Double fort Kirchlibuck-Sidelen

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Roman wall remains on the Kirchlibuck

The Doppelkastell Kirchlibuck-Sidelen , also Doppelkastell Sidelen-Kirchlibuck , Doppelkastell Zurzach-Rheinheim , or Fort Tenedo was a late Roman fort in Bad Zurzach in Switzerland and was formed from two structurally connected late Roman forts, Fort Sidelen and Fort Kirchlibuck . A simultaneous connection existed at the place of today's Rhine bridge Zurzach-Rheinheim , with the opposite bridgehead, the Rheinheim fort in Rheinheim . The bridge connection was an important part of the Roman road Neckar-Alb-Aare .

history

Museum Höfli. Bad Zurzach: pile of a pile foundation of the Rhine bridge Zurzach-Rheinheim with an iron pile shoe

On the (today) German side, already around 15 BC. The Roman camp Dangstetten , it is assumed that the first Rhine bridge was built at this time. After the first Roman military camp in Zurzach, made of wooden structures, had become obsolete around 50 AD, the Romans built a fort to protect the wooden Rhine bridge that was built here. The fort (on today's Swiss side) in the Sidelen area (probably derived from Citadelle ), a gravel terrace above the Rhine, was a spacious structure made of thick masonry , through which the bridgehead could be optimally monitored. This "pincer-like" system had never been completely covered over the centuries, which shows its massive construction with round towers. In Rheinheim, the bridgehead was also protected by a massive cuboid fort with watchtowers. Due to the inadequate research that was possible, the exact timing of the construction of the weir systems cannot be specified precisely, the construction date of 368 AD from a dendrological finding of one of the five piles of the eight pile foundations as well as a repair to one of the bridge piers 375 is considered certain for the older bridge AD The entire complex is likely to have been built earlier and show a clear defensive positioning of the Romans from the 4th century AD.

It is speculated that the Roman bridge could have been replaced by a five- or six-bay stone arch bridge; it is said to have been built around 1275 (after the Staufer period) by the Constance monastery . This younger bridge is said to have been founded on four piers shaped like a ship's bow with pile foundations of approx. 40 piles each. Nothing is known about their construction or destruction by the force of war or the force of nature. In the Middle Ages up to modern times (construction of the first new bridge in 1906) only one ferry operated here. Apparently, this was not a particular obstacle for the Zurzach trade fair .

Preserved walls

In the Zurzach area, some foundation walls have been reconstructed or restored on the Kirchlibuck and are freely accessible to visitors. On the road after customs, small pieces of wall are cut out in the concrete. In Rheinheim, the church and the Rheinauer Amtshaus were built on the fort. During construction work, a tombstone from the 1st century AD was found as a spoil , a copy is on display in the Museum Höfli .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Katrin Roth-Rubi: Zurzach in late Roman times . In: Albert Sennhauser, Hans Rudolf Sennhauser, Alfred Huber (eds.): History of the Fleckens Zurzach. Historical Association of the Zurzach District, Zurzach 2004, p. 65 ff.

Coordinates: 47 ° 35 '7.3 "  N , 8 ° 18' 1.7"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred sixty-four thousand eight hundred and thirty-two  /  270 873