Nucleus

More detailed information about the Teufels Tintenfass (Devil’s Inkpot) in Wiendorf (Könnern) are rare. Whether it is a stone of a megalithic grave is uncertain, probably the stone served as a so-called pawn stone, this marked the legal or social center of rural communities. On such stones arrangements, agreements and business were made, that legal liability possessed.

According to a legend, the devil should have kept his writing tools in the round hollows and thrown the stone here out of anger over the construction of the Wiendorf church.

The stone is located north of the church in the Mittelweg road in front of a  private residence.

Visited April 2019

On the Fuchsberg (Fox Hill), a prehistoric burial ground, two stone chambers were uncovered in the construction of the road between Bernburg and Köthen (today B185) just north of the road, of which one is still preserved. It shows a significant difference in size compared to the other monuments of the Stone Age landscape Latdorf – it is smaller, but also younger.

The Fuchsberg is located in a field, left of the road Bernburg – Köthen, about 300 meters behind the branch to Weddegast. There is no parking directly at the complex, so you have to park the car at the junction to then walk on the road or in the field to the hill. The grave is located on the north side of the Fuchsberg, so it is best to circle around the hill until you meet the information board, from where the tomb is located about 20 meters from the edge.

Visited April 2019

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Der Fuchsberg (The Fox Hill)

Late Neolithic:
Corded Ware culture approx. 2,800 – 2,200 BC

As a now densely overgrown, knoll-shaped hill in the midst of arable land, the so called Fuchsberg is about 1 km northeast of the small village Weddegast and not far from here passing main road B185 between Bernburg and Köthen.

In the course of the expansion of the nearby Bernburg-Köthener Chaussee, the then Bernburg History and Antiquities Association already carried out excavations at the end of the 19th century. They came across two stone slab graves with body burials. They contained as characteristic additions four richly-adorned vessels and three “axes” of rock. The findings reached the archaeological collection of the Städtisches Museum Bernburg, which was founded in 1893, and were subsequently depicted and described in the catalog of Otto Merkel (1911).

Unfortunately, details about the circumstances of the find are not documented and handed down. It is possible that the graves were originally covered by a hill. Today only one of the two stone slab tombs is preserved, which was uncovered again in the 1970s.

On the basis of the grave goods, especially ornate amphorae, the graves of the Fuchsberg can be assigned to the late Neolithic Corded Ware culture, whose bearer approximately in the time between 2.800 and 2.200 BC also populated the Bernburger Land. Corded Ware and their related groups were widespread at the end of the Neolithic period not only in central Germany but also in other parts of Europe as far as southern Scandinavia and Russia. It has become known to us mainly through numerous graves. In the Bernburg region, tombs of the Corded Ware culture occasionally create a post-burial horizon in the large multiphase Neolithic burial mounds, such as the Schneiderberg in Baalberge or the Pohlsberg near Latdorf.

The Pfingstberg is a burial mound near Latdorf, at the top of which stands a menhir. The menhir is also called Totensäule (Pillar of Death) or Schwedenstein (Swedestone). The menhir or grave stele is a slender stone of sandstone about 2 meters high. The Pfingstberg is one of nine burial mounds and megalithic tombs (including the megalithic tomb Bierberg and the megalithic tomb Heringsberg) in the vicinity of Bernburg and Latdorf, which together form the Stone Age Landscape Latdorf. As the only one of these monuments, the Pfingstberg has not been excavated so far, which is why only a few statements about the burial mound itself are possible.

The burial mound is located directly on the road between Bernburg and Latdorf just before a right turn.

Visited April 2019

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Der Pfingstberg (The (Witsun Hill)

Middle Neolithic – Early Bronze Age: ca. 4,100 – 1,600 BC

In the middle of the landscape between Bernburg / Dröbel and Latdorf the Pfingstberg rises in a landscape-exposed position on the hillside of a Saale-glacial terminal moraine above the valley edge of the Saale. Comparable with similar objects in the immediate vicinity, such as the Pohlsberg or the Spitzes Hoch, we can say that this identifiable artificial elevation is also a burial mound, probably built in the Middle Neolithic period. However, the Pfingstberg has not yet been excavated and archaeologically examined.

Noteworthy is a pillar-like, square sandstone column (height about 1.95 m, width about 0.4 m and thickness about 0.3 m), which was built on the hill. Such menhirs (Celtic: long stone) were mainly spread in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula, France, Great Britain and Ireland to Central Europe between the Middle Neolithic and the early Bronze Age and belong like the megalithic tombs to the megalithic ulture. They are not tombstones in the narrower sense, but rather are interpreted as ancestral memorials, which may also have been sacrificed. Since menhirs were not set up exclusively on tombs, we do not know for sure whether the stone pillar that is on the hill today is always there and in terms of content is related to the burial mound.

