European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim
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European Culture Park at Bliesbruck-Reinheim
The European Culture Park at Bliesbruck-Reinheim, located both in the German municipality of Gersheim (Saarland) and the French municipality of Bliesbruck (Départment Moselle), is a cross-border project which combines excavations and reconstructions of Celtic and Roman finds with exhibition and educational facilities. It was created in l989 as a result of the archeological work being done on both sides of the Franco-German border. Together with archeological evidence from the Mesolithic Period, the Bronze Age, and the period of the Germanic migrations, the Celtic and Roman finds from the Iron Age witness to a history of continuous settlement in the Blies Valley spanning a period of 10,000 years.
Sponsorship and Financial Support
This European Culture Park is jointly operated by the general councils of the French Département of Moselle and the Saar-Pfalz-Kreis. The project receives additional funding from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, from the Saarland, as well as the municipality of Gersheim. Mentor and founder of the European Culture Park was the late entrepreneur Jean Schaub, who used private assets to buy up the first tracts of land belonging to the park, protecting them from development and thus saving the relics from the Roman past from ultimate destruction.
Finds and Excavations
- Hoard from the 8th century BC, discovered in 1964 in Reinheim. Similar types of hoards found in the greater Saar/Moselle region suggest that such repositories from the Urnfield culture may have cult significance.
- The Princess' Tomb of Reinheim, dating from the 4th century B.C., is a woman's grave that was filled with exceptionally rich funerary objects. The burial chamber, constructed of oaken beams (3.5m X 3m x 1.2m) was covered over by a massive mound of earth (20m x 4.6m). It was excavated in 1954 by Alfons Kolling. Subsequent investigations in 1956-1957 revealed that originally there had been three burial mounds, of which the Princess' Tomb was just the smallest. The diameter of the other two mounds measured 22 and 36.5 meters, respectively. All three mounds were surrounded by circular ditches of 0.6 and 1.2 meters. Over the course of the last two millenia, erosion and cultivation of the soil caused the mounds to smooth out into a single wave in the ground, about 2 meters high, which neighboring villagers referred to as the Katzenbuckel (cat's arched back). In 1952, while digging out sand and pebbles, the entrepreneur Johannes Schiel found an incomplete skeleton, later identified as male, at a depth of one meter, along with only a simple bronze choker and pottery shards as funerary objects. While digging in 1954 the entrepreneur's shovel struck a bronze object that was later interpreted to be the handle of a bronze mirror in figurine form. Because Johannes Schiel reported the find to the government conservation authorities (Staatliches Konservatorenamt), an expert excavation could be authorized and begun at the beginning of March, 1954. On the third day of work excavators discovered, at a depth of 2.18 meters, the first funerary objects from the lavish Princess' Tomb.
- A double tomb from the 4th century B.C., located about 2000 meters away from the Princess' Tomb. This tomb contains the skeletons of two children, thought to be a girl of about 15 years of age and a boy of about 14, together with rich funerary objects. The skeletons of both children were quite well preserved in the shell limestone soil of the Blies River Valley. The children had grown to a height of 1.5 and 1.55 meters, very tall for their time, which leads to the conclusion that they were well nourished and lived in relative prosperity. The excavation took place in 2005.
- Vicus (a provincial Gallo-Roman settlement) at Bliesbruck in France
- The Roman Villa in Reinheim had undergone the first excavations as far back as the early 19th century, but it has only been systematically excavated and researched since 1987. It is a very large complex which includes courtyard walls enclosing an area 300 meters long and 135 meters wide, and to the north a main building measuring almost 80 by 62 meters. One portion of the building in the north end of the west wing is, due to the layout its rooms, as well as the discovery of water channels and fragments of cylindrical tiles (tubuli) attesting to the existence of underfloor heating (hypocaustum), interpreted to be the villa's private thermal baths. The exact date of the initial construction of the villa, located in an area that was settled by the Celtic tribe of Mediomatrics and conquered by the Romans in 50 B.C., is not yet known. The complex reached its greatest size in the first half of the 3rd century A.D. Following the first wave of destruction in the 3rd century there was a period of reconstruction. Destruction by fire took place in the 4th century, after which it was never rebuilt. However, artifacts indicate that in the second half of the 4th century the west wing of the main building was inhabited. The most famous artifact from the excavation is the Equestrian Mask of Reinheim, found in 2000 near one of the side buildings. This bronze-plated iron mask, in the form of a human face, served most likely as a hinged visor on a Roman cavalryman's helmet. So far 110 of these impressive masks have been found in the world.
- Frankish burial ground from the Merovingian period. This burial ground, recovered in the years from 1974 to 1986, contained approximately 115 graves.
- In addition to ongoing excavations of the villa and the vicus, there is thought to be a prince's residence in the vicinity of the Princess' Tomb, and archeologists are also concentrating on conducting exploratory excavations on the neighboring heights in an effort to discover its location (2006).
Visiting the Park
On the German side there is a small museum which exhibits exemplary artifacts and duplicates representing the whole range of periods from which finds have been made. In addition, visitors may enter a very impressive reconstruction of the Princess' Tomb on the grounds, including the most valuable funerary artifacts. In the area to the west there are reconstructions of a few Celtic style dwellings. From a viewing mound it is easy to make out the foundations of the large Roman villa. Most of the original artifacts are now located in the Saarland Museum of Pre- and Ancient History in Saarbrücken.
On the French side, visitors will find the roofed-over, partially reconstructed thermal baths of the Gallo-Roman town, with helpful information plaques. The street of shops in the town, with its exposed foundations, a few cellars, as well as a portion of the street, is easily recognizable and clearly explained in two languages on information plaques. There are reconstructions of a mill and baking oven, used for educational purposes. A garden with the plants that were typically considered useful at the time has been recently added.
The entire park lies picturesquely in the Blies Valley and provides a beautiful setting for walks.
Reenactment
In collaboration with the experts and the park, a group of citizens calling themselves "Taranis" has, since 2002, been endeavoring to recreate the Celtic way of life and its accoutrements from the early Laténe Period (Laténe A, ca. 475 to 370 B.C.). They feature demonstrations of ancient crafts ranging from tablet weaving to the forging of Celtic utilitarian objects. Basing their activity on scientific research, they can present these crafts and ways of life graphically. This group reenacts its knowledge of Celtic life every year in the park, and is also invited to participate in events at other venues.
The Culture Park in Numbers
The park covers an area of approximately 1200 by 600 meters. Its archeological sites attract about 40,000 visitors per year, 20,000 of which are schoolchildren.
Film
- "Schätze des Landes" Bliesbruck-Reinheim und sein Europäischer Kultturpark. Im Tal der Keltenfürstin. ("Treasures of the Saarland" Bliesbruck-Reinheim and its European Culture Park. In the Valley of the Celtic Princess.) Documentary, 30 min. A film by Wolfgang Felk, produced by SWR, premiere broadcast on November 4th, 2006.