The Orensberg, also known in the region as the Orensfels(en) due to the striking

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s on its summit plateau, is a hill, , near Frankweiler in the county of

Südliche Weinstraße Südliche Weinstraße ( pfl, Siedlischi Woischdrooß; en, "Southern Wine Route") is a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Südwestpfalz, Bad Dürkheim, the district-f ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. The hill is part of the

Haardt The Haardt () is a range of wooded, sandstone hills in the state of Rhineland Palatinate in southwestern Germany. The range is some long and lies within the Palatinate Forest (''Pfälzerwald''). Its highest point is the Kalmit, near Maikammer ...

mountain range that forms the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest. At the summit is an ancient

circular rampart A circular rampart (German: ''Ringwall'') is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The ...

, now designated as a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...

, and the natural monument of the ''Orensfelsen'' rocks.

Geographical Location

The summit of the Orensberg, which lies within the

Palatine Forest Nature Park The Palatinate Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Pfälzerwald) lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate Fore ...

, rises within the forest estate belonging to Frankweiler, a village 2.8 kilometres to the southeast; the northern slopes of the hill are part of the woods of

Böchingen Böchingen is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Eur ...

, a settlement 4.7 km east-southeast. Higher mountains and hills nearby include the Roßberg (637.0 m), 2 km north, and the

Teufelsberg Teufelsberg (; German for ''Devil's Mountain'') is a non-natural hill in Berlin, Germany, in the Grunewald locality of former West Berlin. It rises about above the surrounding Teltow plateau and above the sea level, in the north of Berlin's Gr ...

(597.6 m), 2.1 km (both as the crow flies) northeast. Three streams flow past the Orensberg: the Dernbach to the west, the

Queich The Queich is a tributary of the Rhine, which rises in the southern part of the Palatinate Forest, and flows through the Upper Rhine valley to its confluence with the Rhine in Germersheim. It is long and is one of the four major drainage system ...

to the south and the Hainbach to the east.

History

Name

The Orensberg used to be called the ''Urlesberg''. This was derived from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

word ''Urlaß'', which means "pasture hill" (''Weideberg''.
''see also Urnsburg''

Excavations

The remains of settlements from the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

have been found on the Orensberg. As a result,

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

investigations have taken place for a number of years under the direction of Jochen Braselmann. Trial digs were carried out and several working ditches, so-called mardelles, were opened. Finds included

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

arrowheads dating to the New Stone Age, as well as

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

from the

. In addition the former entrance in the interior of the circular rampart was uncovered.

Circular rampart or ringwork

Today little can be seen of the collapsed stone wall that once formed the circular rampart. The rampart is around two and a half kilometres long and encloses an area of about 15 hectares. Early scientific assessments indicated it might be of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

origin and it was dated to the period around 500 B. C. In the meantime, it has been shown that it is actually the remains of a

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

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 rampa ...

, which was built in the 8th century A.D. This evidence came from a

dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

investigation of a piece of an excavated wooden beam.

''Opferschale''

The so-called ''Opferschale'' ("sacrifice or offering bowl") on one of the rocks is a hollow in the

Bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

, that has been formed by the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

of rock layers (''Karlstal beds'', ''upper rock zone with ball rock horizon'') of differing hardness and which bears traces of human activity. This type of feature is common in the Palatine Forest and is locally called a ''Wasserstein'' ("water rock") or ''Suppenschüssel'' ("soup bowl"). According to more recent research only the so-called "blood channel" (''Blutrinne'') has been added by human hands. It is not possible to date the workings, but they have been classified to the Celtic period.

Sights

The summit plateau, whose highest point is protected by railings, offers a good all-round view of the Palatine Forest and the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

to the south. The surrounding area is rich in castles and castle ruins. For example, to the southwest may be seen the imperial castle of Trifels and its two sister fortresses, Anebos and Scharfenberg; on the north slope of the Orensberge is Scharfeneck Castle, behind the Roßberg mountain is

Meistersel Castle Meistersel Castle is a ruined castle near Ramberg on the outskirts of the Palatinate Forest in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on a 492-metre-high hilltop that towers above the Modenbach valley near the Three Beeches pass ('' Drei ...

, and to the northwest is the castle of

Ramburg The Ramburg is a ruined hill castle in the county of Südliche Weinstraße, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geography The ruins of the Ramburg stand on the ''Schlossberg'' ("castle hill") at a height of above the village of Ramber ...

Tourism and sport

Thanks to its views, the Orensberg is a popular destination for ramblers. It is accessible via a dense network of paths and the route to the top is signed. In addition the hill is a take-off point for

paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

s and a destination for

mountain biker Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

References

Hinweistafel auf dem Berg Universität Trier Amt für Archäologische Denkmalpflege Speyer {{cite web , author=pfalz-bild.de , title=Die Opferschale auf dem Orensberg, ein altes keltisches Heiligtum , url=http://www.pfalz-bild.de/html/opferschale.html , access-date=2012-01-12 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514105203/http://pfalz-bild.de/html/opferschale.html , archive-date=2011-05-14 , url-status=dead Mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate Mountains and hills of the Palatinate Forest Südliche Weinstraße