Landshut Castle

The foundations of the keep contain numerous remains of an older wall made of thick quartzite stones* that were difficult to work with. Originally, they belonged to the south-eastern tower of the late antique fortification "Princastellum", as did individual stones reused in the rising masonry.

*Quartzite is characterized by its relatively high resistance to environmental influences and, due to its hardness, was already a very useful substitute for flint in the Stone Age.

The ruins of the medieval Landshut Castle, a quarry stone building with a fortress-like porch on all sides, dominate the mountain spur. In addition, there is evidence of the remains of an outer bailey on a lower terrace to the north.

A 30 m high keep is integrated into the defensive wall of the core castle. Between the defensive wall and the keep, extensive remains of an older fortification were uncovered, whose massive masonry with its hard-to-work quartzite stones is reminiscent of the construction techniques used in late antique fortifications. Unusual are the square towers integrated diagonally into the fortifications, for which comparable parallels are known in late antique fortifications.

It is obvious to see the "Princastellum" handed down by the geographer of Ravenna in these building remains. It would therefore be the first mountain fortification in the Moselle valley whose ground plan we know in detail. This is due to the fact that the late Roman remains were only partially covered by the medieval core castle.

Traces of the south-west tower, which was largely destroyed during the construction of the medieval castle, were uncovered here.
Numerous small finds, mostly pottery shards, date from the early 4th to the end of the 5th century. A high proportion of fine pottery (terra sigillata) is striking. This popular tableware with its characteristic shiny red coating often accounts for a third to half of the total pottery found at military sites such as Bernkastel. The terra sigillata bowls show checkerboard-like decorations on the outer walls, which were produced using a wheel. Some of the wheel patterns are also documented from other fortifications in the Moselle valley, meaning that they were supplied with the same wares. The shard of a glass vessel with applied thread spirals dating to around 400 is also noteworthy.
The most significant find was an almost complete belt set, which was found before 1940 at the Rigolen below the northern tip of the castle and, due to its completeness, was originally thought to have come from a body grave. Comparable military belts are also depicted on the Arch of Constantine in Rome. They are characterized by their propeller-shaped decorative fittings, which in this case can be assigned to two variants. Only the obligatory strap tongue is missing from the belt set, which consists of at least seven parts.

The inner edge of the late Roman enclosure is still preserved here over a length of around 17 m. In the southern section - similar to the eastern flank - the base of the central western tower has apparently been preserved. The mortar remains and building materials used allow this section to be assigned to the western flank.

In recent years, a total of 19 late Roman fortifications have been found in the Moselle valley. Until then, medieval castles had not been examined more closely with regard to possible predecessor castles. It was not until an inspection of the slopes below the medieval castles that numerous late Roman pottery sherds were found among the surface finds. They were an indication that the Roman layers of older predecessor fortifications had been largely leveled into the slopes during the construction of the medieval castle complexes.

The various sites served less as a place of refuge in troubled times, but were rather part of a military concept that envisaged the construction of a whole chain of such fortifications on easily defended mountain spurs in the Moselle valley. The initiator of this system was probably the first emperor to reside in Trier, Constantius I (293-306), who had the fortifications built around 300 AD to protect a frequented waterway (Moselle) and the new imperial residence. The fact that the fortifications, especially on the Lower Moselle, are almost evenly spaced at around 5 Roman miles (= 7.5 km) apart and jump from bank to bank also suggests that they were systematically planned.

According to the Gesta Treverorum and the chronologically dated timbers, the current remains of the castle complex date back to a construction that began after 1276 under Archbishop Heinrich von Vinstingen (1260-1286) and was completed under Elector Balduin (1307-1354) around 1320.

Archbishop Boemund I (1286-1299) had previously enlarged and extended the castle. The complex is dominated by the 30 m high keep, the adjoining palas (residential building) to the north, a corner tower in the north-east and a projecting gate building with a double round arch in the north-west. Large parts of the curtain wall are still preserved up to the battlements.

In 1505, the name "Landshut" appears for the first time in a decree by Elector Jakob II (1503-1511). After this, a rather eventful history begins.
in 1522, the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by the troops of Franz von Sickingen on their retreat to Trier. During the Thirty Years' War in 1636, the castle served as the headquarters of the Catholic League, and from 1639, the Swedes and French again. in 1674, it was once again in the hands of the Imperial forces and was occupied again by the French during the Reunion Wars in 1688. On January 8, 1692, Landshut Castle was destroyed by an accidental fire, the cause of which is unknown, and finally abandoned.

Here on the northern flank, remains of the late Roman defensive wall have been preserved under the medieval shield wall. To the west, however, the north-west tower was excavated far below today's level.

The late Roman stone coffin made of light-colored sandstone that was re-erected here was cut into in March 2014 during leveling work as part of land consolidation around 1.5 km north of the castle. The site was located within sight not far from the district boundary on a terrace around 40 m above the Moselle.

No other burials could be observed, so it can be assumed to be a single burial. The length of the coffin is 2.26 m, its width 0.85 m, its height 0.68-0.70 m and the thickness of the walls 12-13 cm. The walls showed the usual Roman ashlar curvature. The interior (clear width) of the trough measured 1.99 m x 0.59 m x 0.53 m. The lid (2.26 x 0.85 m), which was broken by the bulldozer when the coffin was discovered, is hipped. The height of the pediment reached 0.26 m, the thickness of the lid at the edge around 12 cm.

Apart from the remains of the largely dead skeleton, the coffin contained no grave goods. As the interior was apparently untouched, we must assume that the deceased had been buried without grave goods, as was common practice in the 4th century AD (perhaps under the influence of Christianity).

The foundations of two smaller towers, which presumably formed the gateway to the late Roman "Princastellum", were found at the north-east corner of the fortification. Like the other towers, they stood diagonally to the ramparts and had footprints of 3.50 x 3.50 m (western tower) and 3.80 x 4.20 m (eastern lower tower). The larger footprint of the eastern tower was obviously the result of the steeper slope. The presumed gateway between the towers was around 2 m wide.
As with the majority of prehistoric and early historic fortifications, the gate system was constructed in such a way that a potential attacker - unless he was left-handed - had to approach the fortification with the right side open to the shield and was therefore virtually unprotected against the defenders.

Three postholes uncovered directly next to the north-eastern tower, one of which was filled with Roman material that slid into the cavity of the hole after the post was removed, may date back to an older gate system from the early 4th century.

The central tower of the eastern flank was the largest of all the towers with a base area of 5.30 x 5.00 m. It stands to reason that the hitherto unknown fortification was connected to the "Princastellum" handed down by the geographer of Ravenna in his "Cosmographia". The translation of his text reads: "The towns of Trier, Neumagen, Bernkastel, Karden and Koblenz also lie on the river Moselle, which we mentioned in the Francia Rinensis". The unknown geographer wrote his work in the first decades of the 8th century, but also made use of older sources from the time before Clovis' victory over the Alamanni in 496.

The "Princastellum" would have been interpreted as the "primumcastellum", the first fort in the province of Belgica, and would also have given its name to the later Bernkastel. After Trier, Neumagen, Bitburg, Jünkerath and Wederath, the newly discovered fort would be only the sixth place in the region whose ancient name can be linked to a specific site.

Only a few details can be given about the inner buildings. A 0.60 m thick wall branched off from the eastern enclosure at a right angle to the inside, with a screed on the south side. It is reminiscent of casemate-like installations, as we know them from late Roman forts. Beneath the screed was an older Roman layer, which was cut away when the mighty wall was built. The finds recovered in it date the construction of the massive fortification walls to the end of the 4th century.