Lochberg fort

Lochberg fort
limes	ORL Wp 4/89 ( RLK )
Route (RLK)	Upper German Limes, ; route 4 ; (Wetterau route)
Dating (occupancy)	unsure
Type	Small fort
unit	unknown
size	21.6 × 19 m = 400 m²
Construction	Stone fort
State of preservation	Ground monument, not visible
place	Echzell - Bingenheim
Geographical location	50 ° 21 '39.7 " N , 8 ° 53' 44.4" E Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '39.7 " N , 8 ° 53' 44.4" E
height	144 m above sea level NHN
Previous	Haselheck small fort ; (north)
Subsequently	Small fort Staden ; (south-southeast)
Backwards	ORL 19: Echzell Fort ; (north-north-west)

The small fort Lochberg , also small fort on the Lochberg or according to the numbering of the Reichs Limeskommission (RLK) Wp 4/89 , was a Roman fort on the Wetterau line of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes . It was located south of Bingenheim , a district of the Echzell community in the Wetterau district in Hesse . The remains of the facility lie under farmland and nothing is visible on site.

Small fort Lochberg according to the plans of the RLK

View of Lochberg from the north. The small fort was in the center of the picture on the edge of the hill.

location

The ground monument is located on the "Lochberg", a knoll between Reichelsheim , the villages of Bingenheim and Leidhecken west of today's state road 3188. The Lochberg drops evenly on three sides, but pushes itself far into the Horloff valley. Because of this special location it got its name as Lug- or Lohberg . From Lochberg you have a wide view over the former Limes area, to the north over the nearby Reiterkastell Echzell to Wp 4/64 near Bettenhausen and south to Wp 4/96 "In the Stammheimer Wald" and to Fort Ober-Florstadt . In the west the Johannisberg near Bad Nauheim is visible, on which a Roman watchtower was discovered, which probably served to transmit signals from the Limes area.

The Romans used the favorable location to measure the Limes line. The Limes bends here, coming from the north-northeast, at an obtuse angle and continues to SSE. The distance to the next larger forts Echzell and Oberflorstadt, from which the facility was probably manned, is 3.5 and just under four kilometers as the crow flies.

Fort

August von Cohausen had already suspected a larger fort on the Lochberg, as Terra Sigillata shards and other Roman ceramics were found on the area . In 1886 , Friedrich Kofler , the route commissioner of the Reich Limes Commission (RLK), discovered and examined the small fort.

Kofler was able to prove a 1.80 m wide wall, of which two to three foundation layers were still preserved. It took up an area of 21.6 × 19 m and was rounded at the corners with a radius of 4.4 m. The inner area was thus around 400 m². The fort was 69 m behind the Limes and was oriented towards this (ONO-WSW). Inside was a building with a square base area of 5 × 5 m and a wall thickness of 40 cm. Some pits to the north of it provided evidence of the construction method, which, in addition to Roman ceramics, also brought fire rubble and half-timbered clay.

As with most of the small forts, little is known about the dating and the troops stationed here.

Limes course from the small fort Lochberg to the small fort Staden

The Limes runs in the Florstädter district through intensively agriculturally used area and is not visible, only a short section directly west of the road is visible to the trained eye. At the time of the RLK, the description of the visible remains extended through the district of Leidhecken to the Nidda , which the Limes crossed near Staden Castle . Four guard posts (Wp 4/90, 91, 92 and 93) were suspected by the RLK on the heights east of Leidheckens and north of Stadens , without any real findings other than a few stones. The small fort Staden joins the south-southeast , which is also no longer visible.

Monument protection

As part of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 2005 . There are also ground monuments according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

literature

Eduard Anthes, Friedrich Kofler and Wilhelm Soldan: stretches 4 and 5 (the Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near the Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg). The route description. In: Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches / Abt. A, Vol. 2, routes 4 and 5 (The Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg) , 1936, pp. 139–141.
Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz and Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (eds.): The Romans in Hessen . 3. Edition. 1989. Licensed edition Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9 , pp. 408f.
Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 165f.
Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92 (Saalburg-Schriften 6).

Remarks

↑ Wp = W oh p east, watch tower. The number before the slash denotes the Limes section, the number after the slash denotes the respective watchtower.

Individual evidence

↑ ORL A 2 p. 138f.
↑ For the building see H.-G. Simon in: D. Baatz / F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. P. 238.

[1] Wp = W oh p east, watch tower. The number before the slash denotes the Limes section, the number after the slash denotes the respective watchtower.

[2] ORL A 2 p. 138f.

[3] For the building see H.-G. Simon in: D. Baatz / F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. P. 238.