Desenberg
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The Desenberg near Daseburg in the North Rhine-Westphalian county of Höxter is and the most prominent hill in the Warburg Börde, a relatively level, fertile Börde region. The hill is a basalt knoll crowned by the ruins of Desenberg Castle and a relict of recent geological history and volcanism, as well as medieval feudalism and warfare. The present shape of the Desenberg has arisen through weathering.
The Desenberg near Daseburg in the North Rhine-Westphalian county of Höxter is and the most prominent hill in the Warburg Börde, a relatively level, fertile Börde region. The hill is a basalt knoll crowned by the ruins of Desenberg Castle and a relict of recent geological history and volcanism, as well as medieval feudalism and warfare. The present shape of the Desenberg has arisen through weathering. But according to legend, Charlemagne lies sleeping at the Desenberg. Throughout the Middle Ages, enchanted Messiah emperors such as Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, his grandson Frederick II, Charlemagne, Frederick the "Freidige", as well as others of this name "Frederick = Prince of Peace", including the Prince of Light Sigfrid and Widukind (Wittekind), played a role, according to the legend. And so in this sense also Charlemagne, who sleeps enchanted in the Desenberg, should become the expected emperor again. As regards the myth about Emperor Charlemagne, the following legend is told: The emperor sits deep in the Desenberg with his knights and rests from his victories. His long beard grows through the table. He often asks the dwarfs who are gathered around him for the year. When the time comes, he will go out of the mountain with his generals to restore the great empire and to usher in a golden age of peace and happiness. Shepherds who tended their cattle on the Desenberg often went to see the emperor. They surrounded the mountain with caper spurge. Sometimes they played their most beautiful songs to him and received many gifts. A baker from Warburg once brought the emperor a basket full of white bread and received rich wages for it. (see also: King asleep in mountain) The Desenberg and Desenberg Castle came into the possession of the von Spiegels around 1250. In the 14th century the family split into the lines of Spiegel zum Desenberg and Spiegel zu Peckelsheim. In the middle of the 16th century the Spiegels left Desenberg and took up knightly seats nearby, in Bühne, Rothenburg, Klingenburg, Wickelgönne and Dalheim. The mountain and the castle ruins are still owned by the Counts of Spiegel zum Desenberg. The castle on the Desenberg had a strategically advantageous location, as the paths around the castle were visible from there. Ignaz Theodor Liborius Meyer: Der Desenberg bei Warburg. In: Wigand’s Archiv für Geschichte und Alterthumskunde Westfalen, 1. Bd. (1825), 2. Heft, S. 25–48 (Digitalisat) und S. 110–112 (digitalised) Hans-Werner Peine und Cornelia Kneppe: Der Desenberg bei Warburg-Daseburg, Kreis Höxter. In: Frühe Burgen in Westfalen, Heft 16 (2014). digitalised Hans-Werner Peine, Cornelia Kneppe: Der Desenberg bei Warburg, Kreis Höxter Wolfhard Schlosser: Der Daseburger Kreisgraben, in "Archäoastronomische Objekte der Hellweg-Region 2" (pdf; 741 kB)
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