Limestorms in the Wachau

a) Burgus Bacharnsdorf b) Burgus St. Lorenz c) Burgus Rossatz d) Watchtower St. Johann
limes	Limes Noricus
section	Route 1
Dating (occupancy)	a) late 4th century; post-antique use until the high Middle Ages, b) 4th / 5th. Century?, C) 2nd to late 4th century; Post-antique use until the Middle Ages d) unknown
Type	Watchtower
unit	a / b / c / d Limitanei (Burgarii)  ?
size	a) 12.2 m × 12.4 m, wall thickness 1.6 m b) unknown, c) 9 m × 9 m, area 12.4 m², thickness 1.2 m d) 17.5 × 17.5 m
Construction	a / b / c / d stone construction
State of preservation	a) South wall with an arched and slotted window each up to the 2nd floor preserved, foundations of the west and north wall, b) South wall preserved in the church, c) SW side and the rest of the SE corner partly. still open. d) The north wall and the NE corner in the bell tower have been preserved.
place	Rossatz-Arnsdorf
Previous	Melk Fort (west)
Subsequently	Fort Favianis (east)

The Limes Towers in the Wachau belonged to the Roman Danube Limes in today's Austria , federal state Lower Austria , district Krems-Land , municipality Rossatz-Arnsdorf .

The Burgus von Bacharnsdorf is one of the best preserved Roman architectural monuments in the Roman province of Noricum . In addition to this weir system, three other late antique watchtowers are also known in the Wachau .

Along the southern bank of the Danube there was in some cases no continuous road or path connection until the Middle Ages. The northern drop of the Dunkelsteinerwald reached in some places to the shore area. The few shallow landings were periodically inundated by the floods. The Roman military road ran over the plateaus of the Dunkelsteinerwald from Mautern via Bergern, Schenkenbrunn, Aggsbach Dorf to Melk, where it merged into the "Limesstraße". Branch roads led through the valley gorges to the watchtowers on the banks of the Danube, which were within sight of each other.

A section of the Noric Limes ran in the Wachau , of which numerous structural remains have survived to this day. Some of his fortifications still have upright structures. the arched windows on the upper floors have also been preserved. Presumably the towers of St. Lorenz and St. Johann were still used by servants of the Salzburg church property after the Romans left and churches were later added to them or built from their stones.

The following watchtowers are known in the Wachau:

