The Grasburg is a prehistoric

refuge castle A refuge castleCreighton, Oliver (2015). ''Early European Castles''. Bloomsbury. or refuge fort (german: Fliehburg, also ''Fluchtburg'', ''Volksburg'', ''Bauernburg'' or ''Vryburg'') is a castle-like defensive location, usually surrounded by ramp ...

, in the form of a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

with a rampart and ditch system, near

Rottleberode Rottleberode is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Südharz Südharz (literally "South Harz") is a municipality in the Mansfeld-S� ...

in the district of

Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established by merging the former districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land as part of the reform of 2007. In the German parliament, the Bun ...

in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

.''Die Burgruine Grasburg''
at www.harzlife.de. Accessed on 5 Dec 2010.

History

The Grasburg is located in the wooded area known as Alter Stolberg between Stempeda and Rottleberode in the

South Harz South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

and is, according to legend, the family seat of the

counts of Stolberg The County of Stolberg (german: Grafschaft Stolberg) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz mountain range in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. The town of Stolberg was pro ...

. There are various theories about the ancestry of the counts of Stolberg, none of which has been able to prevail. In the 13th century a pilgrimage chapel was built in the castle grounds, in which an annual fair was celebrated up to the 15th century. Such a ceremony was held on St. Stephen's Day (3 August), for example, in 1497 on the ''Craßburg''. Thereafter, the chapel fell into ruin; although several elements of it have survived.

References

Castles in Saxony-Anhalt Castles in the Harz Hill forts in Germany {{SaxonyAnhalt-struct-stub