Archaeological excavations at Loburg Castle in Germany have uncovered evidence that the medieval stronghold developed from a much earlier fortified site. Pottery, a massive defensive ditch and traces of an earth-and-timber rampart are providing new insights into the castle’s history during the Early and High Middle Ages.
This summer, archaeologists have been investigating the western part of the castle hill at Loburg in the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The work, carried out by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt (LDA), was undertaken ahead of ground improvement measures required because of damage to the castle’s main building.
Working with the town of Möckern, archaeologists opened a trench approximately 30 metres long and six metres wide. The excavation has revealed a sequence of occupation and fortification stretching back well before the surviving medieval structures at the site.
A castle before Loburg Castle
Fragments of ceramic vessels from the excavation trench in the rampart/ditch area of Loburg Castle. Photo: Anja Tuschwitz / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt.
Loburg Castle stands on a prominent hill overlooking the Ehle River. Much of the small castle complex visible today dates from the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, although its most striking surviving medieval feature is a 30-metre-high keep constructed in the 13th century.
Written evidence, however, suggests that a fortified site existed here centuries earlier.
In 965, Emperor Otto the Great transferred a civitas Luborn to St Maurice’s Monastery in Magdeburg. In this context, civitas refers to a castle or fortified settlement. The donation formed part of Otto’s preparations for the establishment of an archbishopric at Magdeburg. By 1161, the site appears in written records as the fortified district of “Louburg.”
The new excavation is beginning to reveal the physical remains behind this early history. Numerous fragments of so-called Middle Slavic pottery have been recovered from the lowest layers of the fortification. The ceramics, many decorated with characteristic comb-stroke patterns, point to intensive activity at Loburg during the ninth and tenth centuries.
The earliest settlement layers and pits may have belonged to a settlement that was either unfortified or protected by relatively modest defences. That changed, probably during the tenth-century Ottonian period, when much more substantial fortifications were constructed.
Archaeologists uncovered a defensive ditch approximately eight metres wide and more than three metres deep. On its inner side stood a timber-and-earth rampart, traces of which survive as a complex sequence of archaeological layers.
The orientation of these defences suggests that the original fortification was probably roughly circular and that its centre lay farther southwest than that of the castle visible today.
Rebuilding the castle in the Middle Ages
The large oven complex in the southern profile of the excavation trench, looking south. Above a base of fieldstones set in clay is the oven chamber, containing charcoal, ash and fragments of brick. Photo: Anja Tuschwitz / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
Loburg underwent another major transformation during the 12th century. Thick deposits of levelling material indicate that the earlier defensive ditch was deliberately filled in and the old rampart covered by a newly created castle mound. By the 13th century at the latest, at least some of the buildings standing on the mound were being constructed from stone.
The archaeological sequence therefore reveals how Loburg changed over several centuries, from an early medieval settlement associated with Slavic material culture into a fortified Ottonian-period site and eventually a High Medieval stone castle.
Later activity has also left its mark. Archaeologists uncovered a large kiln or oven complex built at the edge of the castle mound during the Late Middle Ages or Early Modern period. Its precise purpose remains unknown. Ovens were sometimes deliberately positioned within castles’ outer defensive areas to reduce the danger posed by fire.
Alongside large quantities of pottery and animal bones representing food waste, the excavation produced several notable small finds. These include an ornate bronze pin dating from the 12th or 13th century, what is believed to be a writing stylus, and a heavily corroded iron riding spur. The spur will require restoration before archaeologists can establish a more precise date.
The excavation is particularly significant because of Loburg’s location immediately east of Magdeburg, an important centre of Ottonian power. During the Early Middle Ages, this was a frontier region where Slavic communities and the expanding East Frankish kingdom interacted.
Further scientific analysis of the finds and archaeological deposits is expected to refine the chronology of the site. Researchers hope the results will provide not only a clearer picture of how Loburg’s fortifications developed, but also new evidence for the wider political and cultural changes taking place along this medieval frontier.
