Wallburg Semberg

The Semberg rises above the village of Schwerzen in the Wutach valley, a steep-sided ridge that once commanded the old pass below the Küssaburg. Its narrow neck and sheer drops made it an ideal spot for defence, and traces of walls and ditches still mark the summit. Two kilometres to the southwest, the early earthworks of Schlossbückle stand in sight of the hill. Archaeologists have never excavated the site, but early writers noted more remains before they vanished. The ridge tapers westward to a narrow spur about seventy metres long, cut off by a ruined rampart and ditch. A square inner stronghold seventy metres across sits at the tip, while a larger eastern plateau is guarded by further earthworks. A round hollow on the rampart has been read as a hearth, and the whole layout suggests a fortified refuge from the Iron Age. Today a Stationsweg winds from the foot to the summit, passing the small Semberg chapel built in 2003. The path leads past the remnants of the old defences, offering long views over the Wutach valley. At the top the surviving walls and ditches recall the hill’s centuries as a lookout and refuge, from the Kelts to the early Middle Ages.