Dorestad

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Dorestad in the Frisian Empire
Dorestad and the main trade routes
Coins from Dorestad in the coat of arms of the municipality of Pöschendorf

Dorestad , also Dorstad, was the most important Carolingian trading settlement of the 7th to 9th centuries in Friesland (now the Netherlands ). It was at and in Wijk bij Duurstede near Utrecht at the fork of the Lower Rhine into the Lek and the Crooked Rhine . The place had a length of about 1000 m from north to south (according to some researchers even 2.5–3 km). The east-west extension was between 90 and 150 m.

history

Three important trade routes met in Dorestad. One led up the Rhine to Upper Germany , France . A second went west towards Domburg , Quentovic (France) and Hamwic, Fordwich, London , York and Ipswich (all in England ). The third led through the Wadden Sea of the North Sea over the Cimbrian Peninsula to Schleswig or Haithabu and from there to the Baltic States or to Skiringssal in Norway and the Swedish Birka .

Founded as a Frisian settlement, presumably on the site of an earlier Roman fort, the Levefanum fort , the place was conquered by the Franks around 700 . A Franconian fort was built just outside the trading town. Franconian coins were minted in Dorestad. Coin finds with the representation of Holk and the inscription DORESTATUS testify to this. In 1885, a rich Carolingian coin treasure from the 9th century was found on the Krinkberg in Pöschendorf in Schleswig-Holstein . These included coins that were minted in Dorestad. Two of the 95 silver coins found are depicted in the Pöschendorfer coat of arms, the left one bears the inscription CAROLUS, the right one DORSTAD. The Krinkberg treasure is now in the Archaeological State Museum at Gottorf Castle . During its heyday, Dorestad should have had 2,500 to 3,000 inhabitants.

From 834 to 863 the city was attacked and plundered six times by marauding Vikings (e.g. by Rörik von Dorestad and Gottfried von Friesland ). Since the sacking of Dorestad by Vikings in 863 and the complete destruction of the place by a flood of the Rhine, there is no longer any mention of the city in the sources.

Excavations

Dorestad Museum

The northern area of ​​Dorestad, a harbor and craft district, inland also with farms, was excavated mainly between 1925 and 1930 by Jan Hendrik Holwerda , and between 1967 and 1977 by other archaeologists . It was u. a. Ceramic of the type first found in Tating and found from Badorf and Mayen (dating: 8th and 9th centuries). Other parts can no longer be excavated because the city center of Wijk Bij Duurstede is located there, or because the water of the rivers has left nothing of it.

In today's Wijk bij Duurstede , an important part of the exhibition is dedicated to the old Dorestad in the local history museum “Museum Dorestad”.

Coordinates: 51 ° 58 ′ 30 ″  N , 5 ° 20 ′ 24 ″  E

literature

  • WA van Es, WJH Verwers: The rise, prosperity and decline of the early medieval trading metropolis Dorestad . In: Haithabu and the early urban development in northern Europe , ed. v. Klaus Brandt, Michael Müller-Wille and Christian Radtke. Neumünster 2002, ISBN 3-529-01812-0 , pp. 281-301.
  • WJH Verwers: Dorestad and the Viking Trade . In: The Vikings , ed. v. Ulrich Löber, Koblenz 1998, ISBN 3-925915-61-3 , pp. 107-115.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erwin Nöbbe: The Carolingian coin treasure from the Krinkberg. In: Festschrift for the centenary of the Museum of Prehistoric Antiquities in Kiel. Wachholz, Neumünster 1936, pp. 136–160.
  2. ^ Community of Pöschendorf, The Pöschendorfer coat of arms
  3. ^ Klaus Friedland: The Hanseatic League. Stuttgart (et al.) 1991, p. 32.

Web links

Commons : Dorestad  - collection of images, videos and audio files