Propylaeum

In many valleys of the southern Black Forest are now mostly inaccessible tunnels and shafts that bear witness to the here in the Middle Ages operated mining on silver. In the older literature, these areas are often linked to nearby castles, on the assumption that local miners would have supervised the ore production and processing from there. At Birkenberg, about 10 km south of Freiburg im Breisgau, the remains of a castle complex were excavated for the first time within the scope of the "Burg & Bergbau" project financed by the German Research Foundation. Both the documentary tradition and the archaeological evidence ensure such a connection occupy. The research results are presented in this volume.