Motte Altenburg

The Motte Altenburg in the Jülich district of Altenburg is the remnant of a motte-and-bailey castle of the Counts of Jülich and is now an archaeological monument.

Almost nothing remains of the original structure; only the earth mound, characteristic of a motte and now tree-covered, and the remains of the surrounding moat stand out clearly from a pasture northwest of the village. It can be easily spotted from Federal Highway 56 on the right side when driving towards Düren. It is assumed that the Altenburg fortification was designed as a motte, typical for the High Middle Ages. Presumably, a wooden or stone tower crowned the artificial castle mound, surrounded by a bailey of palisades and earthworks. Minor wall remains suggest that the main castle on the earth mound also had a stone curtain wall, partly consisting of Roman brick fragments. In the middle of the castle mound, a well with a tuff casing was also discovered during excavations in 1896. Topographical maps from the beginning of the 19th century still show a double moat around the motte mound, which is about 85 meters in diameter. This moat is now silted up and was fed from the southwest by a side arm of the Rur. To the northeast, a bailey, about 20 meters wide and 50 meters long, adjoined the main castle; its rectangular outline is still faintly visible in the terrain. Until the end of the 19th century, the remains of the foundations of two stone round towers were recognizable at the corners of the bailey.

Not much is known about the history of the castle. Earlier investigations in its vicinity found late Roman pottery fragments, which could indicate that one of the many country estates that existed in large numbers in the Rhineland at that time was located here. It is unclear whether the settlement continued after the Migration Period, but late medieval pottery and tile fragments dating back to the 13th century have also been found. The motte itself probably originated in the 12th century as an addition and reinforcement to the fortifications in the Jülich area during a phase of increasing power for the County of Jülich, when it was in fierce dispute with the powerful Archbishopric of Cologne, which was then the dominant power in the region. Together with the late antique castellum in Jülich, it was probably intended to secure the Rur line and restrict the freedom of movement of passing armies; some also see it as the ancestral castle of the Counts of Jülich. The motte was probably destroyed in the course of the conflicts with the Archbishop sometime during the 13th century and not rebuilt; its end may coincide with the devastation of Jülich in 1278. However, its fate may also have befallen it as early as 1239, when an archiepiscopal army had already devastated the area around Jülich. It cannot be determined with certainty whether the motte was built near an existing village or whether a new one formed under its protection, which continued to exist after the destruction of the castle and received its name Altenburg from it. It is assumed that the Count no longer needed the motte after the end of Cologne's supremacy following the Battle of Worringen in 1288 and the considerable expansion of the fortifications of nearby Jülich at the beginning of the 14th century, and therefore refrained from rebuilding it. Today, the Motte Altenburg is listed as archaeological monument number 19 by the city of Jülich.

Image source: www.wehrbauten.de