Confluentes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Confluentes
Alternative name Confluentes
limes late antique Rhine Limes
section Germania great
Dating (occupancy) 1st to 5th century A.D.
place Koblenz
Geographical location 50 ° 21 '40 "  N , 7 ° 35' 43"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '40 "  N , 7 ° 35' 43"  E hf
Previous Burgus Neuwied-Engers (northwest)
Subsequently Burgus Lahnstein (south)
Map of the late Roman and medieval city ​​walls of Koblenz
Site of the early Roman fort from the time of Emperor Augustus at the Kastor Church in 2008
Relief and inscription stones from Koblenz-Niederberg
Partially reconstructed foundation walls of Villa Rustica am Remsteck

Castellum apud Confluentes ( German  "Fort near the confluent" ) is the Latin name for the Roman settlement at the confluence of the Moselle ( Mosella ) and Rhine ( Rhenus ), from which the German city of Koblenz developed.

history

Early Roman fort

In the Gallic War against the Teutons , Roman troops under Gaius Iulius Caesar reached 55 BC. The Rhine and built a first Rhine crossing between Koblenz and Andernach . In Koblenz itself, the remains of settlements near today's Münzplatz , at the Kastorkirche and at the Electoral Palace go back to the end of the first century BC. A first fort was built at the time of Emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine to secure the Mainz - Cologne - Xanten Rhine road. The first evidence of this early Roman fort was made in November 2008 when an ancient moat was discovered during construction work for the 2011 Federal Horticultural Show at the Kastorkirche. The four-meter-wide and today still 2.5-meter-deep moat of a 100 × 100-meter fort is the missing evidence of the early Roman settlement of Koblenz, which had previously been searched in vain in the area of ​​the old town for 150 years . Koblenz is one of the oldest cities in Germany . The Romans called their settlements Castellum apud Confluentes , which means something like "Fort at the confluent" ( Rhenus fluv. Et Mosella fluv. ). At that time, the Treveri settled here , who ruled the entire Moselle region. Since around 85 AD, the place belonged to the Roman province of Germania superior , established around this time under Domitian , which was formed from the Upper Germanic army district (exercitus Germanicus superior) .

Roman bridges

Bridges over the Rhine and Moselle rivers were built in Koblenz by the Romans. A pile bridge about 350 meters long over the Rhine was built in AD 49 between today's Ehrenbreitstein and the banks of the Rhine in Koblenz. It consisted of about 650 to 750 oak trunks with iron tips, so-called pile shoes, 51 of which have been preserved. The Moselle Bridge, 50 meters next to today's Balduin Bridge , was built as part of the Roman Rhine Valley Road.

Niederberg Castle

In the late Flavian , at the latest in the early Trajan period, i.e. shortly before or around the year 100 AD, the Niederberg fort for auxiliary troops was built on the right bank of the Rhine in the area of ​​today's Koblenz-Niederberg to protect the Upper Germanic Limes . The Roman troops were moved from Koblenz to the right bank of the Rhine. The fort existed until around 259/260 AD the area on the right bank of the Rhine was evacuated by the Romans as a result of the Frankish offensive.

Late Roman fort

After the abandonment of the Limes , under Emperor Constantine (306–337) an approximately 5.8 hectare fortification was built in the area of ​​today's Koblenz old town , the late antique Fort Confluentes. Located on the flood-free ridge on the southern bank of the Moselle, its former extent is still clearly visible today. The surrounding ditch was probably formed by a former arm of the Moselle and its course is still traced today by the streets “An der Moselbrücke”, “Alten Graben (!)”, “Am Plan”, “Entenpfuhl” and “Kornpfortstraße”.

In contrast to many other Roman fortifications, the Koblenz wall ring had existed long beyond Roman times and was integrated into the medieval and modern cityscape. Its scheduled resignation did not take place until the 19th century.

The wall was reinforced with a total of 19 round towers at a distance of about 30 meters on the west, south and east sides, twelve of which are reliably proven by the remains of their foundations. Of the four gates to be assumed, only two have been identified, the southern one in today's "Marktstrasse" and the eastern one in the area of ​​the rectory of the Liebfrauenkirche .

The towers were numbered from 1 to 19 by Adam Günther, beginning on the northwest side. The foundations of the east tower of the old castle consist of the remains of a Roman round tower (tower 1). During extensive excavations on Münzplatz, the course of the Roman city wall on its westernmost side was confirmed. Evidence of the intermediate towers 2 to 5 and the gate is missing on the entire west side. Only the location of the southwest corner tower (6) is documented again, as it is still entered on a cadastral map from 1812. The west side of the city fortifications is therefore around 140 meters long.

Between the corner tower 6 and the western gate tower of the south gate was another tower (7) on a slight bend in the city wall, the stump of which served as a cesspool for sewage until the 1870s. Only a few remains of the southern gate have survived and are accordingly well documented, but they are completely sufficient to reconstruct one. In the further course to the east, a section of the wall was detected in various house foundations “Am Plan”. Tower 8 was demolished in 1852 during the construction of what was then house Am Plan 7. Towers 9 to 12 and 16 to 19 have also been identified. Tower 18 lies exactly below the apse of the Florinskirche and was uncovered during restoration work in 1929. Except for Tower 1, the towers all had an outer diameter of around 10 meters. The wall thickness varied between 2 and 2.5 meters. The distances between the individual towers were between 24 and 35 meters, but most often 26 meters.

In the course of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, Koblenz was conquered by the Franks and then a Franconian royal court was founded. When the Roman troops withdrew, the Rhine and Moselle bridges were destroyed. The Roman city wall was preserved until the early Middle Ages . Remnants of the wall and the streets of Altengraben, Plan, Entenpfuhl and Kornpfortstraße in Koblenz's old town still bear witness to the late Roman fortifications.