Tower point	description	location
Burgus Bacharnsdorf	The district of Bacharnsdorf is located at the northeast end of a river valley near the village of Mitterarnsdorf, just before the Danube flows through a narrow point here, about 13 km upstream from Mautern an der Donau , on federal road 33 . The ruin itself is embedded in the grown townscape at Haus Bacharnsdorf No. 7. Its remains border directly on a medieval courtyard building in the south, on slightly higher terrain in the west and on a garden area in the north. An information board was attached to the east wall. The name of the place goes back to Bishop Arno von Salzburg , who was granted a fief here by Emperor Charlemagne in the 8th century . As early as the 19th century, it was assumed that there was a former Roman watchtower here due to the existing building fabric and coin finds. Even Friedrich von Kenner , Eduard von Sacken and Edward Nowotny voiced the suspicion that opposite Spitz must have existed, above the village of Arnsdorf, due to the favorable topographic location a Roman observation post. In her collection of finds from Arnsdorf, Gertrud Pascher, however, referred to this as a “mere conjecture” since mostly only reports of coin finds from this area were available. In the summer of 1964, the local researcher Alois Topitz again drew attention to the existence of this Burgus. After reporting to the competent authorities, the Austrian Archaeological Institute ( Herma Stiglitz ) carried out an initial investigation in 1970 and the Roman origin of the masonry was unequivocally confirmed by ceramic finds. In 1985 the Austrian Federal Monuments Office (Gertrude Wlach, Marcelo Moreno-Huerta, Hannsjörg Ubl) finally started construction . In the north, west and especially in the east, the material was removed to under the ancient find layer. This was followed by a complete renovation and conservation of the remains of the wall. No ancient sources or inscriptions on this tower are known to date. The found pottery is kept in the Museum Mautern an der Donau. The appearance of this fortification can be easily reconstructed thanks to the south wall, which is over nine meters high. The tower had two floors and had no basement. The square floor plan measures approximately 12.2 × 12.4 m. The building stands on about 1.5 m wide foundations, the rising masonry is about 1.6 m wide and tapers towards the top. The imprints of the beam heads for the struts of the false ceilings are clearly visible on the individual floors. The south-west corner has been preserved up to a height of two meters. The entrance was to the north, probably on the ground floor, the first floor was ventilated through two slotted windows on each side. On the second floor, two large arched windows broke through the walls. The ground floor was probably used as a store room, the first as accommodation for the crew and the second floor as a guardroom. Presumably the Burgus had a tent-shaped, tiled roof. Remains of a rampart surrounding the tower could not be observed. The Burgus secured the banks of the Danube and the access to the copper valley (Dürrenbachtal) that opened to the Danube to the southeast, through which a Roman track road ran, which connected the Wachau with the Reichsstraße between Cetium ( St. Pölten ) and Namare ( Melk ). Presumably it was built around 370 AD by soldiers of the milites auxiliares Lauriacenses as part of Valentinan I's border security measures . The tower was used until the high Middle Ages.	48 ° 22 '9.7 "  N , 15 ° 26' 41.9"  E
Burgus St. Lorenz	General view of the St. Lorenz branch church The St. Lorenz Church is located in St. Lorenz west of Rossatz, on the right bank of the Danube, directly at the landing stage of the taxi ferry to Weißenkirchen in der Wachau , you can reach it via the federal highway 3 or the Danube cycle path . The church is one of the smallest churches in the Wachau and was built as a place of worship for river boatmen. The remains of a late antique castle are built into the northern tower-like building. The north wall of the nave forms the older south wall of the rectory and thus at the same time that of the Burgus. A section of it can still be seen on the west side between the roof and the church. Its timing is unknown.	48 ° 23 ′ 33.6 "  N , 15 ° 28 ′ 31.4"  E
Rossatz-Windstallgraben watchtower	This monument is also located in the municipality of Rossatz-Arnsdorf . The tower is located about six kilometers upstream from Mautern an der Donau on federal road 33 , directly at the confluence of the Oberbergern-Rossatz footpath (formerly Rossitzergraben) on the right bank of the Danube. The remains of the tower are freely accessible. The Benedictine abbot and amateur archaeologist Adalbert Dungel suspected during his investigation of Roman remains in the Wachau in 1906, here in the "Windstallgraben near Rossatzbach", municipality of Oberbergern, in the area with the field name "To the seven graves" a Roman base. However, only individual coin finds were guaranteed. The watchtower was finally discovered in 1952 as part of the expansion of the B 33, excavated ten years later and the remains restored and preserved in 1992. Due to the strength and design of the foundations, the building probably dates from late antiquity (4th century). The square tower measured around 9 × 9 m, covered an area of ​​around 12.4 m² and was built over an older, smaller predecessor