Wittnauer Horn

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Wittnauer Horn is a rocky spur of the Aargau Tabular Jura that rises steeply above the village of Wittnau, in the Fricktal. Rather than a medieval castle, it is a fortified refuge that was reused several times over the millennia. It was frequented from the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age, and after 900 BC it received a rampart of timber and earth more than 3 m high, which was repaired around 600 BC. In the face of Alamannic incursions following 259 AD, a masonry wall of at least 4 m, with a gate and towers, was added; it was abandoned around 350 after a fire. A small hoard of silver denarii from the 8th century attests a final reuse as a refuge in the early Middle Ages. Excavated in 1934–1935 by the archaeologist Gerhard Bersu, then probed in 1980–1982 by the University of Basel, the site belongs to the municipality of Wittnau and enjoys cantonal protection. An information board explains its phases, and the finds are displayed at the Fricktal Museum in Rheinfelden.