![Marsberg, Obermarsberg, Altes Rathaus, 2012-05 CN-01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Marsberg%2C_Obermarsberg%2C_Altes_Rathaus%2C_2012-05_CN-01.jpg)
Obermarsberg is one of seventeen
quarters in the municipality of
Marsberg
Marsberg () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
History
Although its origins are obscure, Marsberg was a prospering town by the 13th century (it was even minting coins). It was a free city until 1807, when ...
,
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It is situated on the site of an
Old Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It ...
hillfort and
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 ...
, the
Eresburg, on a hill 130m above the
Diemel
The Diemel is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Weser.
Route
The source of the Diemel is near Willingen, in Sauerland. The Diemel flows generally northeast through the towns Marsberg, Warburg, an ...
river, a tributary of the
River Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of B ...
.
History
The location was originally the site of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
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 ...
, founded probably sometime before or during the era of the
Roman-Germanic wars
This is a chronology of warfare between the Romans and various Germanic peoples between 113 BC and 476. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings and later Germanic invasions of the Western Roman ...
; including the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius ...
(circa AD 9) and the
Battle of the Weser River (circa AD 16). Although it is unclear whether the surrounding area was controlled by the
Cherusci,
Chatti
The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe
whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis''). They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in the va ...
, or perhaps
Marsi
The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. ...
(as described by
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
), no particular reference to the Eresburg is known prior to the
Saxon Wars (AD 770–785).
![Marsberg, St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Marsberg%2C_St._Nikolaus%2C_2012-05_CN-01.jpg)
During the
Saxon Wars, the stronghold was repeatedly occupied by
Widukind
Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred th ...
, leader of the recalcitrant
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
(those refusing to adopt
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and the overlordship of the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
), and then abandoned to
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
's forces as the Saxons retreated to the home of Widukind's in-laws, today
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
. Local lore states that as Charlemagne's forces approached, the town's common folk would move into the ''Drachenholler'', a vast system of underground
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s beneath Eresburg, where they remained unnoticed until Charlemagne's people left. Though only a legend, the caves can still be seen, along with several watchtowers dated to the same time period (circa AD 800).
Religion
Very near Eresburg is
Priesterberg, a hill overlooking the valley of the Diemel. This was reportedly the location of
Pagan sacrificial
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly ex ...
rite Rite may refer to:
* Ritual, an established ceremonious act
* Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition
Religion
* Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations
* Cath ...
s in the pre-Christian era. It is also thought to be the home of
Irminsul, a sacred tree or pillar which represented the
Germanic central pillar of the world. In AD 772, Charlemagne destroyed the Irminsul on Priesterberg (elsewhere reported as "near
Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
" or "near Eresburg"). The Irminsul was replaced by a stone structure, possibly a tower, the crumbling remains of which can still be seen.
Around AD 800 the first Christian
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
was constructed in Eresburg proper. Although the current church in Obermarsberg only dates to the 13th century, it is at least the second or third church to be built over the remains of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
's original church.
External links
Förderverein Historisches Obermarsberg e.V.
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
{{Hochsauerlandkreis-geo-stub
nds:Eresborg