Burg Berauerhorn

The Wallburg Berau stands on a triangular spur of the Berauer Berg between the Schwarza and Schlücht rivers near Berau in the Black Forest. The site rises 640 metres above sea level and drops 140 to 160 metres on three sides to the valleys below. Its steep rock faces and narrow neck make the ridge almost unapproachable from the south. Locals once called it the ‘Heidentor’ or ‘Heidenschanzen’, names that hint at its great age. Written records from the 8th century already mention Berau, and earthworks on the southern ridge point to even earlier use.

Historians believe the ring-wall was built to protect an important route and later served the edelfreie Herren of Berau. The first of these lords appears in a charter of 1087, and the last gave the mountain to St Blasien monastery around 1100. Emil Gersbach’s detailed survey in the 1969 Urgeschichte des Hochrheins argues the site was their seat and refuge. Without further excavation, the exact purpose remains uncertain, but the layout matches a fortified noble residence of the 11th century.

Visitors walk a narrow neck to reach three successive ramparts and ditches that guard the ridge. The outermost stone wall is about 140 metres long and seven metres high, with three deep outer ditches. A second, smaller wall stands 160 metres farther south, enclosing a broad central space. Near the southern tip, a third and highest rampart rises ten metres above a steep inner slope. The remains of what may have been a tower platform lie inside this innermost work. From the southern edge the eye follows the Schwarza and Schlücht valleys to the distant Alps.