The Syberg is a hill in the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

in the southern part of

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, 240 m above sea level (NN), which is part of the Ardey Hills. The Syberg is home to the

Sigiburg The Sigiburg was a Saxon hillfort in Western Germany, overlooking the River Ruhr near its confluence with the River Lenne. The ruins of the later Hohensyburg castle now stand on the site, which is in Syburg, a neighbourhood in the Hörde district ...

, the Vincke Tower, a monument to

Emperor William I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

and other points of interest. The family name of the House of Syberg is derived from the Syberg.

Geology, mining, nature reserve

The Syberg is part of the Ardey Hills, and was formed of sandstone and slate of the Namurian, a stratigraphic unit of the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

. The sandstone (''Ruhrsandstein'') is of high resistance, and was widely used as building material in the region; some quarries are yet visible in the area. The slopes of the

and its tributaries were the first locations of coal mining in the Ruhr region. The first documents of coal mining in the Syberg date from 1580. Regular mining ended at the end of the 19th century, but during the

Occupation of the Ruhr The Occupation of the Ruhr (german: link=no, Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925. France and Belgium occupied the heavily industria ...

in 1923 and in the crisis after World War II illegal mining took place. Adits and

pinge A ''Pinge'' (pronounced "pinger", plural: ''Pingen'') or ''Binge'' ("binger") is the name given in German-speaking Europe to a wedge-, ditch- or funnel-shaped depression in the terrain caused by mining activity. This depression or sink-hole is fr ...

s are yet visible, and a mining path (''Syburger Bergbauweg'') is established. The steep slopes to the Ruhr on the southern face of the Syberg are a valuable nature conservation area with its forests of oaks,

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

es and hornbeam. The area is one of two refugia of the common wall lizard in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Historical sites

Prehistory

The oldest relicts of human presence on the Syberg are of neolithic and bronze age. Some mints of Roman occupation time were found.

Sigiburg

Syberg became a historical location during the

Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought ...

, when Charlemagne captured a hillfort on top of the hill named "

" in 775 AD; two years later the Saxons failed with a reconquest of Sigiburg. In historical tradition the Sigiburg is marked as of Saxon origin, but there are no real proofs for this opinion.

Hohensyburg

In the High Middle Ages this region got under control of the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

, who established a hill castle on the Syberg since 1150. The Lords of Syberg (''Herren von Syberg'') were the first ministerials mentioned. Since about 1300 the County of Mark got the loan power. The castle was finally destroyed in the 16th and 17th century.

Church

A church of romanesque origin from 1169 became spiritual centre of the small settlement Syburg. The church was destroyed by bomb raid in World War II and rebuilt in former style. During post-war excavations relicts of a previous

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

church came to light. It is very doubtful, whether this church had been sacrificed by

Pope Leo III Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position b ...

in 799, as a medieval legend told.

Peter's source

The Pope Leo legend also refers to the Peter's font (''Petersbrunnen''), first mentioned in 1427. The speculation of an origin as prehistorical sanctuary is extremely doubtful.

Vincke tower

Close to the ruins of the Hohensyburg the Vincke tower (''Vincketurm'') in neogothic style was erected (total height: ) in 1857 and renewed in 1882 in honour of Ludwig von Vincke, the first Supreme president of the Prussian

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...

. Vincke had a special relation to this place, for his first wife Eleonore von Syberg was a descendant of the Lords of Syberg and owner of the castle ruins. In 1945, the Vincke tower was an observation point of the German artillery, and was hit by shells of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Emperor William monument

The monument for German Emperor Wilhelm I (1797–1888) (''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal'') by Hubert Oswald Stier is one of a great amount of similar

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

s, that were built in the quarter century from his death to the beginning of World War I. In 1889 the Province of Westphalia decided to built such a monument and discussed several proposals for location. A place above the Weser river at the Porta Westfalica gorge won the race against the Syberg with a small majority. Despite of this great disappointment, the monument on the Syberg was built nevertheless, completely financed by private efforts and inaugurated in 1902. The eclecticistic monument was decorated with an equestrian statue of Emperor William I and two

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s of Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

and Supreme Commander Helmuth von Moltke by Adolf von Donndorf. His son Karl Donndorf created the two statues of the successful army leaders Prince Frederic William and Prince Friedrich Karl in the German Wars of Unification; both of them were removed in 1935, when the construction was substantially changed following the ideals of

Nazi architecture Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a stripped neoclassicism, typified by the ...

by architect Friedrich Bagdons.

War memorial

A War memorial in form of a lying soldier guided by an eagle of 1930 by Friedrich Bagdons, too, is placed directly into the ruins of the Hohensyburg. After World War II the memorial got a

Commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

with the name of killed soldiers from Syburg as supplement.

Funicular

A funicular was installed for the touristic development of the hill on the eastern slope in 1903, that worked until World War I and was dismantled in the 1920s. Its basis station was neighboured by a tramway terminus. Remnants of the funicular are yet visible in the area.

Husen

The building's ensemble Husen, consisting of Husen Castle, a tower house of medieval origin, and a manor house in classicistic style, lies at the bottom of the Syburg east slope near to the Ruhr and the Lake Hengstey in the neighbourhood of a campsite (''Campingplatz Hohensyburg'').

Other points of interest

Open-air stage

Near to the basis station of the former funicular an open-air stage has been run since 1952 with theater performances in the warm seasons.

Casino

The Casino Hohensyburg (''Spielbank Hohensyburg'') is one of the four casinos of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has got a new building by architect

Harald Deilmann Harald Deilmann (30 August 1920 – 1 January 2008) was a German architect. Born in Gladbeck, Westphalia, Deilmann was best known for his work on public spaces, such as opera houses and museums, throughout Germany and worldwide. He was a m ...

, and started working with an opening concert with Sammy Davis Jr. in June 1985 on the Syberg.

Property and protection

The Hohensyburg ruins with war memorial, the Vincketower, and the national monument are now property of the supracommunal authority ''Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe'' (LWL). The Sigiburg, the Hohensyburg, the Emperor William monument, the Vincke tower, the St Peter's church, the Peter's font, the Husen castle, the funicular, and the mining relicts are classified as historical monuments by

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Town quarter

On the gently inclined northern slope of the Syberg the settlement ''Syburg'' developed near to the church. The self-governed rural community became a quarter of the town of

in 1928 in the frame of an extensive local government reorganization, and is now part of its town district Hörde.