Rispebjerg on Bornholm - a unique archaeological site

Experience the unique archaeological site of Rispebjerg on Bornholm, including traces of a sun temple from the Stone Age and a ring fort from the Iron Age. The ring fort on the edge of the Øleådalen valley is full of history, and a marking of the outer ring wall shows the extent of the site 2,000 years ago.

The ring fort on Rispebjerg is Bornholm's largest defensive structure from the Iron Age, and was built on a prominent and easily defensible headland around the year 0. Today, the inner semicircular wall of the ring fort is preserved to a height of up to three meters.

The ring fort was used in historical times - a 5,000-year-old structure

As the only one of the Bornholm refuge forts, it is known that the Ring fort has been used right up to historical times. During the Thirty Years' War, for example, in 1645 large forces of the Bornholm militia at Ringborgen, from where they could keep an eye on a large fleet that had been observed south of Dueodde, and thus be prepared for a possible landing.

Archaeological investigations in the area have shown that impressive defensive works were already built in ancient times, which required a well-organized society. The oldest structures found at the site can thus be dated as far back as the youngest Funnel Beaker culture, 2900-2700 BC. Among other things, excavations have uncovered 5,000-year-old woodhenges. A reconstruction of these witnesses to the Stone Age sun temples was inaugurated in 2009 by Queen Margrethe II.

One of the 5,000-year-old excavated woodhenges has been rebuilt in the original postholes, so that you as a visitor can get a sense of the grandeur of these structures. At the same time, the woodhenge functions as an information and observation tower, from which the entire exciting history of the area can be told and experienced.

10 hectares of the central part of Rispebjerg was purchased by the Danish Nature Agency in 2004 to secure the unique archaeological sites that are still hidden in the ground.