In the local tradition, there is also the name “Ensign Hill” for the mound. The stone pillar is called a “Pillar of Death” or “Swede Stone”. Behind it is the legend that at this point in the Thirty Years’ War, a Swedish ensign was shot and buried here.

From the pre- and early historical settlement of the area south of Latdorf, numerous archaeological finds and findings from the immediate surroundings of the Pfingstberg bear eloquent witness. These include settlement remains of the early Neolithic, burial grounds of the late Bronze / Early Iron Age, the Roman Empire and from the period of Slavic settlement. Southwest of the Pfingstberg was also the Medieval deserted Prederitz.

Pohlsberg is located south of Latdorf, about 400 meters after the end of the village, on the right side in the field.

Pohlsberg is a multi-phase burial mound of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. In the area there are some more preserved grave mounds, e.g. 1.5 km east the Pfingstberg and 1.5 km west the Spitzes Hoch. The elongated hill is oriented approximately east-west. It has a length of 40 m, a width of 18 m and an average height of 4 m. In 1904 an excavation took place under the direction of Paul Höfer. The finds are now in the castle museum Bernburg.

You drive on the Bernburger Straße (L64) through Latdorf in the direction of Gerbitz. In the middle of the village, turn right (east) into Poleyer Straße, which turns into a dirt road at the end of the village. Follow this road for about 400 m before reaching the Pohlsberg on the right. At the edge of the field a sign was errected in 2011 by the “Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.“.

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Der Pohlsberg

Middle and Late Neolithic
Baalberg culture approx. 4,100 – 3,600 BC
Bernburg culture approx. 3,300 – 2,700 BC
Globular Amphora culture approx. 3,100 – 2,700 BC
Corded Ware culture approx. 2,800 – 2,200 BC

Late Bronze Age: approx. 1,300 – 775 BC

One of the most important burial mounds for the archaeological research history prehistoric in Bernbuerger Land is the Pohlsberg. The long 4m high terrain was threatened by a gravel pit at the beginning of the 20th century. At the suggestion of the Bernburg Historical and Antiquity Society, founded in 1877, fortunately in September 1904 an excavation of the hill was carried out. The excavation was led by Paul Höfer (1845-1914), at that time one of the leading archaeologists in Central Germany. Three years earlier, he was involved in the excavation of the Schneiderberg in Baalberge. Höfer’s precise and for his time very advanced excavation method, namely his specific observation of the deposit conditions, contributed significantly to the clarification of the temporal sequence of the various archaeological groups.

The mound was built in the middle Neolithic period by the bearers of the so-called Baalberg Culture (4,100 – 3,600 BC). It surrounded a stone-tomb built inside. During the Neolithic period, burials were continued by members of the Bernburg culture (3,300 – 2,700 BC), the Globular Amphora culture (3,100 – 2,700 BC) and the Corded Ware culture (2,800 – 2,200 BC). More than 1,000 years later, the late Bronze Age population reused the mound as a place of burial. In contrast to the body burials of the Neolithic period, these are now cremation burials in urns.

A special find ensemble of this period represents a richly equipped sword grave. It was a secondary burial in a cleared stone cist of the Neolithic period. Noteworthy is the peculiar (very slim) clay pot with lid, which contained a number of interesting additions to the ashes of the dead. The sword, a so-called “Griffzungenschwert”, has references to Mycenae. Next there are eight bronze rings, six buttons, one tweezers, one chisel and one needle.

The burial mound Spitzes Hoch is located about 280 meters south of the Steinerne Hütte, on the same dirt road. It is an impressive burial mound in an otherwise rather flat agricultural landscape.

Visited April 2019

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Das Spitze Hoch

Middle and Late Neolithic
Baalberg culture approx. 3,950 – 3,400 BC
Bernburg culture approx. 3,100 – 2,650 BC
Corded Ware culture approx. 2,800 – 2,200 BC

Late Bronze Age
Saale estuary group approx. 1,300 – 775 BC

Spitzes Hoch (= tapered high) is one of the most impressive prehistoric burial mounds in the Bernburg region. The 6 m high and 31 m wide hill was built in the midst of an already largely open landscape on the hill of a glacial terminal moraine. Such an exposed location is characteristic of most of our prehistoric burial mounds, making them landmarks that can be seen from afar.

Spitzes Hoch is a multi-layered burial mound that was used (intermittently) from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The first grave at this place was built some 6,000 years ago by members of the so-called Baalberg culture. Thereafter, over a longer period of later cultures, burials were repeatedly created and the hill thereby gradually increased.

Spitzes Hoch was the first archaeologically examined burial mound in the Bernburger Land. As early as 1880, excavations were carried out by professor Friedrich Klopffleisch, who at the time had the first chair of prehistory and early history in Germany at the University of Jena. Some characteristic finds were later together with finds from the burial mound Stockhof at Gröna eponymous for an archaeological group of the Middle Neolithic – the Bernburg culture. Among the notable finds of this culture were a decorated clay drum and charred woven fabric remnants, which are among the oldest Central Germany previously known textiles. The finds are kept today in the Museum Schloss Bernburg.

