BZ SERIES: The mountain between Freiburg and Gundelfingen was already inhabited before the Zhringen – today there is still a castle ruin.
. The Zhringer Burgberg stands out simply because of its height. At up to 470 meters, it is higher than many other mountains on the edge of the Black Forest. Another special feature is the approximately 300 meter long and 100 meter wide flat plateau that stretches towards the valley on the west side. If the mountain could talk, it would undoubtedly have a lot to tell. Archaeologists have been digging, finding, examining and interpreting features of the terrain and objects for decades, trying to paint a picture of past (everyday) life.
An overview of the history of the mountain and castle can be found in the third volume of the Gundelfingen Mosaic and in the first volume of the history of the city of Freiburg.
The mountain was inhabited long before it got its name from the Zhringer Herzgen. There was a central hilltop settlement as early as the Stone Age (around 4000 BC) and the early Celtic period (600 to 450 BC). The mountain experienced a top-class construction site in the fourth century, when early Alamanni created terraces for settlement. To do this, they quarried stone material in the summit region and built it into mighty bars that are arranged in a radial pattern around the summit. They filled the gaps with stones and earth.
The West Germans built dwellings and farmsteads on the terraces. At least 200,000 cubic meters of stone were broken and used for the plant. In order to implement such a mammoth building project for a representative residence, appropriate organization and a large number of workers were required, probably under the direction of an Alamannic petty king.
The fact that a socially superior group of people lived on the castle hill in the fourth and fifth centuries is also indicated by finds: neck rings made of bronze and silver, with which men adorned themselves, bronze fittings for military belts, glass and amber beads, silver hairpins, keys, amulets, valuables tableware and more.
With Berthold II, the Zhringers established themselves in the Breisgau in the eleventh century; In 1128 a castle in Zhringen was mentioned for the first time. “The Zhringer Burgberg remained the place of action for legal transactions of a general nature up until the 12th and 13th centuries. It was obviously a public place of legal action that was accessible to all,” says the history of the city of Freiburg. After the Zhringer family died out in 1218, centuries of changing castle owners followed. The building was probably destroyed in 1525 during the Peasants’ War. Today the castle hill is in Gundelfingen municipality, the castle ruins are owned by the city of Freiburg. The 18 meter high round tower with platform dates from the 13th century.
Tower Key: Wednesday to Friday from 5 p.m., weekends and public holidays from 12 p.m. in the Zhringer Burg forest restaurant.
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