Slavonic castle Pantlitz
The Pantlitz castle rampart is an Old Slavic ring rampart from the 8th/9th century, situated on a spur of land west of the church in a scenic location on the Recknitz valley. The castle hill of Pantlitz belongs to the most important Slavic castle ramparts in the country. The famous battle of the Raxa may have taken place near Pantlitz in 955.
The castle complex consists of an oval inner castle area of 35 x 45 m and a rampart, which encloses the entire castle. In between there is the moat, which was always without water filling because of the altitude. The rampart was made of wood and earth and probably carried a palisade. Because of its smooth, steep outer wall, this construction offered good protection against attackers.
On October 16, 955, the battle of the Raxa (Recknitz) took place. Otto I won a significant victory against the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. At the same time, however, his rule was acutely threatened by an uprising of Obodrites and Wilzes. Otto, with the support of the Rans, Duke Boleslav of Bohemia as well as his son Liudolf, began a campaign to solve this problem. He rejected an offer of compromise by the rebels. Finally, the decisive battle took place at the Recknitz River. This battle, known as the "Battle of the Raxa", has been described in detail by the historian Widukind of Corvey. It ended with Otto's victory. "The killing lasted until deep into the night. The next morning the head of Stoignev (Obodrite prince and leader of the rebellious Slavs) was placed in the open field; all around 700 prisoners were beheaded. Stoignev's advisor had his eyes gouged out, his tongue torn out and then he was left lying helplessly among the corpses". Based on the local conditions in Widukind's account (meander of the Recknitz river) this battle might have taken place near today's Pantlitz.