Schwedenschanze (Dörscheid)

The Schwedenschanze in Dörscheid in the Middle Rhine valley is a Sternschanze or star-shaped fortification that was probably built when the Landgrave of Hesse was besieged by the Palatine Kaub in 1631/32 during the Thirty Years' War.

Schwedenschanze
Dörscheid
The Schanze seen from the direction of Dörscheid
Schwedenschanze is located in Germany
Schwedenschanze
Schwedenschanze
Coordinates50°06′30″N 7°44′40″E / 50.10822°N 7.744482°E / 50.10822; 7.744482
TypeSternschanze
CodeDE-RP
Height349 m above sea level (NN)
Site information
Conditionburgstall (no above-ground ruins)
Site history
Builtprobably 1631/32

The schanze lie 750 metres west of the village of Dörscheid on an eminence. It is no longer recognisable as a Sternschanze because it has been heavily slighted. Only at the southwestern tip is the bank up to about 2 metres high. There was once a ditch about five metres wide that is no longer visible.

Protected monument

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The site of the schanze is a protected ground monument (Bodendenkmal) under Rhineland-Palatinate law. Permission must be sought for excavations and targeted collection of artefacts; incidental finds must be reported to the authorities.

Literature

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  • Karl August von Cohausen: Landwehren und alte Schanzen des Regierungsbezirks Wiesbaden in the Nassau Annals (Nassauische Annalen), Vol. 15 (1879).