Brandsteig
The Brandsteig is the toponym for a place near the village of Rötenberg , which belongs to the municipality of Aichhalden . It is known as the archaeological site of a Roman complex , the character of which is unclear.
location
The Brandsteig is located on the edge of the municipality of Aichhalden, directly on the border with the municipality of Schenkenzell . The border between Baden and Württemberg used to run at this point , and at the same time it forms the clearly visible transition between the Upper Kinzig Valley and the Gaulandschaft to the east . The Kinzig valley as part of the Black Forest was a difficult to access, hardly populated landscape in antiquity, whereas the plateau of the Gäu area was an agriculturally fertile area initially inhabited by Celts . In Roman times the region was part of the Dekumatland . The nearby castles of Waldmössingen and Sulz as well as the Municipium Arae Flaviae as the predecessor of today's Rottweil testify to the development of the Gäuf areas in antiquity.
Early digs
The first remains of the complex were discovered in 1770 at the latest. Some stones from the find area are now used in Rötenberg houses. In an early map from 1836, the site is referred to as a villa , so it was interpreted as a farm from Roman times. In 1841, Wilhelm Brandecker, the founder of the Schwarzwälder Bote , the geologist Friedrich von Alberti and other local dignitaries founded an antiquity association which dealt scientifically with the finds for the first time.
Road station in the Roman provincial road network
The surrounding wall and the floor plan of a temple were clearly visible in the area. The discovery of an altar dedicated to Abnoba , the protective goddess of the Black Forest, from the 1st century, as well as the location at a freshwater spring directly on the ascent from the Kinzig valley, suggested that the site was on the Kinzigtal road laid out in 73 and 74 under Vespasian from Strasbourg to Rottweil must have been. Even today, a small road leads up from the valley on the Brandsteig. Eugen Nägele interpreted the place as a mansio , a Roman street station with accommodation and meals for travelers. For Philipp Filtzinger , the facility was more precisely a beneficiary post, i.e. it was provided with a permanent crew of Roman road police.
Gallo-Roman temple district
This interpretation was questioned in 2001 and a detailed geomagnetic survey of the area was carried out in January 2013 . The remains of at least seven handling stamps were documented in the ground. So it seems to be less a militarily secured street post than a Gallo-Roman temple district, similar to those in Tawern or Hochscheid . If the travelers thanked them for the successful crossing of the Black Forest, the coin finds documented in the 19th century can be explained as votive offerings .
Finds and state of preservation
The most important surviving find is the Abnoba altar from the 1st century. According to the inscription, the altar was built by a centurion of the XXII. Legion founded as the redemption of a vow and must have been created before 96 AD because of the addition of the Legion D (omitianae) to its name. The original was destroyed in the Stuttgart Lapidarium in 1944, but there is still a replica at the site today.
There is also an artistic adaptation of the Mercury relief found nearby in 1983 , a stone dedicated to the patron god of traders. The original is in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Freiburg .
In addition, two ancient columns are exhibited and a map of the find area (although it has been outdated since the investigation in 2013) on an information board.
Today the Brandsteig lies directly on the Schwarzwald-Ostweg , on the stage between Alpirsbach and Schramberg . The place name "Brandsteig" also refers to the two adjacent courtyards and to the upper part of the paved road up from the valley.
literature
- Harald von der Osten-Woldenburg, Ute Seidel, Daniela Tränkle, Florian Tränkle: News from "classic soil". A Roman temple district on the “Brandsteig” near Aichhalden-Rötenberg. In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Wuerttemberg - news sheet of the state preservation of monuments 42 (2013), No. 4, pp. 208–212.
Web links
- Homepage Server Uni-Tübingen - Peter Rempis
- Central object database
- Epigraphic database (Abnoba altar with a picture of the original)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johann-Christoph Wulfmeier: The "Schänzle" on the Brandsteig - a beneficiary post in the central Black Forest? . In: Supplements to the Bonner Jahrbücher 53 (2001), pp. 179–189.
- ^ RP Freiburg / Christoph Steinacker: Archaeologists explore the Roman road station Aichhalden. (No longer available online.) In: Archeology Online. archaeomedia Brunn, Jordan & Steinacker GbR, January 25, 2013, archived from the original on November 2, 2014 ; Retrieved November 2, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 48 ° 17 ′ 55 " N , 8 ° 23 ′ 49.2" E