Top Image: Oblique aerial view of the excavation trench in the western area of Loburg Castle; view towards the east. Photo by Anja Tuschwitz / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
Archaeological excavations at Loburg Castle in Germany have uncovered evidence that the medieval stronghold developed from a much earlier fortified site. Pottery, a massive defensive ditch and traces of an earth-and-timber rampart are providing new insights into the castle’s history during the Early and High Middle Ages.
This summer, archaeologists have been investigating the western part of the castle hill at Loburg in the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The work, carried out by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt (LDA), was undertaken ahead of ground improvement measures required because of damage to the castle’s main building.
Working with the town of Möckern, archaeologists opened a trench approximately 30 metres long and six metres wide. The excavation has revealed a sequence of occupation and fortification stretching back well before the surviving medieval structures at the site.
A castle before Loburg Castle
Loburg Castle stands on a prominent hill overlooking the Ehle River. Much of the small castle complex visible today dates from the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, although its most striking surviving medieval feature is a 30-metre-high keep constructed in the 13th century.
Written evidence, however, suggests that a fortified site existed here centuries earlier.
In 965, Emperor Otto the Great transferred a civitas Luborn to St Maurice’s Monastery in Magdeburg. In this context, civitas refers to a castle or fortified settlement. The donation formed part of Otto’s preparations for the establishment of an archbishopric at Magdeburg. By 1161, the site appears in written records as the fortified district of “Louburg.”
The new excavation is beginning to reveal the physical remains behind this early history. Numerous fragments of so-called Middle Slavic pottery have been recovered from the lowest layers of the fortification. The ceramics, many decorated with characteristic comb-stroke patterns, point to intensive activity at Loburg during the ninth and tenth centuries.
The earliest settlement layers and pits may have belonged to a settlement that was either unfortified or protected by relatively modest defences. That changed, probably during the tenth-century Ottonian period, when much more substantial fortifications were constructed.
Archaeologists uncovered a defensive ditch approximately eight metres wide and more than three metres deep. On its inner side stood a timber-and-earth rampart, traces of which survive as a complex sequence of archaeological layers.
The orientation of these defences suggests that the original fortification was probably roughly circular and that its centre lay farther southwest than that of the castle visible today.
Rebuilding the castle in the Middle Ages
Loburg underwent another major transformation during the 12th century. Thick deposits of levelling material indicate that the earlier defensive ditch was deliberately filled in and the old rampart covered by a newly created castle mound. By the 13th century at the latest, at least some of the buildings standing on the mound were being constructed from stone.
The archaeological sequence therefore reveals how Loburg changed over several centuries, from an early medieval settlement associated with Slavic material culture into a fortified Ottonian-period site and eventually a High Medieval stone castle.
Later activity has also left its mark. Archaeologists uncovered a large kiln or oven complex built at the edge of the castle mound during the Late Middle Ages or Early Modern period. Its precise purpose remains unknown. Ovens were sometimes deliberately positioned within castles’ outer defensive areas to reduce the danger posed by fire.
Alongside large quantities of pottery and animal bones representing food waste, the excavation produced several notable small finds. These include an ornate bronze pin dating from the 12th or 13th century, what is believed to be a writing stylus, and a heavily corroded iron riding spur. The spur will require restoration before archaeologists can establish a more precise date.
The excavation is particularly significant because of Loburg’s location immediately east of Magdeburg, an important centre of Ottonian power. During the Early Middle Ages, this was a frontier region where Slavic communities and the expanding East Frankish kingdom interacted.
Further scientific analysis of the finds and archaeological deposits is expected to refine the chronology of the site. Researchers hope the results will provide not only a clearer picture of how Loburg’s fortifications developed, but also new evidence for the wider political and cultural changes taking place along this medieval frontier.
Top Image: Oblique aerial view of the excavation trench in the western area of Loburg Castle; view towards the east. Photo by Anja Tuschwitz / State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
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