Fort Lützelbach

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Fort Lützelbach
(Lützelbacher Schlösschen)
limes ORL 46 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) ORL route 10
Neckar-Odenwald-Limes
Odenwald line
Dating (occupancy) trajanic
up to max. 159 ad
Type Numerus fort
unit unknown number
size 70 × 75 m = 0.53 ha
Construction a) dry stone
wall b) mortar wall
State of preservation clear traces
place Lützelbach- Lützel-Wiebelsbach
Geographical location 49 ° 46 '46 "  N , 9 ° 5' 19"  E
height 327  m above sea level NHN
Previous ORL 46b Seckmauern Fort (northeast)
Subsequently Small fort Windlücke (south)

The Roman fort Lützelbach , also called " Lützelbacher Schlösschen " , was a numerus fort of the older Odenwald line of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes .

location

Fig. 1: Location of the Lützelbach fort (1895)
Fig. 2: Floor plan of the fort (excavation 1895)

Today's ground monument is located about one kilometer southeast of Lützel-Wiebelsbach, a district of the municipality of Lützelbach in the Odenwald district . Topographically, it is located on the small plateau of an elongated ridge that runs from south to north. The plateau lies directly on a mountain saddle between the Lützelbach basin in the west and the Haingrund valley and Seckmauern in the east. At the edge of the plateau, to the northwest, the terrain slopes sharply. Because of this nature of the terrain and because the wall of the fortification was significantly stronger on the northwest side than on the other sides, the Imperial Limes Commission suspected an artificial landfill in this area.

Research history

Already in 1813 the Lützelbacher Kastell was found and described in a well-preserved condition by Johann Friedrich Knapp (1776–1848), who examined the Odenwald Limes on behalf of Count Franz I zu Erbach-Erbach (1754–1823). In the second half of the 19th century, however, after a change of ownership, the Roman ruins were exploited as a convenient quarry, so that Friedrich Kofler , who later became the route commissioner of the Imperial Limes Commission, had to record extensive destruction of the structure as early as the mid-1870s. The work of destruction continued in the following years despite massive protests by archaeologists.

It was not until 1895 that the Imperial Limes Commission carried out extensive archaeological excavation and documentation work on the fort grounds.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the Hessian State Monuments Office carried out geophysical investigations in the area of ​​the fort and the thermal baths.

Findings

Fort complex

Fig. 3: Terrain profiles (1895);
for the position of the cuts see Fig. 2

Fort Lützelbach was a fortification with stone walls. Three gates led into the interior of the camp, the porta decumana (rear gate) is missing. The main gate (Porta praetoria) was oriented to the southeast, towards the Limes, which passed the fort only about 25 m away.

With its sides of about 75 m by 70 m, the wall bounded an area of ​​a good 5250 m², making the Lützelbach fort the smallest number fort in the Odenwald Limes. The width of the wall varied between 0.95 m on the Praetorial Front and the northeastern flank, 1.05 m on the southwest side and 1.25 m on the northwestern rear front. It was built entirely from red sandstone, the facades were made of carefully worked blocks, the filling consisted of raw rubble stones. The discovery of some tin lids (Fig. 21, g and h) shows that the top of the wall had battlements . The width of the battlements varied between 85 cm and 135 cm. The corners of the fence were rounded. On the inside of the wall there was a step-like earth wall covered with sandstones on which the battlement was located. On the outside, the wall was surrounded by a simple pointed ditch following an 85 cm wide berm , the dimensions of which could be determined at a point 8 m wide and 1.35 m deep (Fig. 3, section E – F). The trench was interrupted in front of the fort gates.

The three gates were each flanked by two rectangular towers that protruded from the wall. The passage width of the Porta praetoria (main gate) was 2.50 m, the clear widths of the Portae Principales (side gates) were 3.20 m to 3.25 m.

The interior of the fort was so disturbed by the massive stone robbery that the excavation methods of the late 19th century could no longer detect any usable traces of the interior structures.

Like the other military camps of the older Odenwald Limes, the fort was built in the Trajan period and was probably abandoned when the Limes moved forward in 159. It may be a multi-period investment. Then the fort - analogous to the construction phases of the forts in Würzberg and Hesselbach - would initially have been constructed as earthwork and only replaced by the stone fort around the year 145.

The camp's crew consisted of a number not known by name , an auxiliary group of around 160 men.

  • Fig. 4: East corner of the fort with information boards
    (status 2010)

  • Fig. 5: Exterior view of the south-western fence
    (as of August 2012)

  • Fig. 6: Decumate page
    (status August 2012)

  • Fig. 7: Reconstructed Limes palisade at Fort Lützelbach
    (as of August 2012)

Fort bath, vicus and post-fort use

Fig. 9: The remains of the bathing building are in the still visible hill (as of March 2010)

A fort bath was located about 40 m north of the camp. An excavation was not made due to the severe destruction of the area. The finding, the location of which can still be seen today from an elevation of up to 1.5 m high, was geophysically investigated. It turned out that the floor plan of the thermal baths is still almost completely preserved underground. It is a row-type bathing building in which the individual rooms were arranged one behind the other in the sequence of the bathing process. Through the apodyterium (changing room) in the south-east of the facility one entered the frigidarium (cold bath) flanked by a sudatorium (sweat bath) and a vasarium (room for hot water containers ). This was followed by a hypocausted tepidarium ( hot bath), followed by a caldarium (hot bath), which was also provided with underfloor heating and ended with a hot water tub. The system was heated by two prefurnia (heating points) on the outside of the complex. A praefurnium was to the side of the sudatorium , one behind the caldarium . Other structures recognizable in the measurement image in the area around the baths indicate buildings that may have belonged to the vicus , the civil settlement of the fort.

About 100 m south of the fort there were two Roman houses, but they were probably only built after the Limes had been moved forward and the Lützelbach fort had been abandoned and are probably related to the civil agricultural use of the Limes hinterland.

Finds

In relation to its size, an astonishing amount of find material was recovered during the investigation of the Lützelbach Fort. As early as 1875, two sculptures and a pewter lid were sold to the Hessisches Landesmuseum Wiesbaden . The more remarkable finds also include a lunette from the Porta praetoria with a relief of Victoria , the fragments of a soldier's image, a gargoyle in the shape of a lion's head and a relief of a boar carrying a human. Most of the finds from Lützelbach are in the Nassau Antiquities Collection (SNA) of the Wiesbaden Museum.

Limes course between Fort Lützelbach and the small fort Windlücke

From Fort Lützelbach, the Limes runs on the ridge of a wooded area in a southerly direction to the small fort Windlücke. The terrain rises by a total of only ten meters. There are two tower sites on this stretch of around two kilometers.

ORL Name / place Description / condition
ORL 46 Fort Lützelbach see above
Wp 10/8 "In the Lützelbacher Bannholz"
Fig. 10: Drawing documentation of the findings of the Reich Limes Commission
Fig. 11: Profile of the palisade ditch in Wp 10/08
Fig. 12: Wooden tower point A, status 2010

The tower site, which consists of two wooden towers and a stone tower, was repeatedly archaeologically examined by Fritz Kofler , Wilhelm Soldan and Eduard Anthes between 1888 and 1897 .

“Wooden tower A” (the older of the two wooden tower structures) rested on a rectangular base made of dry masonry with sides 5.60 m by 5.80 m. It was surrounded by a two-meter-deep ring trench, the diameter of which from outer edge to outer edge was 24/25 m, from trench bottom to trench bottom 16.8 / 17.5 m.

“Wooden tower B” also rose above a rectangular base made of dry masonry . The dimensions of this substructure were 5.10 m by 5.30 m. The 30 cm thick corner posts were set 1.30 m deep in the ground and were also fixed with flat stone wedges. The ring trench surrounding the tower had an outer diameter of 25.5 m (17-18 m from trench bottom to trench bottom).

The dimensions of the rectangular "Stone Tower C" were 5.60 m by 5.20 m. The wall thickness could no longer be determined.

The whole area was over 62 meters long and around 55 meters wide with an irregular fence, probably a wattle fence. A total of three (on the north, south-east and west side) paved entrances led through the fence into the interior of the enclosure.

The Limes palisade passed the "wooden tower A" to the east in 32/33 m, the "wooden tower B" in 34 m distance. The Postenweg (“accompanying path”) of the Limes with its 5.50 m wide substructure could be detected roughly in the middle between the palisade and the eastern ring ditch edges.

