Burg Oldenburg

The Oldenburg is a medieval hill fort between Ense-Lüttringen and Arnsberg-Neheim on the Fürstenberg, a hill rising 279 metres above the Ruhr. It was built as a refuge for local people during the Saxon wars of the 8th and 9th centuries. Three lines of earthen ramparts still stretch across the ridge, enclosing an area half a kilometre long and three hundred metres wide. The oldest rampart is a half-circle of wood and earth nearly half a kilometre long, with a palisade six to eight metres high and a deep ditch in front. Inside this stood a small oval enclosure by the 9th century, containing timber buildings including a sunken hut that burned down in the late 10th or early 11th century. A stone chapel was added in the 11th century, and a square stone tower eight metres across was built beside it in the 12th century. Below the main fort on a rocky spur stands the smaller Richtersköpfchen castle, cut off by a deep rock-cut ditch. Built by the Archbishop of Cologne in the late 13th century, it guarded his interests against the Counts of Arnsberg. Excavations in 1929–30 uncovered its foundations. The site offers sweeping views over the Ruhr valley and the surrounding Sauerland hills.