{{Short description|Observation tower on the site of a Germanic refuge castle (Fliehburg) in Germany}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2024}}[[File:homburgswarte.jpg|thumb|The Homburg Watchtower]]The '''Homburg Watchtower''' ({{langx|de|Homburgswarte}}) is an [[observation tower]] on the site of a Germanic [[refuge castle]] (''Fliehburg'') near the [[Hexentanzplatz (Harz)|Hexentanzplatz]] above the town of [[Thale]] in the [[Harz Mountains]] of central Germany.{{cn|date=November 2025}}
== Location == The Sachsenwall Way (''Sachsenwallweg'') runs through open oak woods to the Homburg Watchtower about 250 m northeast of the [[Thale Mountain Theatre|Harz Mountain Theatre]] on the ''Hexentanzplatz''. It is sited on the terrain of an old castle, the Homburg.
== History == The Homburg – like the Winzenburg on the [[Rosstrappe]] on the other side of the gorge – acted as a [[refuge castle]] for [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes. It was built between 750 and 450 B. C. and was protected by the rampart system and the Sachsenwall{{Efn|The Sachsenwall referred to here is not the Limes Saxoniae, but the remains of a more-than-1500-year-old granite wall on the Hexentanzplatz}} in the immediate vicinity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Kirsten |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3fIEAAAQBAJ&dq=Homburgswarte&pg=PA153 |title=77 schönste Orte Harz: Ausflüge zu Burgen, Wäldern & Sehenswürdigkeiten. Mit Einkehr, Einkaufen & Unterkunft |date=2014 |publisher=pmv Peter Meyer Verlag |isbn=9783898590525 |page=153 |language=de}}</ref> In the southern part of the rampart system is a gap with a ditch in front of it; behind the eastern rampart is a walkway-like inner ditch.
It appears that clandestine Germanic customs and rituals may have been practised here in the period following [[Christianisation]], as indicated, for example, by the discovery of a sacrifice stone with a swastika in 1901.
In 1901, the [[Harz Club]] built an observation tower, which fell into disrepair and could no longer be accessed after the [[Second World War]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Braun |first1=Wolfgang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtJhCwAAQBAJ&dq=Homburgswarte&pg=PA18 |title=Burgen und Schlösser der Harzregion |last2=Sternal |first2=Bernd |date=2016 |publisher=Books on Demand |isbn=9783844899238 |volume=3 |pages=17–18 |language=de |access-date=2024-07-21}}</ref> The tower was rebuilt in 1993 and is now open to the public.<ref name=":0" />
== Views == The view to the south and east is restricted due to the low height of the tower. Towards the west, however, the vista opens up over the [[Bode Gorge]] as far as the [[Brocken]]. Ton the north the towns of [[Blankenburg (Harz)|Blankenburg]], [[Halberstadt]] and [[Quedlinburg]] may be made out. The town of Thale spreads out immediately below the tower.
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Coord|51.738201|N|11.031995|E|type:landmark_region:DE-ST|display=title|format=dms}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Harz (district)]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the Harz]] [[Category:Observation towers in Saxony-Anhalt]] [[Category:Thale]]