Butzbach Castle

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Butzbach Castle
limes ORL 14 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes, route 4 (Wetterau route)
Dating (occupancy) Flavian period until the Limes Falls
Type a) Cohort fort + other unknown troops
b) Cohort fort
c) Alenkastell
unit a) cohors II Raetorum civium Romanorum
b) coh. II Augusta Cyrenaica equitata
c) ala Moesica felix torquata ?
size a) 4 ha
b) 2.8 ha
c) 3.3 ha
Construction a) Wood and earth fort
b) Stone fort
c) (enlarged) stone fort
State of preservation Ground monument
place Butzbach
Geographical location 50 ° 26 '22.5 "  N , 8 ° 39' 52.2"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '22.5 "  N , 8 ° 39' 52.2"  E
height 210  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Hunnenkirchhof
Subsequently Small fort Degerfeld

The fort Butzbach (also fort Hunneburg , Hunnenburg or Hunburg ) was a Roman fort on the Upper German Limes (route 4, Hochtaunus and western Wetterau ) in Butzbach in the Wetterau district in Hesse . Together with the neighboring small fort Degerfeld , it was used to monitor an important border crossing on the northern Limes bend .

The ruins of the fort were visible for centuries after the Romans left . That is why it was popularly known as Hunneburg . The first excavations were carried out in the 19th century by the Friedberg rector Johann Philipp Dieffenbach , but it was not until the Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK) excavations at the end of the century that the fort could be reliably identified. In the second half of the 20th century, parts of the fort vicus were examined when the area was built on with residential buildings for the US soldiers stationed in Butzbach . The Limes Fort, which was only partially built over, has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Border Systems of the Roman Empire: Upper German-Raetian Limes since 2005 .

location

Northern Limes arc in the Wetterau with the forts Butzbach and Arnsburg

The fort is located in the northwestern urban area of ​​Butzbach, west of Bundesstraße 3 and northeast of the Butzbach correctional facility . The fort area is partly not built over, apart from the main road, some residential buildings and a riding hall. The associated fort vicus and the burial ground are completely built over with the exception of a few remaining areas. The Limes runs about 800 m away in the direction of SSW-NNE. There it leaves the last foothills of the Taunus and enters the loess plain of the Wetterau. In the area of ​​the city of Butzbach, the small forts Hunnenkirchhof and Degerfeld were excavated directly on the Limes.

The Weinstrasse ran about 200 m west of the fort , a route from Mainz ( Mogontiacum ) via Friedberg to the Limes that was probably used in prehistoric times . To the north it led through the Gießen basin, which was populated by a group of Germans, into the core area of Chatten around Kassel and Fritzlar .

history

Shield boss with a punched inscription and reference to the ala Moesica

The location at one of the most important border crossings into free Germania meant that the Romans built a fort there very early on. The first fort was built soon after the Chatten Wars of Emperor Domitian around 90 AD; According to a more recent evaluation of the coin series of many forts on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes shortly before 110 AD. The earliest unit is the Cohors II Raetorum civium Romanorum , which was probably the last unit in Wiesbaden ( Aquae Mattiacorum ) . She built the first wood and earth fort.

The cohort was moved to the Saalburg around 135 AD . It was replaced by cohors II Augusta Cyrenaica equitata , which had previously been stationed in Heidelberg - Neuenheim and which may have built the older stone fort. In the middle of the 2nd century or shortly afterwards, according to other sources between 180 and 190 AD, the fort was extended to the south. This conversion is probably related to a change or a strengthening of the crew. A punch mark on a shield boss could indicate the ala Moesica felix torquata as a new occupation. As a 500-man cavalry troop, it needed more space to store the horses than the previous units. The expansion of the fort may have something to do with a chat incident in the 1960s. At the same time, the Limes route in the Taunus was reinforced by the numerus fort in Holzhausen , Kleiner Feldberg and Kapersburg .

The younger stone fort that was created by the expansion was destroyed several times. Horizons of destruction indicate such events in the years 213 and 233 AD, with the fort being rebuilt each time. Whether it's by 233 until the time of the final Limes If still existed, is not assured. The amount of finds from this period is significantly less than before; among the coins there was only one of Philip Arabs . Fixtures in the younger stone fort suggest at least a temporary occupation.

Research history

After the Romans withdrew, the remains of the fort were visible well into the 19th century and known as the "Hunneburg" due to finds of Roman coins and walls. The name comes from the vernacular who wanted to see a castle of the Hun King Attila in the Roman ruins . As early as 1340, an inventory of the Engelthal Monastery mentions the site as a hindrance to Aldin Castle . In 1697 and 1759 the place was referred to in literature as a Roman settlement. Such mentions prompted Johann Philipp Dieffenbach to carry out an excavation on behalf of the Historical Association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the fall of 1842 . Dieffenbach's excavations covered the surrounding wall and the praetorium , but he considered them to be parts of the civilian settlement. He assumed the fort to be northwest in the area of ​​the Degerfeld.

Karl August von Cohausen contradicted Dieffenbach and said that the name Hunneburg could only indicate a fort. Finding the fort was ultimately reserved for the Imperial Limes Commission and the route commissioner Friedrich Kofler at the end of the 19th century. Kofler discovered the two stone forts and dug into the principia and praetorium .

It was not until 1953 that major excavations began again. They became necessary because the US Army built apartments for the American soldiers stationed in Butzbach in the area of ​​the former Roman camp village, and the fort vicus was largely destroyed. The excavations were under the direction of Werner Jorns and Gustav Müller and lasted until 1956, with an area within the fort being examined in 1955. In 1961 further excavations became necessary under W. Jorns and Hans Schönberger when the construction of the B 3 touched the fort area. Subsequent excavations in the 20th century under Hartmut Lischewski were mainly devoted to the interior of the fort, the sequence of the fortifications and the earlier wooden fort.

Most recently excavations took place in the western vicus area in the years 2011–2012 and 2016–2017. The former had become necessary due to the restructuring of the housing area after the withdrawal of the American troops and provided evidence of the typical, strip-like vicus development. A clearly differentiated picture emerged in the development of a small plot at the intersection of Oberer Lachenweg / Seedammweg in the years 2016–2017. According to the evidence of the finds, the publicly used building complex was probably a sanctuary belonging to the vicus area.

Findings

Site plan of the fort "Hunneburg", fort vicus and small fort Degerfeld
The fort area with a display board, 2013

Wood and earth fort

The early wood and earth fort (after Müller period 1) was an unusual size at just over four hectares . It is therefore very likely that, in addition to the 2nd raider cohort, another auxiliary force unit was stationed here. The simple moat extended beyond the later fortification in the west, east and especially in the north, while it was overlaid by this in the south. A 0.60 m wide berm was also proven . The fort wall consisted of a wood-earth construction, of which a 4.50 m wide substructure with a wooden construction could be documented. On the outside, the front of the wall had been reinforced with a single-line wall shell made of air-dried mud bricks. The wall core consisted of heaped up and pounded material. Some of the barracks could be identified from the interior.

Older stone fort

The wood and earth fort was abandoned as planned and replaced by the older stone fort (period 2). With the same orientation, it was significantly smaller at 2.8 hectares. The moat had a width of 6 m and a depth of 4 m below the present surface. The fort wall followed after a 1.80 m wide berm. It had a cast masonry made of Taunus quartzite and was between 1.50 and 1.60 m wide. Of the four castle gates, the east, north and west had double gateways, the south gate as porta decumana had a single one. The fort was thus oriented to the north, towards the Limes, which was also recognizable by the construction of the staff building. The gate towers did not jump over the line of the wall. The fort had eight gate towers, most of which were 5.50 m long and 4.90 m wide. In addition to the gate towers, there were four corner towers and 12 intermediate towers.

A large part of the interior development has already been excavated by the Imperial Limes Commission. The principia had a width of 42.60 m and a length of 66.50 m. In the north and south, several buildings were ajar on the outside. The commandant's apartment (praetorium) is likely to have been a larger building complex west of the headquarters building with partially hypocausted rooms .

The team barracks consisted of half-timbered houses with a tamped clay floor. They were already quite comprehensively documented in Kofler's time. Often they alternated rooms with the dimensions 8 × 4 and 5 × 4 m. Occasionally there were fireplaces made of folded stones, roof or hypocaust tiles.

The via sagularis with a width of 4.00 to 5.80 m was detected from the camp streets . Despite the different widths, it ran 6.25 m behind the inner edge of the surrounding wall. The via praetoria was about 12 m wide in the north of the fort behind the main gate. In the retentura between the principia and the south gate, it was only 7.30 m wide.

Younger stone fort

In the second half of the 2nd century the fort was extended by 38.5 m to the south and thus took up an area of ​​3.3 hectares (period 3). With a width of 1.50 m, the wall has a similar structure to the area of ​​the older stone fort. The southern rampart and the fort wall were mostly removed down to the foundation depth, and the trench was filled in. Larger earth movements were necessary to compensate for the height difference between the interior of the fort and the former apron. The new team barracks were no longer built as post, but as frame scaffolding with wooden sleepers. Remnants of painted wall plaster and window glass, mainly on the centurion's head buildings , indicate a slightly increased level of comfort.

From a leveling layer up to 0.50 m thick, Müller concluded that the fort would be destroyed. In addition to fire rubble, it also superimposed the leveled south wall of the older stone fort and contained black to black-brown humus, mixed with brick chunks of clay from the previous period. Presumably it was applied over the entire area during the reconstruction of the fort (period 4). No renovations could be found on the fort wall.

Latest fort buildings

Kofler had already found some dry stone walls that covered the rubble of the latest barracks. Müller also observed them and carefully dated them to Roman times (period 5). He interpreted these walls as evidence of "a final, only indistinctly tangible and perhaps only short-term military occupation of the square". Such installations in forts from the Middle Imperial period from the last years of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes were only correctly interpreted as a phase of reduction after findings in the Kapersburg and Miltenberg-Ost forts long after Müller's excavations.

Fort vicus

The camp village of the Butzbacher fort had an unusual size and structure, probably an indication of the importance of the settlement at an important border crossing. It was more of a small town settlement than a village. As is so often the case, it did not have the shape of a street village in front of the main gate of the fort. The main axis of the vicus was the trunk road, which ran about 200 meters west of the fort and to the north-west border crossing, which was monitored from the local fort Degerfeld . Individual streets with the buildings typical of civilian settlements in strip houses connected the highways with the gates of the fort, in front of which there were other civilian buildings. The entire extent of the vicus is not yet known despite lengthy excavations.

Numerous fragments of wall paintings come from the camp village, the decorations of which can be reconstructed in some cases. There were remains of field decorations, often with floral motifs. Particularly noteworthy are the remains of a wall with a simple architectural painting. The fragments are likely from a bathroom. Such architectural paintings are rather rare in the Germanic provinces and prove the prosperity of some citizens. Other fragments even show figural remains. Overall, the wall paintings show a high standard of living.

The camp village existed until the time of the Limes fall, but has probably only been populated to a lesser extent since the Alemanni invasion in 233 AD. The insecure situation in the border region increasingly deprived the town of its economic basis in the 3rd century.

A finding that was discovered during excavations in 2017 is all the more exciting. Here, a building complex measuring around 6 × 30 m came to light, which was composed of three rooms and an inner courtyard in which there were two other buildings. In addition to several pits that have been identified as fireplaces, one pit in the south-eastern area is particularly noticeable. This was trough-shaped and has two steps. In addition to the main component of the backfill, charcoal and burned animal bones, there were also several melon beads and complete vessels, including several incense cups, in the pit. These beakers appear above all in cult and grave contexts, where they are mostly ritually smashed or deposited. Another peculiarity is the large number of fragments of statues of gods and a dedicatory inscription. However, these are not to be seen in connection with the Roman cult practice , but rather are evidence of the unrest that began in the 3rd century .

Monument protection and remains

Museum of the city of Butzbach , exterior view with a replica of a giant Jupiter column

The Butzbach fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, they are ground monuments within the meaning of the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

Most of the finds from the fort are kept in the museum of the town of Butzbach , whose Roman section in the cellar is particularly dedicated to the fort.

See also

literature

  • Gustav Müller : Investigations at the fort Butzbach (= Limes research. 2). Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1962, pp. 7-62.
  • Hans Schönberger : On the size of the earth fort in Butzbach. In: Saalburg-Jahrbuch 22, 1965, pp. 17-27.
  • Gustav Müller: The camp village of Fort Butzbach. The terra sigillata decorated in relief (= Limes research 5 ). Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1968.
  • Margot Klee : The Limes between Rhine and Main. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0276-1 , pp. 96-101.
  • Dietwulf Baatz : Butzbach FB. Limes fort Hunneburg . In the S. and Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (ed.): The Romans in Hessen. Licensed edition of the 3rd edition from 1989, Nikol, Hamburg 2002. ISBN 3-933203-58-9 , pp. 246–248.
  • Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition, Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 153-154.
  • Vera Rupp , Heide Birley: Hikes on the Wetteraulimes. Archaeological hikes on the Limes from the Köpperner Tal in Taunus to the Drususeiche near Limeshain (= guide to Hessian prehistory and early history. 6). Theiss, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1551-0 , pp. 114-127, especially pp. 124-125.
  • Robin Dürr, Benedikt R. König, Jörg Lindenthal: A new "sanctuary" on the edge of the Roman vicus in Butzbach . In: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Ed.): Hessen-Aräologie 2017. Yearbook for Archeology and Palaeontology in Hessen , Theiss, Stuttgart 2018, pp. 119–122.
  • Jörg Lindenthal, Markus Scholz: A veteran from Butzbach and his network . In: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Hessen-Aräologie 2017. Yearbook for Archeology and Paleontology in Hessen , Theiss, Stuttgart 2018, pp. 123–126.