Roman finds in the area around Koblenz

At Remsteck there are the remains of a Roman farm ( Villa rustica ) that has been partially excavated and partially reconstructed. Above Koblenz, a temple complex for the Roman god Mercurius and the Gallic / Celtic goddess Rosmerta was built in today's city ​​forest not far from the Roman road . Roman coins found there prove that the facility was used until the 5th century.

See also

literature

  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz . Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt
    • Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era . Theiss, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0876-X .
    • Vol. 2: From the French city to the present . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1036-5 .
  • Hans Bellinghausen: 2000 years Koblenz. History of the city on the Rhine and Moselle . Boldt, Boppard 1973.
  • Maximilian Ihm : Confluentes 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IV, 1, Stuttgart 1900, Col. 871 f.
  • Axel von Berg : Koblenz is changing. From the early days to the modern city. (Archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle, Volume 22) General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate , Koblenz 2011, ISBN 978-3-929645-15-6 .
  • Robert Bodewig : The Roman Coblenz. In: Felix Hettner , Joseph Hansen (ed.): West German Journal for History and Art 17, Issue 1, Trier 1898, pp. 223–272.
  • Robert Bodewig : A Trever village in the Coblenz city forest . In: Felix Hettner, Joseph Hansen (ed.): West German Journal for History and Art 19, Issue 1, Trier 1900, pp. 1-67.
  • Philipp Filtzinger : Koblenz Castle. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 160, 1960, pp. 168–203.
  • Adam Günther : Confluentes, the Roman Coblenz. In: Deutschlands Städtebau , Coblenz, 1922 (1st edition); 1925 (2nd expanded edition), pp. 7–13.
  • Adam Günther : The Roman Koblenz. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 142, 1937, pp. 35–76.
  • Angelika Hunold: excavation of two Roman settlement sites in the city forest of Koblenz. Preliminary report on the excavations in 1989 and 1991-1992. In: Hans-Helmut Wegner (Ed.): Reports on archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle 4. Trier magazine supplement 20 (Trier 1995) pp. 241–276. ISBN 978-3-923319-28-2
  • Reinhard Kallenbach : Koblenz's story retold . Mittelrhein Verlag, Koblenz 2012, ISBN 978-3-925180-03-3 .
  • Udo Liessem: The city walls of Koblenz - continuity of the city fortifications from antiquity to modern times? In: Olaf Wagener (ed.): The contested place - from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Supplements to Mediavistik 10, 2009, p. 185 ff. ISBN 978-3-631-57557-4 .
  • Hans-Helmut Wegner : Koblenz and the Mayen-Koblenz district . Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0462-4 (=  Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany 12; Archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle 3).
  • Hans-Helmut Wegner: On the topography of the settlement of old Koblenz from antiquity to the early Middle Ages. In: Heinz-Günther Borck , Hans-Walter Herrmann (eds.): Yearbook for West German State History 19, (Festschrift for Franz-Josef Heyen on his 65th birthday), Koblenz 1993 pp. 1–16.
  • Hans-Helmut Wegner: Koblenz . In: Heinz Cüppers (Hrsg.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate . Licensed edition of the original edition from 1990. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 418–423.
  • Klemens Wilhelmi: Emergency excavations in the area of ​​the W and S gate of the Rhine castles in Boppard and Koblenz . In: William S. Hanson, Lawrence KF Keppie (Eds.): Roman Frontier Studies. Papers presented to the 12th International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies . BAR International Series 71, II, Oxford 1980, pp. 567-586.

Web links

Commons : Confluentes  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: confluentes  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Confluentes  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Koblenz  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ An early Roman fort discovered - the city's history turned upside down - the ancient moat at the St. Castor basilica points to the time of the Emperor Augustus. In: Rhein-Zeitung . November 19, 2008.
  2. ↑ Founded in Koblenz am Rhein: BUGA makes history. on: spd-koblenz.de , November 20, 2008.
  3. ↑ Dendrochronologically secured date.
  4. ↑ Hansjörg Groenert: The Roman bridge over the Rhine at Koblenz. ( Memento from June 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ The auxiliary fort of Koblenz Niederberg on the official website of the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Culture Rhineland-Palatinate ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
  6. ^ Udo Liessem: The city walls of Koblenz - continuity of the city fortifications from antiquity to modern times? In: Olaf Wagener (ed.): The contested place - from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Supplements to Mediavistik 10, 2009, p. 185 ff.
  7. ↑ Klemens Wilhelmi: Emergency excavations in the area of ​​the W and S gate of the Rhine castles in Boppard and Koblenz. In: Roman Frontier Studies 12, 1979, BAR Int. Series 71, 1980, p. 567 ff.
  8. ^ Adam Günther : To the topography of the oldest Coblenz. Journal for local history of Coblenz and the surrounding area, 1st year, 1920, p. 43
  9. ^ Adam Günther : The Roman Koblenz. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 142, 1937, p. 63.
  10. ^ Adam Günther : The Roman Koblenz. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 142, 1937, p. 64.
  11. ^ Adam Günther : The Roman Koblenz. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 142, 1937, p. 68 f.
  12. ^ Adam Günther : The Roman Koblenz. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 142, 1937, p. 64.
  13. ^ Robert Bodewig : A Trevererdorf in the Coblenz city forest. In: West German Journal for History and Art 19, Issue 1 (Trier 1900) pp. 1–67
  14. ↑ Angelika Hunold: excavation of two Roman settlements in the city forest of Koblenz. Preliminary report on the excavations in 1989 and 1991-1992. In: Hans-Helmut Wegner (Ed.): Reports on archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle 4. Trier magazine supplement 20 (Trier 1995) pp. 241–276. ISBN 978-3-923319-28-2