Wallburg Kegelriss

The Wallburg Kegelriss, also known as Burg Ehrenstetten, stands on a ridge 2,600 metres south-east of Ehrenstetten in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district. It was a trapezoidal ring-wall fortification whose remains still enclose about sixteen hectares. Excavations show it was built in the La Tène period and once protected a Celtic settlement covering roughly six hectares. The surviving rampart includes a timber-and-earth core reinforced with vertical posts and wooden ties, while a ditch runs along much of its outer edge. Archaeologists have dated the site’s heyday to between about 150 and 80 BC, when it was a thriving settlement. The site is worth the journey for anyone interested in Iron Age Europe. Its size and the quality of its surviving defences make it one of the most important La Tène-period hill forts in the Upper Rhine region. Excavations led by Rolf Dehn uncovered post holes, rampart timbers and quantities of pottery and metalwork that reveal daily life in the settlement. The Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg recognises the Kegelriss as an outstanding archaeological monument, and it features in their guide to archaeological sites across the state. Visitors walk along grassy ramparts that still rise several metres above the surrounding ground. Inside the walls the ground is mostly open farmland, but low scarps mark where houses once stood. From the ridge there are wide views over the Black Forest foothills and the Rhine valley. The site is quiet and uncrowded, reached by a short path from the edge of Ehrenstetten.