Schanzberg Ramparts
No written records exist regarding the fortification. It is connected to an ancient road from the Danube over the Stallwang Saddle through the Kinsach Valley to the Cham-Further Depression and further into Bohemia, which crosses the fortification. There is no evidence that it was built by the first presumed Margrave, Sizo, nor that it was used as a direct precursor to Sattelpeilnstein Castle.
However, the structural design, with its basic geometric shape, its size of 1.2 hectares, and, above all, the existence of a hillside ditch and outer rampart, most likely points to a date in the 9th/10th century. A combination of wood, stone, and earth is assumed for the fortification. Whether it was built in one or more phases is unknown.
The fortification forms a rectangle measuring approximately 150 x 125 m with rounded corners. It consists of a rampart up to 1.0 m high towards the inside, with an accompanying ditch. The difference in height between the rampart crest and the ditch floor is between 2.3 and 4.6 m. While a 1.0 m wide berm exists to the south, the rampart merges into the slope ditch on the other sides. In front of this, particularly to the north and northeast, is a well-preserved outer rampart up to 1.7 m high, which is partially exposed to the west and missing to the south. Access to the interior is provided by two well-preserved, 6 m deep pincer gates at the northwest and southeast corners. The structure of the fortifications is unknown. Remains of any interior buildings are also not discernible.
Finds include a La Tène-period socketed axe and a winged socketed arrowhead, probably from the High Middle Ages.
Source: Excerpts from www.ebidat