Excavation report of the Reich Limes Commission:

Web links

Commons : Kastell Butzbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Egon Schallmayer : Traian in Upper Germany and the consequences. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Traian in Germanien, Traian in the realm. Report of the Third Saalburg Colloquium . Saalburg Museum, Bad Homburg v. d. H. 1999, ISBN 3-931267-04-0 ( Saalburg-Schriften 5), pp. 179–194, especially p. 186.
  2. ↑ a b c Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz, F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. 1989, p. 246.
  3. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz, F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. 1989, p. 246.
  4. ↑ See Klaus Kortüm : On the dating of the Roman military installations in the Upper German-Raetian Limes area. In: Saalburg-Jahrbuch 49, 1998, p. 5–65, here: p. 30 and 32, also Egon Schallmayer: Traian in Obergermanien and the consequences. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Traian in Germanien, Traian in the realm. Report of the Third Saalburg Colloquium (= Saalburg Writings. 5). Saalburg Museum, Bad Homburg v. d. H. 1999, ISBN 3-931267-04-0 , pp. 179-194, especially p. 186.
  5. ^ A b Gustav Müller: Investigations at the fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 41.
  6. ↑ CIL 13, 7433 .
  7. ^ Johann Justus Winckelmann : Thorough and true description of the principalities of Hesse and Hersfeld. Volume 1. Bremen 1697, pp. 185-186 ( online ).
  8. ^ Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 9.
  9. ^ Johann Justus Winckelmann: Thorough and true description of the principalities of Hesse and Hersfeld. Bremen 1697, p. 185; Georg Liebknecht : Hassiae subterraneae specimen. Frankfurt 1769, p. 113.
  10. ^ Johann Philipp Dieffenbach : On the prehistory of the Wetterau, at the same time as a contribution to antiquity. Darmstadt 1843, pp. 208-219 ( online ).
  11. ^ August von Cohausen: The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same. Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884, p. 87.
  12. ↑ Jörg Lindenthal, Robert Süße: Extensive excavations in the vicus of the fort Butzbach. In: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Hessen-Aräologie 2012. Yearbook for Archeology and Palaeontology in Hessen , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 127–130.
  13. ↑ Robin Dürr, Benedikt R. König, Jörg Lindenthal: A new "sanctuary" on the edge of the Roman vicus in Butzbach. In: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Ed.): Hessen-Aräologie 2017. Yearbook for Archeology and Palaeontology in Hessen , Stuttgart 2018, pp. 119–122.
  14. ↑ Information from Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 11f.
  15. ^ Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 12f.
  16. ↑ Information from Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 14.
  17. ↑ Information from Friedrich Kofler: Das Kastell Butzbach . ORL B 2.2 (1894), pp. 4-6.
  18. ↑ Information from Friedrich Kofler: Das Kastell Butzbach . ORL B 2.2 (1894), p. 6f.
  19. ↑ Information from Friedrich Kofler: Das Kastell Butzbach . ORL B 2.2 (1894), p. 11.
  20. ↑ Information from Friedrich Kofler: Das Kastell Butzbach . ORL B 2.2 (1894), pp. 10f.
  21. ^ Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 16.
  22. ^ Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, p. 19.
  23. ^ Gustav Müller: Investigations at Fort Butzbach. Berlin 1962, pp. 20f.
  24. ↑ Markus Scholz: Reduction in the late Limes versus medieval installation in Limes forts. In: Egon Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “World Heritage Limes” November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg (= Saalburg-Schriften . 6). Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 135-145.
  25. ↑ Rüdiger Gogräfe : The Roman wall and ceiling paintings in the northern Upper Germany , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 1999, ISBN 3-9805635-2-9 , pp 46, 49, fig. 18, 43, 64, 65, 69, 108; Pp. 281-303.
  26. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz, F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. 1989, pp. 246-248.
  27. ↑ Robin Dürr, Benedikt R. König, Jörg Lindenthal: A new "sanctuary" on the edge of the Roman vicus in Butzbach. In: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hrsg.): Hessen Archeology 2017. Yearbook for archeology and palaeontology in Hessen. Stuttgart 2018, pp. 119–122.
  28. ↑ Jörg Lindenthal, Robert Süße: Extensive excavations in the vicus of the fort Butzbach. In: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hrsg.): Hessen-Aräologie 2012. Yearbook for archeology and palaeontology in Hessen. Stuttgart 2013, pp. 127–130.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 4, 2014 .