The tomb is located halfway between Latdorf and Borgesdorf south of the L73 directly east on a dirt road. The tomb has a northeast-southwest oriented, slightly trapezoidal burial chamber with a length of about 7 m and a width of about 2.5 m. It is not built of granite boulders, but of sandstone slabs. The tomb is still relatively well preserved. Three capstones are still present, an access to the burial chamber is not visible. In the summer, the grave is probably overgrown and difficult to photograph especially from the east.

You drive from Latdorf on the L64 in the direction of Gerbitz. Approximately 450 m behind Latdorf, turn left onto the L73 in the direction of Borgesdorf. The road leads first to the southeast and then after about 700 m east around a lime dump around. Shortly before the road makes another bend, turn right into a dirt road. Here you can park or carry on about 150 meters before the grave is immediately left of the dirt road.

Visited April 2019

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Steinerne Hütte (Stone Hut)

Middle Neolithic period: approx. 4,100 – 2,700 BC

The Steinerne Hütte is a burial ground that was built in the middle Neolithic period (about 4,100 – 2,700 BC) by the people of the so-called funnel beaker culture (in our area so by representatives of the Baalberger and the Bernburg culture). Such giant’s grave (megalithic tombs) were widespread in large parts of western, northern and central Europe, with the known megalithic tombs in the Bernberg-Köthen area belong to the southernmost representatives.

The imposing construction of the megalithic tomb (length: approx. 8 m, width: approx. 2 m, height: approx. 1.5 m) was reconstructed in 1958 by the state museum of prehistory Halle / Saale. It was constructed from cut sandstone slabs. In addition to the 10 support stones and 5 cover plates, several upright limestone plates have been preserved in the northwestern part of the burial chamber as well as remains of a floor plaster.

The tomb was formerly probably covered by a hill. Unfortunately, its removal took place at a time when archaeological findings were neither observed nor documented, in the present case probably before the 19th century. A consideration is based here on a destruction of the hill in the Thirty Years’ War, when in the fall of 1644 around Latdorf a huge Swedish army camp was built, for whose fortifications one could use the soil well. In addition, in 1918, the improper opening of the excavated burial chamber was said to have occurred, with all finds lost.

As a result, in the present case, we have no information on the findings. Readings (pottery shards and flint tools), which were made in connection with security work and site inspections, however, date safely to the Neolithic period. Due to the characteristic construction and numerous comparable findings it can be assumed that the people of the above-mentioned Baalberger or the Bernburg culture were the builders of the megalithic grave, and probably also subsequent uses by later cultures, such as in the Bronze Age, took place.

The passage grave Grimschleben 2 is located under a group of trees on the Bierberg directly on the edge of the road that leads over Latdorf to Bernburg. The impressive passage grave consists of probably carved sandstone blocks and has a length of 6.8 m and an outer width of about three meters, at a height of about two meters. Eleven carrying and four capstones are preserved, west there is a lateral access from two pairs of supporting stones and a capstone. Seen from the north in the direction of the longitudinal axis, the dolmen acts as a compact, closed stone house with a regular shape.

Drive on the L64 from Gerbitz towards Latdorf. About 1.5 km after you leave the village, the tomb is located at the highest point of the road directly on the left side, you can’t miss it.

Visited April 2019

taken from the information board
Arbeitskreis Archäologie im Bernburger Land e.V.:

Der Bierberg – Grimschleben 2 (The Ale Hill)

Middle Neolithic about 3,500 – 2,700 BC Chr.

Hard on the eastern edge of the street from Latdorf to Gerbitz, in a striking terrain on a hill, the Bierberg is located, one of the most impressive prehistoric tombs of the Bernburg country.

The monumental megalithic tomb (giant’s grave) presents itself as a slightly sunken, trapezoidal chamber made of carved sandstone blocks from the immediate vicinity. It is oriented in north-south direction, measures 6.8 m in length and 2-4 m in width and has on the west side a 1.5 m long access. Apparently the burial chamber was once covered by a hill.

The grave was already mentioned in 1710 at J.C.BECKMANN, robbed in 1817 when removing soil and again dig in 1918 by bailiff ÖHLMANN improperly. Several “urns” and a cup-shaped vessel are mentioned. However, the finds have disappeared, so that no direct time-piriod or cultural classification is possible. Whether there were other burial places in the hill besides the primary grave, also has to remain open because of the sparse history of the story.

Comparably similar megalithic tombs in the closer environment, like the Steinerne Hütte in Latdorf, the Heringsberg in Grimschleben, the Hoher Berg in Wulfen or the Teufelskeller in Drosa, it is also a tomb created in the middle Neolithic, during the Walternienburger or Bernburger culture.

It thus joins the megalithic grave architecture that was widespread at that time over large parts of northern, western and central Europe up to our region.