rampart was only built around 1500 years later on the now leveled remains of the Iron Age rampart. Based on the profile, it was not possible to reconstruct the first medieval rampart, except that mainly clay, stone and wood were used for the construction. The associated pottery shows developed forms of the Middle Slavic period. Thick layers of roasted grain were also found in the embankment for the new rampart, which, according to Frenzel's records, alternated with layers of clay and sand. Frenzel saw these as grain stores that had been incorporated into the rampart. However, this interpretation is highly questionable.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source Coblenz 1991, 59.

The most recent phase

The youngest castle wall from the late Slavic period is only 20 cm below the modern surface. It is a 1 m thick dry stone wall made of stone slabs, which stood on a clay base. The wall was built on top of the rampart of the 9th/10th century, which was again raised with embankments. It is unclear how high it once reached. A coin (picture) of Louis the German (806-876) came to light in this layer under the late Slavic pottery of the 11th/12th century.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source W. Frenzel, Zeichnung ©LfA 1927.

The inner surface

It was also the first time that a larger area of the inner surface of the Neustädtel part of the redoubt could be investigated, which had previously always been prohibited by the owner. The excavation area covered an area of 50 m² with 15 pits, which could be scientifically investigated according to the standards of the time, including a fully recorded, late Slavic pit house measuring 3.20 x 2.50 m. The ground plan of the house was rectangular with rounded corners. The floor plan of the house is rectangular with rounded corners. To the west of the building was a stone packing with charcoal remains and pieces of graywacke cracked by heat, which is why it was probably a hearth. However, the central post observed by Frenzel probably belonged to an older building. Posts at the corners, which would indicate a more massive structure, could not be found.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source W. Frenzel, Skizze ©Archiv Museum Bautzen/LfA 1927.

A possible tower mound

After the end of the High Middle Ages, such a heavily fortified castle complex was obviously no longer appropriate. To the south-east of the complex, on the Neustädteler Flur, a tower mound castle (picture) with a surrounding moat was built on a mound of earth. Werner Coblenz also assumes that a section of the transverse rampart on the Ostroer Schanze was raised again and also extended into a tower mound as a final phase of use. However, no clear archaeological findings that could be consistent with such a residential tower have yet been found. Preusker suspected that this highest point was the former location of the image of the Virgin Mary known from the legend.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source G. Bierbaum, Plan ©LfA 1937.

Excavation finds

Numerous finds were recovered from the excavated building, including a double-cone spindle whorl, an iron knife, an iron awl and several flints. On the floor of the house was a rich ceramic pavement with shards from more than 30 vessels. The majority of the pottery suggests that the pit house was used in the late Slavic period (11th/12th century). The vessels are decorated with comb stamps, oblique notching, wavy band decoration and horizontal banding; the rims are formed up to the so-called duck's beak. Pottery from the Iron Age Billendorf culture was also found in the lower, more disturbed areas. The finds from the excavation were donated to the Bautzen Museum.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source L. Feyerabend, Foto ©LfA 1914.

Processing the excavations

However, a publication of the excavation was never completed due to Feyerabend's suicide in March 1941. From the 1950s onwards, Coblenz in particular endeavored to reappraise the Ostroer Schanze and researched records, diaries, plans and lectures by both Feyerabend and Frenzel.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source W. Coblenz, Foto ©LfA 1954.

Geomagnetic investigations

In spring 2017, the Museum der Westlausitz, Kamenz, carried out non-destructive geomagnetic investigations inside the castle complex in collaboration with Patrick Mertl. The structures that became visible indicate at least a dozen more pit houses, especially in the area of the lower castle. Further anomalies, which presumably go back to post positions, also point to an extensive building development. Due to the multi-phase nature of the complex, however, the density of features is hardly surprising, as both prehistoric and early historic features from different centuries can be seen simultaneously.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source P. Mertl, Plan ©A.E.G.I.S./LfA 2019.

Forecastle area

In March 2019, a further geomagnetic investigation of the terraced outer bailey areas yielded interesting results. Although the north-eastern section was featureless, in the north-west and north clear structures of an up to 10 m wide incision were revealed, indicating a hollow way coming from the via regia up to the redoubt and leading to a notch in the rampart, which could possibly indicate a tunnel gate that has since been buried. To the east, in the run-up to the presumed medieval entrance, there were clear features belonging to a rampart core consisting of wooden boxes with a ditch in front, which may have protected the outer bailey area as an additional approach obstacle.

Annemarie Reck

Image Source R. Heynowski, Foto ©LfA 2021.

Research chronicle

1827
First mention by Karl Benjamin Preusker.
1849
Description of Ostroer Schanze by Karl Benjamin Preusker. Mentioned several times by other 19th century authors such as Oscar Schuster (1869) or Alfred Muschkau (1885).
1902
Report on its use as a sand pit to the Bautzen Society for Anthropology and Prehistory of Upper Lusatia.
1903 - 1908
Publication of excavation reports by the Bautzen Society for Anthropology and Prehistory of Upper Lusatia on subsequent and rescue excavations at the redoubt.
1909 - 1922/1923
First excavations by Ludwig Feyerabend.
ca. 1926 - 1929
Further excavations by Walter Frenzel.
1950s
Processing of both excavations by Werner Coblenz.
2017/2019
Geomagnetic investigations on behalf of the Museum der Westlausitz Bautzen under the direction of Patrick Mertl within the castle complex (2017) and in the outer bailey area (2019).
Annemarie Reck

Image Source Foto ©LfA 2024.

Literature

Werner Coblenz, Ostro und seine Schanze. In: Heinz Kubasch (Hrsg.), Veröffentlichungen des Museums der Westlausitz, Sonderheft (Kamenz 1991).
Frederike Koch-Heinrichs/Stefan Krabath/Uta Lische, Die Schanze Kopschien und die slawische Besiedlung der Oberlausitz. Veröffentlichungen des Museums der Westlausitz Kamenz 35, 2019, 3–109.
Frederike Koch, Ostro (Wotrow), eine vorgeschichtliche Wallanlage und Siedlungskammer. In: Die Oberlausitz. Ausflüge zur Archäologie, Geschichte und Kultur in Deutschland, Bd. 51 (Stuttgart 2010) 201–205.

Note on monument protection

Archaeological monuments are protected by the Saxon Monument Protection Act. A permit under monument law is required for ground interventions or construction measures.

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Citation

Annemarie Reck, Double wall from Ostro. In: Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen, Website archaeo | SN (16.02.2024). https://archaeo-sn.de/en/ort/double-wall-from-ostro/ (Stand: 09.02.2025)

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