Das Quedlinburger Feldwartensystem
The fear of being attacked was omnipresent in the Middle Ages.
The medieval defense system in Quedlinburg consisted of watchtowers and moats. The watchtowers, locally known as Feldwarten, were probably built from the second half of the 13th century onwards on the municipal boundary as an early warning system.
In order for the tower guards to be able to observe the fields, important roads, and paths, the watchtowers had to be laid out according to a sophisticated plan. Hills, hilltops, and other obstacles were not allowed to block the view, and there had to be as clear a view as possible of the town and the other watchtowers. These conditions could not be met everywhere. In the northern part of the monastery's territory, the Hamwartenhöhe hill blocked the view. The Hamwarte was created as an intermediate station so that the guard there could relay the signals.
The watchtowers were surrounded by a fortified courtyard. This served as a refuge for shepherds and farmers in the area from attackers and robbers.
Of the original 11 field watchtowers, 5 towers, 1 ruin, and 2 ruin mounds remain today. The degree of preservation of the remaining watchtowers, which are listed as historical monuments, and the traceability of the entire system of towers and defensive ditches are unique in this area.
These sites of Quedlinburg's fortified past are now used as vantage points.
The Wartenverein Quedlinburg e.V. (Quedlinburg Watchtower Association) was founded in 2005 and has been taking care of the field watchtowers ever since.
The Steinholz watchtower is located northwest of the city on a mountain promontory of the Steinholz.
The watchtower was built to guard the Quedlinburg fields, the fields towards Blankenburg with Regenstein Castle, and the Halberstedt Mulde. The military road from Halberstadt via Steinholz west of the watchtower to Langensteiner Weg and on to Quedlinburg could also be observed from the watchtower. It also provided protection for the workers in the quarry, which was far away from the town.
It was one of the watchtowers that did not have a direct line of sight to the town of Quedlinburg.
The courtyard of the watchtower was heavily fortified, and remains of the surrounding walls could still be found in 1928. The Steinholz watchtower was used longer than any other field watchtower, until the middle of the 16th century, as the tower guard was also the forest supervisor in Steinholz.
The square watchtower, whose entrance was about 6 meters high, was used as a lookout tower from April 1900. It underwent thorough repairs in 1992.
The Hamwarte was located on the Hamwartenhöhe hill northwest of the town.
The watchtower was the central point of the entire Quedlinburg field watch system. It served both to monitor the road to Halberstadt and to relay signals from watchtowers that did not have a direct line of sight to the tower room on the towers of the Marktkirche (Steinholzwarte, Heidbergwarte).
Even during the Thirty Years' War, the watchtower was manned and used to monitor the countryside against roaming and marauding troops.
In 1637, there was even a skirmish with Swedish troops at the Hamwarte, in which Quedlinburg cavalry captain Fleischmann was killed.
In 1791, the watchtower was demolished due to alleged dilapidation.
An old town view from the 16th century depicts the watchtower as a round tower with a conical roof, narrow window openings, and a high entrance. Remains of the watchtower are said to have been visible as late as the 1930s.
The exact location and type of construction are no longer known. It is also unknown when the watchtower, which is known from a few entries in the Quedlinburg city council accounts, was demolished. However, it was probably the first of the Quedlinburg field watchtowers to disappear in the 16th century.
The name is said to come from “lého,” which means “burial mound.” The site fell victim to sand mining on Lehofsberg.
The Seweckenwarte tower stands southeast of the town on the highest point of the Seweckenberge hills.
The entrance to the roughly square tower, built from small limestone blocks, was an opening in the wall only about 1 meter high and located close to the ground. However, due to various repairs carried out over the past decades, this entrance is no longer recognizable.
It is assumed that the watchtower had a half-timbered structure.
The Seweckenwarte was probably built after the victory of the Quedlinburgers over the Regensteiner in the conflict of 1336. It served to monitor the eastern Quedlinburg fields and probably also the activities of the Regensteiner in Gersdorf Castle. Above all, however, the watchtower served to protect the nearby limestone quarries and their workers.
There was a direct line of sight to the tower room on the south tower of the market church and to the Westdorf watchtower of the temporarily allied town of Aschersleben.
In 1992/93, the heavily weathered watchtower was renovated and converted into a lookout tower.
Named after the former village of Bicklingen, which was located in the immediate vicinity west of the watchtower, the tower not only secured the northeastern part of the fields of the town of Quedlinburg, but also the crossing over the Bicklingsbach stream, which ran a little further west. The nearby roads, such as the road to Ballenstedt, were also monitored from here.
From here, the tower guard had a clear view far into the Riedersche Flur and into Anhalt.
The round tower, built of sandstone and limestone blocks, was used until the middle of the 16th century.
The original entrance was located at a height of 7 meters on the side facing the town of Quedlinburg and the village of Bicklingen.
Inside, beam holes and corbels bear witness to earlier installations.
In the 19th century, there were repeated incidents of stone theft at the watchtower, but these were immediately repaired.
In 1992/93, the heavily weathered watchtower was renovated and converted into a viewing tower.
Today, the Aholzwarte is only visible as a hill of ruins in the terrain.
From the Aholzwarte, it was possible to observe Lauenburg near Stecklenberg, which was owned by Regenstein. It was also possible to see the Hessweg road, which passed about 1.2 km to the south at the foot of the Müncheberg near Bad Suderode, and the lowlands towards Neinstedt. This meant that any troop movements by the Counts of Regenstein could be noticed in good time and reported to the tower guard at the Marktkirche church. In an emergency, the tower guard would alert the town.
Together with a system of upstream ditches, it thus provided strong protection for this particularly vulnerable spot.
Since the Aholzwarte was so important for the protection of the southwestern border, it was constantly manned by at least two tower guards until 1477. Even in the 16th century, the watchtower was still manned by guards in times of unrest.
In the 19th century, however, work began to dismantle the watchtower. The stones were used to build several small bridges in the vicinity.
Since 2018, a wooden observation point has stood on the hill of ruins, erected by the Stecklenberg branch of the Harzklub.
The Altenburg watchtower is located southwest of the town in the area of a fortified hilltop settlement from the Neolithic period.
The watchtower on the Altenburg served to protect the much-disputed border with the county of Regenstein.
Until the middle of the 16th century, it was inhabited by a tower guard.
The watchtower was repaired in 1889 by the Quedlinburg branch of the Harzklub, fitted with an internal spiral staircase, and a breach was made in the wall at ground level to ensure easy access. The original entrance was located at a height of approximately 7 meters on the side facing the town. The upper platform was also secured with an iron grille. Since then, the Altenburgwarte has been a popular vantage point.
However, the original form of the Altenburgwarte was largely destroyed during the renovation.
In 1992, the pentagonal tower, made of sandstone blocks and currently 10 meters high, underwent necessary thorough repairs.
The Sültenwarte was located on the road to Hoym, coming from Quedlinburg, shortly after Morgenrot. It was thus in the immediate vicinity of the intersection of important medieval roads, the military roads from Quedlinburg to Hoym and from Ballenstedt to Ditfurt.
It appeared for the last time in the town's records in 1564. It is no longer known whether the watchtower was then demolished or what form it took. However, remains of the watchtower are said to have been visible until the middle of the 19th century, and traces of the walling for much longer.
The Lethturm is the tallest of all Quedlinburg's watchtowers and is located on Gernröder Chaussee, just a few hundred meters before Gernrode.
It is a round tower made of sandstone, approximately 5 m wide and 18 m high on the street side. It was of great strategic importance as a flanking fortification for the Landwehr, of which it formed the southeastern corner.
The entrance was originally located at a height of about 8 m in the direction of Quedlinburg.
The Lehtwarte has a brick and cast dome at a height of about 14 m with a small side passage.
It is probably one of the two watchtowers mentioned in connection with the disputes between the town and the Count of Regenstein in 1336. These were probably the tower guards of the Aholzwarte and the Lethturm or the Bicklingswarte, who allowed themselves to be outwitted by the Regenstein troops.
During World War II, the tower was used as an observation and signal post for the nearby Quarmbeck air base.
Since 2005, the Wartenverein Quedlinburg e.V. (Quedlinburg Watchtower Association) has been responsible for maintaining the tower. Extensive renovation work has been carried out since then.
The Heidberg watchtower was located at the top of the Heidberg hill and is now only recognizable as a slight elevation in the terrain. It was the furthest from the town, on the northeastern edge of the fields. The watchtower offered a wide view of the Halberstadt basin as far as Huy and Hakel. This allowed the tower guard to monitor important roads, such as the military road from Leipzig to Braunschweig. The military road also ran directly along the watchtower via Wegeleben and Gröningen to Magdeburg. About 3 km away, the road ran from Halberstadt via Steinholz to Quedlinburg.
The massive sandstone substructure had a square floor plan and probably survived a fire in the mid-15th century. Due to the important function of the watchtower, it was rebuilt very quickly and fitted with a new half-timbered floor.
The tower stump was still well preserved into the 20th century, but was illegally demolished between 1975 and 1979. The sandstone blocks were probably used to build cellars for private single-family homes.
The Ihlenstedt or Gatersleben watchtower is located on Gaterslebener Chaussee, around 5.5 km east-northeast of the town. In the Middle Ages, it was one of the most important watchtowers in the system, as it, like the Heidberg watchtower, monitored part of the military road that crossed the road from Quedlinburg to Gatersleben in the immediate vicinity of the watchtower.
Only the eastern half of the former round tower has remained standing since the beginning of the 19th century. Around 1820, a farmer from Badeborn broke stones out of the western side of the watchtower to build a new barn. As a result, the western half of the tower collapsed.
Today, the ruins are the last remaining evidence of the eastern part of the Quedlinburg watchtower system.