from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. The walls were raised using the casting technique and measured 1.2 m. The north-east side running parallel to the B 33 was destroyed except for the foundation walls in the ditch. The same picture also showed the devastated southeast side by up to ⅓. At the corner of the southwest side, up to 1.5 m of brickwork was preserved. The further course of the SW front and the southern section of the north-west side were completely destroyed. A one meter high remnant of the southeast corner was also preserved. A possibly encircling weir ditch could no longer be determined. Finds (cracked / stamped bricks due to the action of heat ) suggest that it was also built in the late 4th century AD and later destroyed by fire. Presumably it was also covered by a tiled roof in the upper part. Small finds (fibula, bracelet) confirm that the tower was still occupied in the 5th century. Remnants of the wall on the east side suggest continued use from the High Middle Ages to the early modern period. Adalbert Dungel and Franz Kainz took the view that the tower especially bypassing the fort Favianis should prevent (Mautern an der Donau). Furthermore, the Limes road ran in a hollow in the forest behind the tower, which connected Mautern with Melk ( Namare ) and could also be secured in this way. In addition, the right bank of the Danube in the section "from the balls" (under the Ferdinandswarte ) to the mouth of the Windstall ditch into the Danube was still without land connection until the 19th century. Only at Bacharnsdorf did a path lead from Schenkenbrunn in the Dunkelsteiner Forest through the Kupfertal along the Dürrenbach back to the Danube. In summary, the tower crew not only controlled the Danube border, but also blocked the valley edge, which was open to the south, over the Dunkelsteiner Forest into the hinterland.	48 ° 22 '59.7 "  N , 15 ° 31' 17.8"  E
Watchtower St. Johann im Mauerthale	St. Johann im Mauerthale is located at 211 meters above sea level, on the right bank of the Danube at the entrance to the Mauertal. Today's federal road 33 should still follow the old riverside road in the local area of ​​St. Johann. From the church an old road leads south through the Mauertal and on to the heights of the Dunkelsteiner Forest . This also applies to the locations of the watchtowers in Bacharnsdorf and Rossatz-Windstallgraben, where cul-de-sacs presumably branched off from the Limes Road to the banks of the Danube, which continued further inland. They stood at the end of a small valley through which one could get to them, as the south bank was impassable during high water. Until the 18th century there was no continuous road on the southern bank of the Danube. The current name of the place could also be an indication that a Roman fortification once stood here. Place names with “wall” (e.g. Traismauer, Zeiselmauer ) go back in some cases to Roman ruins, but can also simply mean rock face. In the course of an inspection of the branch church for his diploma thesis at the Danube University Krems , Oliver Fries was able to observe the remains of a previously unknown ancient secular building in the south wing of the church dedicated to John the Baptist. Probably the remains of a Roman watchtower that was once part of the fortress chain of the Noric Danube Limes. During his investigations on the attic of the nave, the frieze on the south gable noticed two walled up arched windows. The two windows with a straight reveal probably broke through the original outer facade. The western one had an accompanying line scratched into the grout with grooves between the individual wedge stones. In a later construction phase (high medieval?) The facade surface was plastered again and the arched windows bricked up. The arched window on the watchtower of Bacharnsdorf is very similar to that of the Johanneskirche, as it was also made of cut stone slabs. Quarry stone masonry laid in single layers - pietra rasa-like plaster or opus spicatum can be found both in Roman times and in the later Romanesque style epoch. Similar masonry can also be found on the salt tower in Tulln (horseshoe tower of Fort Comagena ) and the Roman gate in Traismauer ( Augustianis ). The former Roman watchtowers were integrated into medieval churches, was not uncommon in the Danube region, see also the watchtower of St. Lorenz. The floor plan of the church also shows a noticeable bend in the axis on the south wall. The construction joints on the Gothic bell tower show that this was obviously placed in an already existing corner of the building. Both the Gothic north and south walls are adjacent to quarry stone masonry that is joined in a different way. These findings on the south facade, previously referred to in research as the “gable front with reinforcing walls”, could in truth be the beginning of a 7 m high wall stretching to the west, probably the oldest part of the church. Apparently the remains of a Roman watchtower (i.e. north wall and NE corner) were integrated into the church. The tower, which is square in plan, originally had a side length of around 10.5 m. It can be clearly distinguished from the medieval building on the basis of the construction joints and its wall structure and technology inside the church tower. The nave, which is essentially high-medieval, should also be separated from the ancient masonry by construction joints.	48 ° 20 ′ 13.8 "  N , 15 ° 24 ′ 35.6"  E

