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The moated castle
A castle for farmers?

Water castle near Oberdorf

Place: Oberdorf (Stollberg, Erzgebirgskreis)
Type: Wasserburg
Dating: Late Middle Ages | 1200 - 1400 AD.

Description

During an aerial archaeological survey in the winter of 1999, a previously unknown feature was discovered in the Oberdorf district of Stollberg, which was clearly visible in the fresh snow when light fell on it from the side: a mound surrounded by a flat rampart and a ditch with a clearly visible dent in it. The shape and dimensions of the findings immediately remind the trained eye of a late medieval moated castle. However, neither a manor nor a noble residence are known from medieval sources near Oberdorf.

Dana Mikschofsky/Annemarie Reck

The moated castle

The findings, first observed from the air by Otto Braasch in 1999, were confirmed by a site inspection soon after their discovery. The overall impression of a moated castle was also confirmed. Its total diameter is 35 m, 15 m of which is accounted for by the plateau of the tower mound castle. The moat, which has since silted up, still measures around 6 m today. In addition, there is an outer rampart, which has since flattened considerably, the remains of which are still around 4 m wide in the north and south of the lowland castle. The plateau of the tower mound still rises 0.8 m to 1 m above the level of the ditch floor. The original structure is still faintly indicated by a visible dent in the hilltop. To the west of the site, about 20 m away, flows the Oberdorfer Bach stream, which probably once fed the ditch with water.

Dana Mikschofsky/Annemarie Reck

Image Source O. Braasch, Foto ©LfA 1999.

A castle for farmers?

The forest village of Oberdorf is first mentioned in historical sources in the middle of the 15th century, but may already have existed for several decades at this time. However, there is no evidence of a manor house there. Later sources from 1729 refer to the area by the Obersdorfer Bach stream as a meadow, which was used as a cattle pasture in summer at this time. It can be assumed that the meadow was already part of the common land in earlier times. It is therefore probably one of the not very numerous fortifications for the farming community, for example to secure village property, the harvest or seeds. Without written sources or an archaeological excavation, the moated castle can only be formally dated to the 12th to 14th century according to its external structure as a tower mound castle.

Dana Mikschofsky/Annemarie Reck

Image Source E. Lorenz, Foto ©LfA 2018.

Literature

Volkmar Geupel, Die mittelalterliche Wasserburg in Oberdorf bei Stollberg. Arbeits- und Forschungsberichte zur sächsischen Bodendenkmalpflege 43, 2001, 293–295.
Volkmar Geupel, Führer zu den Burgen und Wehrkirchen im Erzgebirgskreis (Dresden 2013) 121–123.
Dana Mikschofsky, Zum Selbstschutz der Bauern. In: Regina Smolnik/Ronny Zienert (Hrsg.), Höhenflüge. Luftbilder und Archäologie in Sachsen (Dresden 2024) 138–139.

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

Dana Mikschofsky/Annemarie Reck, Water castle near Oberdorf. In: Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen, Website archaeo | SN (23.02.2024). https://archaeo-sn.de/en/ort/water-castle-near-oberdorf/ (Stand: 09.02.2025)

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