Altenstadt Castle
| Altenstadt Castle | |
|---|---|
| limes | ORL 20 ( RLK ) |
| Route (RLK) | Upper German Limes, route 4 (Wetterau route) |
| Dating (occupancy) | unsure |
| Type | Numerus fort |
| unit | unknown |
| size | 132 × 114 m = 1.3 ha |
| Construction | Stone fort |
| State of preservation | Ground monument |
| place | Altenstadt |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 17 '6.8 " N , 8 ° 56' 28.1" E |
| height | 127 m above sea level NHN |
| Previous |
Small fort Stammheim (northwest) |
| Subsequently | ORL 21: Small fort "Auf dem Buchkopf" (south) |
The Altenstadt fort was a Roman fort on the Wetterau line of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes . It was located in today's Altenstadt in the Wetterau district . Nothing is visible of the system today.
location
The fort complex was located in the southwest of the village in the area of Frankfurter Strasse and Vogelsbergstrasse ( Bundesstrasse 521 ). The Nidder flows south of the village, coming from the Vogelsberg in the direction of the southern Wetterau . Above ground nothing is visible of the forts and most of them are built over. Only the curved course of Frankfurter Straße still gives an idea of the southeast corner of the stone fort. The fort complexes were built for two reasons. They had the task of controlling a pre-Roman path that ran past the fort in the direction of Fulda along the Vogelsberg. In addition, the nearby Glauberg was monitored from here , on which no settlement by the Romans was apparently tolerated at the time of the Limes.
Fort
exploration
An important inscription was found in Altenstadt as early as 1603. Excavations by the Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK) took place in 1886, 1907 and 1911. While these excavations essentially revealed the stone fort from the last construction periods 5 and 6, larger investigations followed under the direction of the Saalburg Museum in 1955, 1956 and 1959.
Although these excavations were only able to examine sections of the fort's defense in some areas, it was possible to explain the individual construction periods in a rather complicated sequence. The director of the Saalburg Museum at that time, Hans Schönberger , was able to show how the fort developed from a small hill to a numerus fort .
Only a few parts of the interior development could be exposed, most of which can be assigned to periods 4 and 5. These are parts of the (south-facing) principia (staff building), a hypocausted room should be part of the praetorium due to its location , as well as some parts of the crew barracks to the west of it.
The associated fort bath was not found. It was suspected in the area of the train station, where remnants of bricks and screed were observed during excavation work in 1905. The surrounding fort village and the burial grounds are also largely unexplored and probably largely lost due to overbuilding.
Construction phases
Period 1
The earliest tangible fort construction begins with a jump on a square base area (69.5 m) and an interior space of 0.3 hectares. According to Schönberger, this earliest fort building can be traced back to Domitian times. But he left it open whether this hill is already a regular facility of the Limes. Recent discoveries of two similar small forts near Hanau-Mittelbuchen have corroborated a thesis already suspected by Georg Wolff of an earlier Limes line from Oberflorstadt via Heldenbergen to Hanau-Salisberg .
Periods 2 and 3
Possibly around 110 AD a long rectangular fort (92.5 x 58.5 m; 0.35 ha) with a wood and earth fence was built after the hill was abandoned. Again there were four post-level traces of a tower in the northwest. This small fort (period 2) was later extended (period 3) by an annex to the south (112.5 x 92.5 m; 0.8 ha). Inside the annex there was probably a bathing building, the brick finds date it to the Trajan period.
Period 4
The fort of phase 3 was abandoned around 135 AD and a fort for an independent unit, probably a numerus , was rebuilt. The fort received a turf wall, the exact size is unclear, as this construction phase could only be partially excavated, but larger than 1 hectare. The form of the fence also puzzled the researchers. It obviously contained protruding corners on the gates. There is no parallel on mainland Europe. The floor plan can only be compared to a few facilities in Great Britain.
Periods 5 and 6
The fort of period 4 was probably leveled around 150 AD and replaced by the new construction of a stone fort with two circumferential pointed ditches, four gates, corner and intermediate towers (132 x 114 m; 1.3 ha). The construction period 6 consists only in the abandonment of the outer ditch and repairs to walls and towers. It cannot be dated exactly, but based on parallel observations at other forts ( Künzing and Öhringen ) it should belong to the time around the turn of the 2nd to the 3rd century.
Finds
The earliest finds that Schönberger cites for a dating of period 1 in Domitian times are a few pieces of South Gallic Terra Sigillata and brick stamps from Legio XIIII Gemina . The finds do not allow an exact identification of the troops stationed here, so that they remain unknown. Through a graffito we only learn that it was divided into centuries . The few militaria finds, mainly lance tips and a heart-shaped bronze chape , just as little as the graffiti suggest any differences in armament or origin of the troops.
In 1971 fragments of a sandstone holy stone were found in a well. In terms of research history, Altenstadt is cited on the basis of the heavy pottery typology from the Middle Imperial period, which includes a wide range of Roman mortars . The coin series ends relatively early with Severus Alexander . Another evidence is clear from the inscription from 242 AD and from finds later Terra Sigillata from Rheinzabern ( Tabernae ).