Monument protection

The facilities are ground monuments within the meaning of the Austrian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds without the approval of the Federal Monuments Office constitute a criminal offense. Accidental finds of archaeological objects (ceramics, metal, bones, etc.), as well as all measures affecting the soil, must be reported to the Federal Monuments Office (Department for Ground Monuments).

See also

• List of forts in Noricum and Upper Pannonia

literature

• Christa Farka: Archaeological Cultural Landscape Wachau . In: Géza Hajós (Ed.): Monument - Ensemble - Cultural landscape using the example of the Wachau. International Symposium 1998 in Dürnstein. Berger & Söhne, Vienna - Horn 2000, ISBN 3-85028-321-6 , pp. 167-174.
• Herwig Friesinger , Fritz Krinzinger (ed.): The Roman Limes in Austria, guide to the archaeological monuments. Verlag der Österr. Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2618-2 , pp. 203-207.
• Kurt Genser: The Austrian Danube Limes in Roman times. A research report . (The Roman Limes in Austria 33). Verlag der Österr. Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-7001-0783-8 , pp. 264–266
• Manfred Kandler, Hermann Vetters (ed.): The Roman Limes in Austria . Vienna 1989.
• Hannsjörg Ubl: The Austrian section of the Danube Limes. A research report (1970–1979). In: William S. Hanson, Lawrence J. F. Keppie (Eds.): Roman Frontier Studies 1979. Papers presented to the 12th International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. Vol. 2. Oxford 1980 (British archaeological reports, International series, 1980).
• Thomas Fischer: Noricum. Orbis Provinciarum series , special volumes of the ancient world. Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2829-X , p. 136.
• Rene Ployer: Bacharnsdorf - Burgus. In: Verena Gassner, Andreas Pülz (Hrsg.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , pp. 200–201.
• Rene Ployer: St. Lorenz - Burgus. In: Verena Gassner, Andreas Pülz (Hrsg.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , p. 202.
• Rene Ployer: Windstallgraben. Watchtower - Burgus. In: Verena Gassner, Andreas Pülz (Hrsg.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , p. 203.
• René Ployer: The Norwegian Limes in Austria. Find reports from Austria. Material booklet series B 3, Austria. Federal Monuments Office, Vienna 2013.
• Oliver Fries: St. Johann im Mauerthale - Roman watchtower and medieval sacred building. A preliminary report on building research. In: The Waldviertel, No. 64, 2015.
• Elisabeth Schuster: The Etymology of the Lower Austrian Place Names. Part 1: Introduction, lists of abbreviations, place names A to E (= Historical Book of Place Names of Lower Austria, Series B, Vienna-St. Pölten 1989).

Web links

• Location of the Bacharnsdorf tower on Vici.org
• Location of the Sankt Lorenz tower, Rossatz-Arnsdorf on Vici.org
• Location of the Windstallgraben tower, Rossatz-Arnsdorf on Vici.org
• Location of the Sankt Johann im Mauerthale tower on Vici.org
• The Roman Limes in Austria
• Animated film of the Roman Limes in Tullnerfeld
• St. Johann im Mauerthale - Roman watchtower and medieval sacral building. Preliminary report on building research.

Remarks

1. ↑ Kurt Genser: The Austrian Danube Limes in Roman times. A research report. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1986. ISBN 3-7001-0783-8 . P. 264.
2. ↑ Herma Stiglitz: In: Find reports from Austria 9, 1966-1970, p. 283.
3. ^ Gerhard Winkler : Legio II Italica. History and monuments. In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. Year 116, Linz 1971, p. 121 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
4. ^ Adalbert Dungl: The Wachau and Mautern in Roman times. In: Monthly journal of the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria 1906–1907, pp. 17–18.
5. ^ Hannsjörg Ubl: Rossatzbach-Windstallgraben. In: Herwig Friesinger, Fritz Krinzinger (ed.): The Roman Limes in Austria, guide to the archaeological monuments . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2618-2 , pp. 203-207.
6. ↑ Schuster 1989, p. 191, A 220.
7. ↑ Fries 2015, pp. 282–288.

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap