Obere Sachsenburg, Medieval castle ruin in An der Schmücke, Germany.
Obere Sachsenburg is a castle ruin perched on a hill north of An der Schmücke and dates to the 13th century. The site preserves partial remains of a keep tower and walls from the main buildings of the former fortress.
Construction of the castle began in the second half of the 13th century under Count Siegfried of Anhalt after he acquired the region. Research at the site has revealed earlier Frankish structures from the 7th and 8th centuries buried beneath the medieval remains.
The ruins display medieval construction methods, showing how towers and walls were arranged to defend a hilltop location. Visitors can see the traces of these structures and understand how such places functioned in daily life.
The ruins are free to visit and information panels around the site explain its history in multiple languages. The hilltop location is easy to reach on foot and offers views across the surrounding landscape.
The site shows a rare layering of historical periods: beneath the medieval castle remains lie the foundations of a Frankish settlement from over a thousand years earlier. This makes the location a window into how the region was settled across many centuries.
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