The inscription find CIL 13, 7424 and its meaning
Probably the most historically significant find is the above-mentioned inscription find from 1603. This was found in a well and dates to the year 242 AD by naming the incumbent consuls .
| Latin text | translation |
|---|---|
| IN H (onorem) D (omus) D (ivinae) GENIO COLLEGI (i) IVVENTVTIS CONS (ecratur) ATT (ico) ET PR (a) E TEXTATO CO (n) S (ulibus) |
In honor of the divine imperial family, it was consecrated to the genius of the collegium iuventutis (a kind of “young team” or citizen militia) when Atticus and Praetextatus were consuls. |
The inscription is of particular interest in order to understand the connections that led to the failure or fall of the Limes system (→ Limesfall ). Similar to the fortifications of most of the Civitas capitals of this time, the provincial residents seem to have reacted to the crisis of the 3rd century and the lack of protection of the state by taking measures on their own. Similar inscription finds are known from Pannonia and Öhringen.
Limes course from the Altenstadt fort to the small fort on the Buchkopf
The Limes runs southeast of Altenstadt through agricultural area and the village of Oberau and is not visible. It is only shortly before the small fort "Auf dem Buchkopf" that it is again in wooded, sloping terrain and can be easily recognized. To the south of the small fort, it is in one of the best state of preservation on the Wetterau Limes . The guard posts 4/99, 4/100 and 4/101 were all accepted by the Reichs-Limeskommission due to the presumed distance between the towers, 4/99 because of the 830 m distance between the crossing over the river Nidder and the fort. For the same reason, a Wp 4 / 101a was also added to the south, but for which no excavation results are available either. At the presumed location of Wp 4/100 near the intersection L 3189 / K 232, a display board was set up to provide information about archaeobotanical finds.
Monument protection
As part of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 2005 . There are also ground monuments according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.
See also
literature
- Eduard Anthes, Friedrich Kofler and Wilhelm Soldan: stretches 4 and 5 (the Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near the Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg). The route description. In: Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches / Abt. A, Vol. 2, routes 4 and 5 (The Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg) , 1936 p. 146f.
- Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 167.
- Heide Birley and Vera Rupp : The Limes facilities at Limeshain-Rommelhausen, Wetteraukreis. Guide sheet to the archaeological and natural history hiking trail on the Pfahlgraben and to the prehistoric burial mounds . Wiesbaden 1996, ISBN 3-89822-131-8 (Archaeological Monuments in Hessen 131).
- Hans Schönberger in: Dietwulf Baatz and Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (eds.): The Romans in Hessen . 3. Edition. 1989. Licensed edition Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9 , p. 227f.
- Hans Schönberger and Hans-Günther Simon : The castles in Altenstadt. Limes research 22. Mann, Berlin 1983 ISBN 3-7861-1295-9
- Hans Schönberger: The Roman fort Altenstadt. In: Wetterauer Geschichtsblätter 30, 1981, pp. 23-30.
- Hans Schönberger: The Roman fort in Altenstadt, Büdingen district. In: Büdinger Geschichtsblätter 2, 1958, pp. 9-14.
- Hans Schönberger: The Altenstadt Castle. To the outer Upper Germanic Limes. In: Germania 35, 1957 pp. 54-80.
Excavation report of the Reich Limes Commission :
- Eduard Anthes : The Altenstadt Castle. In: ORL B IIa No. 20 (1912).
Web links
- Altenstadt Castle on the side of the German Limes Commission
Individual evidence
- ^ The Romans in Hesse , p. 227 u. 320.
- ↑ a b CIL 13, 7424 .
- ^ E. Anthes: The Altenstadt Castle. In: ORL B IIa No. 20 (1912).
- ↑ H. Schönberger and H.-G. Simon: The forts in Altenstadt. Limes research 22 (1983).
- ↑ Schönberger / Simon 1983, p. 62; Schönberger 1989, p. 228.
- ↑ Schönberger 1989, p. 228; Schönberger / Simon 1983, pp. 58-60.
- ↑ See: M. Reuter, The Roman small fort of Hanau-Mittelbuchen and the course of the eastern Wetterau Limes under Domitian. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani . Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Saalburg-Schriften 6, 2004 (Bad Homburg v. D. H. 2004), pp. 97-106. Also internet source ( memento of the original from November 15, 2016 in the internet archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Schönberger 1983, p. 61 and Figs. 7 and 8.
- ↑ Schönberger / Simon 1983, p. 63.
- ↑ Barbara Oldenstein-Pferdehirt : The Roman auxiliary troops north of the Main. Research on the Upper Germanic Army I. In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseums 30, 1983, pp. 303–348, especially p. 333.
- ↑ CIL 13, 6077 .
- ↑ Dietwulf Baatz in: The Romans in Hesse. P. 215; Peter Knieriem in: Egon Schallmayer (ed.): The Augsburg victory altar - testimony to a troubled time. Saalburg Museum Bad Homburg vd H. 1995 p. 39 (Saalburg-Schriften 2).
- ^ AE 1938, 156 .
- ↑ CIL 13, 6549 .
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