Süseler Schanze

The Süseler Schanze is a wendish ringwall on a peninsula jutting into the Süseler See near Süsel in Kreis Ostholstein. The slawic name was probably Suislegrad. The site lies on land belonging to the municipality of Sierksdorf. The peninsula points south into the lake, so water surrounds the remains on three sides. Archaeologists date the walls and ditches to the 7th to 12th centuries. Excavators found shards of pottery that confirm this period. In the 19th century much of the oval rampart was removed, leaving fragments 70 to 95 metres across. About 60 metres north of the main ring, on the landward side, a curved bank of the outer bailey still stands. A small wood north of the peninsula shelters three slawic burial mounds edged with stones. The mounds and the ringwall remain protected as archaeological monuments. Visitors walk among the trees and along the lake shore to see the grass-grown banks and the quiet water.