Scientists have discovered an important piece of the puzzle in the mystery of the lost town of Rungholt in the Wadden Sea. An expert on the sensational find.
Hallig Südfall – For a long time it was considered the "Atlantis of the North Sea", now a large part may have been contributed to the clarification of the sinking: recently the foundation of a church in the mudflats was discovered, which could have been the center of the lost city of Rungholt. An expert from the University of Kiel reveals what the find is all about.
Scientists on the sensational find in the mudflats: "It's what everyone was looking for"
"It's what everyone was looking for," says Dr. Bente Sven Majchczack. The archaeologist from the Cluster of Excellence "Roots" at Kiel University has been searching for remains of the village of Rungholt in a joint project with the State Archaeological Office, the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology and the University of Kiel and Mainz at the site in the North Frisian Wadden Sea near Hallig Südfall in Schleswig-Holstein.
Researchers in their element: A measuring vehicle in lightweight construction provides large-scale magnetic mapping of culture traces hidden beneath today's mudflats. © Dirk Bienen-Scholt
Rungholt was a settlement in the Wadden Sea near the Hallig Südfall in the Middle Ages. In 1362, the trading centre fell victim to the storm surge of the "Groten Mandränke". The special thing about it is that the researchers know that Rungholt existed, but the exact location was previously unknown. "There are sources from officials and churches from that time," Majchczack said.
Foundation of the church discovered in the mudflats: "Of course, this fits well into the legend of Rungholt"
From time to time, finds are made in the area around Hallig Südfall. In fact, so many are made that it is not necessarily easy to classify them all. "In the joint project, we are examining these isolated finds on a large scale and trying to assemble them into a picture," the scientist reports on the work.
A special metal frame allows archaeological excavations of one square meter in size in the mudflats, which can be excavated and documented during low tide. © Ruth Blankenfeldt, Schleswig
Over a length of about two kilometres, settlement mounds were discovered again and again at regular intervals. And in the middle of it all, the scientists discovered the new, large find: the 40 by 15 meter foundation of a church. "We knew they had to exist somewhere," says Majchczack happily. Compared to other medieval churches, it is a large building. This shows that it must have been located on a main square. "And that, of course, fits well into the legend of Rungholt."
And these need to be discussed in detail. That's why those involved are now entering a phase of data analysis. The joint project will run for another two years, according to Majchczack. It deals with questions of the entire cultural landscape of North Frisia and the question: "What are the factors that ultimately led to the downfall of Rungholt?"
