The name of the hill Totenkopf, meaning Deathshead / Skull, dates back to the Middle Ages, at which time skulls were frequently to be found upon it, since the German King Otto III, (who would later be crowned Holy Roman Emperor Otto III) chose this hill to be the place of execution for those condemned to death at the hearings conducted at nearby Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl, those so condemned suffering death by decapitation according to the judgement of the king.