Grabenanlage „Schanze“ (Moated Fortification)

A "Schanze" generally refers to a small, mostly earthen fortification of rampart and ditch, built for defence or to secure a boundary. When this particular site was created is not recorded – the relevant field in the official monument register is left empty. It can still be placed in a broader context: the Lower Rhine was rich in medieval and early-modern fortifications, such as the Landwehr and the Schanze at the Vinnbrück in Kempen. Which of these the Schmalbroich "Schanze" actually belongs to, however, is not proven; its dating remains open.

How densely such earthworks once dotted the area is shown by the neighbourhood: Schmalbroich also has the earthwork of the Gleumes farm, the earthwork of the Bollwerk farm and a section of Landwehr at the Kleinheierweg under ground-monument protection. The "Schanze" is thus one piece of a whole landscape of historic rampart-and-ditch systems – and a quiet spot where history shows through in the soil.

The path that runs past the site today carries a history of its own. The Boxweg, in Kempen's rural outskirts, is named after the Boxhof farm of the same name; it took its present name during a wide-ranging renaming that came into effect on 1 July 2003. Before that, the path belonged to a former area called "Wall" – a name that sits well with the rampart-and-ditch landscape of the Schanze.

The farm gave the path its name by way of its family: until the end of the 18th century, the family working the land there bore the name Box. Since 1794 the Boxhof has been owned by the Gleumes family. The similarity to the nearby "earthwork of the Gleumes farm," likewise protected as a ground monument in Schmalbroich, is striking – whether both belong to the same estate is plausible, but is not documented and remains speculation.