Inheiden Fort

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Inheiden Fort
limes ORL 17 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes,
route 4
(northern weather route)
Dating (occupancy) probably from the end of the 1st century
to around 260
Type Numerus fort
unit unknown number
size c) approx. 0.7 ha
d) approx. 1.1 ha
Construction a) –c) Wood and earth forts
d) Stone forts
State of preservation invisible ground monument
place Hungen- Inheiden
Geographical location 50 ° 27 '38 "  N , 8 ° 54' 28.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 27 '38 "  N , 8 ° 54' 28.6"  E
height 138  m above sea level NHN
Previous Feldheimer Wald small fort (northwest)
Subsequently Small fort "Auf dem Wingertsberg" (southeast)

As "Castle Inheiden" one is Roman fort place on the northern Wetterau track of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes called, the status of the 2005 UNESCO World Heritage gained. The ground monument is located east of Inheiden , a district of Hungen in the Hessian district of Gießen .

location

View of the fort area
View from the fort in south direction to the Wingertsberg

The former fort area is about 1.5 km east of Inheiden and is located on today's farmland, about 200 meters south of the Horloff on a slight hill. The western part of the fort area is crossed by a railway line. The distance to the Limes is approximately 350 meters. The area can be seen very well from the fort square. So you have good visual contact with the "Wingertsberg" and the rest of the area south of the fort in the direction of Echzell . This probably explains the relatively small number of watchtowers in this Limes section. To the north of the fort you can see the area up to the Limes watchtower Wp 4 / 70–71.

Research history

The oldest reports of finds from the area of ​​Fort Inheiden were published by Johann Georg Liebknecht in 1759 , at a time when traces of the camp were probably still visible in the area. The first targeted search excavations were initiated in 1837 by Ludwig Eich, a pastor from the nearby village of Trais . Further mentions of the fort square can be found in Dieffenbach in 1843 and in Cohausen in 1884 , both of which, however, were essentially based only on the older reports.

The first scientific archaeological excavations finally took place in 1885 under the direction of Friedrich Kofler , who later became the route commissioner of the Reich Limes Commission (RLK). Aerial photo findings from 1985 and 1986 showed that Kofler's plans and interpretations of findings are in part unreliable, as Eduard Anthes had thought possible in 1911 in the Limeswerk . Today's knowledge of the interior of the camp is essentially based on these aerial photographs, which provide good results in the heavily agricultural area.

In 1976 a stone building was excavated in the camp village ( Vicus ) .

Findings

While one generally speaks of the one “Inheiden Fort”, three different fort sites with a total of at least four construction phases have to be differentiated.

The origins of the fort consist of two wood-earth fortifications west of the main fort area. These fortifications are only known from aerial photographs. One is located directly in front of the western front of the main fort and is surrounded by a double moat system ("Inheiden 2"), the second is about 300 meters away and has a simple moat ("Inheiden 1"). In both cases nothing is known about the interior development. The more distant fort is believed to be the oldest. Overall, these two forts are likely to have existed from the end of the first to at most the middle of the second century AD.

The fort square, known since the 18th century and examined by Friedrich Kofler, contains the fort "Hungen-Inheiden", which has at least two construction phases. Initially, an almost square wood and earth fort was built, which covered an area of ​​around 0.7 hectares. It was surrounded by a simple moat and probably had only one gate.

At the same place, a rectangular stone fort was later built, which took up an area of ​​almost 1.1 hectares. It was surrounded by a double moat system and had a total of four gates. The fort as a whole was located on a slight hill above the Horloff and was thus well protected from flooding. More precise structures of the interior development were only revealed through aerial archaeological investigations.

The vicus , the civil camp village, which can be found in almost every Roman garrison and in which the relatives of the soldiers, as well as craftsmen, traders, innkeepers, brothel operators and other service providers, stretched east, west and especially south of the fort . The road leading from the fort through the vicus to the south ran to the Echzell fort . With the exception of small parts, the camp village is now under agricultural land, only the southern districts and the adjoining burial ground are under allotment gardens. Large parts of the burial ground have been destroyed by the allotment gardens and by lignite mining.

An exact dating of the complex cannot be made with certainty at the moment. The origins of the fort are likely to be at the end of the 1st century. The camp came to an end at the time the Limes was abandoned around AD 260. Nothing is known about the occupation of the fort - a number . Today nothing is visible of the forts or the camp village.

Limes course between the Inheiden fort and the small fort "Auf dem Wingertsberg"

Coming from the small fort Feldheimer Wald, the Limes runs from the west through the southern outskirts of Hungen and bends to the southeast at the watchtower Wp 4/72. Then it runs past the watchtower Wp 4/73 about 500 meters to the level of the Horloff, where it then again makes a slight curve to the south and continues towards the small fort "Auf dem Wingertsberg" . This section with the Inheiden fort located in it is the northeasternmost part of the Wetteraustrecke.

Traces of the Limes structures between the Inheiden fort and the small fort "Auf dem Wingertsberg".
ORL Name / place Description / condition
Wp 4/73 Suspected, but archaeologically unproven tower site on the Grasser Berg, at a place where sigillata shards have come to light. The Imperial Limes Commission did not look for the tower.
ORL 17 Inheiden Fort see above
Wp 4 / 73a Suspected but archaeologically unproven tower location, perhaps at the Limes crossing over the Horloff.
Wp 4/74 Based on the average distances between Limes watchtowers, suspected but not archaeologically proven tower location.
Wp 4/75 = KK On the Wingertsberg see main article small fort "Auf dem Wingertsberg"

Monument protection

The Inheiden Fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, they are 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

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Fort Hungen-Inheiden, construction phase 1
  2. ↑ Fort Hungen-Inheiden, construction phase 2
  3. ↑ Fort Inheiden 1 and 2 as well as Fort Hungen-Inheiden, construction phase 1
  4. ↑ Fort Hungen-Inheiden, construction phase 2
  5. ↑ a b W p = W oh p east, watch tower. The number in front of the slash indicates the Limes section, the number (s) after the slash in consecutive numbering the respective watchtower.
  6. ↑ a b c Designation according to the Hesse Limes Development Plan.
  7. ↑ At 50 ° 27 '39.63 "  N , 8 ° 54' 24.46"  O .
  8. ↑ At 50 ° 27 '36.61 "  N , 8 ° 54' 13.27"  O .
  9. ↑ At 50 ° 27 '38.05 "  N , 8 ° 54' 28.62"  O .
  10. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  11. ↑ At about 50 ° 27 '52.61 "  N , 8 ° 54' 31.74"  O .
  12. ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL
  13. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Georg Liebknecht: Hassiae subterraneae specimen… . Frankfurt 1759, p. 182ff.
  2. ^ Ludwig Eich: Roman camp near Inheiden in the county of Solms-Laubach . In: Archive for Hessian History 2, Issue 1, Darmstadt 1838, p. 158.
  3. ^ Johann Philipp Dieffenbach: On the prehistory of the Wetterau, at the same time as a contribution to antiquity . Leske, Darmstadt 1843. On Dieffenbach cf. also the small fort in Holzheimer Unterwald .
  4. ^ Karl August von Cohausen: The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same . Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884, p. 69.
  5. ↑ Eduard Anthes: The Inheiden fort. In: Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner, Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches / Abt. B IIa No. 17 (1911), p. 2f.