Barbarathermen

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Barbarathermen 2015
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Barbarathermen Trier approx. 360-370 AD.jpg
Barbarathermen approx. 360/370 AD
(model in the Landesmuseum Trier )
Conservation and restoration of the original Roman wall remains in the foundation area (1990).

The Barbarathermen in Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) are the Roman thermal baths with the largest area that were built north of the Alps. The Barbarathermen have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier since 1986 .

Building history

The Barbarathermen were built in the second half of the 2nd century AD. ( 149 AD to 201 AD ) At that time, the thermal baths at the livestock market had probably become too small for the growing city population. At the time of construction, the thermal baths had dimensions of 172 m × 240 m (42,500 m²). They covered two apartment blocks and a street. The water supply to the thermal baths came from the Ruwer water pipe .

The huge construction program can only be explained as a state-funded project. At the time of their creation, the Barbarathermen were the second largest thermal baths in the Roman Empire , only the Trajan Baths in Rome were larger in area.

The thermal baths apparently survived the Germanic invasions of the third century without major damage. Coin and pottery finds show that it was used until the end of the 4th century. The operation was stopped with the destruction of Trier at the beginning of the 5th century. Conversions for residential purposes are recognizable, which are interpreted as the beginning of the suburb of St. Barbara.

Later use

The size of the facility led to various uses in post-Roman times. In addition to its use as a quarry, various installations in buildings can be recorded. Early Christian grave inscriptions indicate a church, possibly as early as Merovingian times. In the 11th century, a ministerial family named themselves after their proximity to the bridge de Ponte . Various medieval fortified installations can be traced back to this, which can be recognized as ruins on the cityscape by Matthäus Merian and a drawing by Alexandre Wiltheim around 1620. These two are the only detailed drawings of the building, and at the same time the last: from 1611 the Barbarathermen served as a quarry for the construction of the Jesuit college, the remaining remains were blown up in 1675 by the French General Vignory in the war of conquest of the French King Louis XIV to create a free field for the city of Trier for tactical reasons.

The name of the thermal baths goes back to the parish church of St. Barbara . Other church buildings could also have been on the large thermal spa area outside the medieval wall ring. The location of the Church of St. Maria ad Pontem is largely unknown as it was blown up by French troops in 1675. At that time, however, the reckless handling of the ancient remains had a certain tradition. Already Emperor Maximilian I was still upright parts of the building of the baths during the Trier Reichstag 1512 shoot for testing purposes with guns.

  • Ruins of the Barbarathermen approx. 1548, Merian engraving from 1646 (color not in the original)

  • Ruins of the Barbarathermen before 1611

  • Ruins of the Barbarathermen before 1611, on the left the Richardsturm

  • State around 1900

Current condition

The complex has been closed to visitors since 2000 in order to restore the ruins. The facility has been open to visitors again since July 23, 2015. Since then, a visit has been possible again with the help of a newly created footbridge. The starting point for visiting the thermal baths is at the beginning of Friedrich-Wilhelm-Straße .

investment

Floor plan of the thermal baths, today's visitor entrance in yellow.

The thermal bath building with a size of 172 m × 96 m was planned along an axis running from north to south, with the two largely identical bathing wings lying mirror-symmetrically to the left and right of the axis. In front of the long entrance front in the north was the large courtyard of the palaestra , which was bordered by a portico .

Several niches and apses on the north side of the facade correspond to smaller cold water basins on the inside. A larger room adjoining it to the south had a groin vault. This was followed by the central leaf bath ( tepidarium ), a cross-shaped heated room. The hot bath ( caldarium ) with a size of 20 m × 30 m protruded far from the southern building front. Along the walls were niches structured with pillars and columns, which contained rectangular basins and two boiler rooms. Two large tubs (13 m × 23 m) protruded from the southern front of the building as apses. These could be reached via the foyer.

The floor plan, which featured numerous high halls and lower connecting links in between, was designed so that all rooms received natural daylight and were easy to ventilate. The numerous apses are a very typical design of the late second century AD. The layout of the Barbarathermen is very similar to the Hadrianic baths of Leptis Magna .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Goethert 2003 p. 78.
  2. ↑ Winfried Weber : Trier, Barbarathermen , Administration of the State Castles of Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz 1976, p. 2 para. 3
  3. ^ According to Goethert 2003, p. 78, H. Cüppers, p. 617, gives the indication of four large residential areas
  4. ^ Hans-Peter Kuhnen: The Roman Trier , Verlag Theiss, ISBN 3-8062-1517-0
  5. ↑ Matthäus Merian's engraving from 1646 is very similar to the woodcut of Trier from 1548 in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographiae Universalis (title: Situs & figura antiquissimae & praecipuae Medioniatricum ciuitatis Treuirensis), which is considered to be the first authentic cityscape of Trier. Although Merian's view is more detailed than the woodcut, it does not depict structural changes that were made between 1548 and 1646 (e.g. at the Basilica of Constantine ). Compare the woodcut in the Latin edition of Cosmographiae Universalis from 1550 on Historic Cities
  6. ↑ The description of the building essentially follows the information in H. Cüppers, p. 617f.
  7. ↑ Goethert 2003, p. 83.

literature

  • Heinz Cüppers : The Barbarathermen. In: H. Cüppers (Ed.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Licensed edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 616–620.
  • Sabine Faust: Barbarathermen. In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region (= series of publications by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. Vol. 35). Trier 2008, ISBN 978-3-923319-73-2 , pp. 40f.
  • Thomas Fontaine: The Barbarathermen. In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (ed.): The Roman Trier (= guide to archaeological monuments in Germany. Vol. 40). Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1517-0 , pp. 102-113.
  • Klaus-Peter Goethert: The Barbarathermen. In: Römerbauten in Trier (= guide booklet Edition Burgen, Schlösser, Antiquities Rhineland-Palatinate. No. 20). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2003, ISBN 3-7954-1445-8 , pp. 76-105.
  • Günther Stanzl, Michael Dodt: The Barbarathermen in Trier. A new project of building research - restoration and presentation . In: The preservation of monuments . tape 63 , no. 1 . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 2005, p. 39-54 .
  • Winfried Weber : Trier, Barbarathermen (=  leader of the administration of the state castles, palaces and antiquities of Rhineland-Palatinate . Volume 6 ). Mainz 1976.

Web links

Commons : Barbarathermen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 0 ″  N , 6 ° 37 ′ 49 ″  E