  • Fig. 13: Wooden tower point A
    (as of June 2012)

  • Fig. 14: Wooden tower point B
    (as of June 2012)

  • Fig. 15: Stone tower point C
    (as of June 2012)

  • Fig. 16: Wooden tower point B with stone tower point C in the background on the right
    (as of June 2012)

Wp 10/9 "In the Breitenbrunn Bannholz"
Fig. 17: Height difference between Wp 10/08 and Wp 10/09
Tower site, consisting of a stone and at least one wooden tower. The secured wooden tower hill had a pronounced ring moat. The elevation of the terrain between Wp 10/8 and Wp 10/9 made it possible to determine the minimum height of Limes watchtowers at this point. It should have been at least 7.60 m to ensure a line of sight. In fact (taking into account the tower structures etc.) the towers are likely to have reached a height of more than ten meters.

Modern laser scan images showed a further ring-trench-shaped structure, so that the existence of a second wooden tower seems quite possible.

  • Fig. 18: Wooden tower site
    (as of June 2012)

  • Fig. 18: Front right stone tower, rear center wooden tower
    (as of June 2012)

  • Fig. 20: Stone tower location
    (as of June 2012)

KK Small fort Windlücke

Monument protection

Fig. 21: Findings from the fort area

The Lützelbach Fort and the adjacent Limes structures 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

  • Dietwulf Baatz : Lützelbach . In: The Romans in Hesse . Licensed edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9 , pp. 417 and 424f.
  • Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube . Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 182f.
  • Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (eds.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches , Department A, Volume 5: Route 10 (The Odenwald Limes from Wörth am Main to Wimpfen am Neckar), 1926, 1935.
  • Friedrich Kofler and J. Jacobs in the series Der Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches (Eds. Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner, Oscar von Sarwey): Department B, Volume 5, Fort No. 46 (1904).
  • Margot Klee : The Roman Limes in Hessen. History and sites of the UNESCO World Heritage. Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2232-0 , pp. 184-186.
  • Egon Schallmayer : The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 79-85.
  • Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Latest research results. Contributions to the scientific colloquium on March 19, 2010 in Michelstadt . Saalburg Museum, Bad Homburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-931267-07-0 (Saalburg-Schriften, 8)
  • Egon Schallmayer: Camp and bathing building of the numerus fort Lützelbach. Non-destructive examinations using geophysics and laser scans at the Roman fort site near Lützel-Wiebelsbach, Odenwaldkreis. In: hessenARCHÄOLOGIE 2008 (2009), pp. 77–80.

Web links

Commons : Kastell Lützelbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Limeswachturm Wp 10/8  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Limeswachturm Wp 10/9  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JF Knapp: Roman monuments of the Odenwald, especially the county of Erbach and the rule of Breuberg. Engelmann, Heidelberg 1813.
  2. ^ Egon Schallmayer: Camp and bathing building of the numerus fort Lützelbach. Non-destructive examinations using geophysics and laser scans at the Roman fort site near Lützel-Wiebelsbach, Odenwaldkreis. In: hessenARCHÄOLOGIE 2008 (2009), pp. 77–80.
  3. ^ After Karl August von Cohausen : The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same . Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1885.
  4. ^ Based on findings from the investigations of the Reich Limes Commission; ORL Dept. A, Vol. 5, Fort 46.
  5. ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. From the Main to the Neckar . Theiss, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8062-0328-8 , p. 66
  6. ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 79f.
  7. ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 80f.
  8. ^ Margot Klee: The Roman Limes in Hesse. History and sites of the UNESCO World Heritage. Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2232-0 , p. 184.
  9. ^ Margot Klee: The Roman Limes in Hesse. History and sites of the UNESCO World Heritage. Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2232-0 , pp. 184f.
  10. ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , p. 81f.
  11. ^ A b Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , p. 82

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b The conventional starting date of the year 100 (± 5) is based on the results of the excavations that Dietwulf Baatz carried out in the Hesselbach fort between 1964 and 1966 . It is essentially based on the evaluation of the sigillates found (cf. the corresponding section in the Hesselbach article and Dietwulf Baatz: Fort Hesselbach and other research on the Odenwald Limes. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1973, ISBN 3-7861-1059-X , ( Limesforschungen, Volume 12), pp. 85-96). In more recent literature, the Hesselbach fort as well as the entire Odenwald Limes are initially dated to the period 107/110 resp. 110/115 given preference. This dating approach is not based on new excavation findings, but on a statistical reassessment of the coin finds from all forts of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, which the archaeologist Klaus Kortüm presented for the first time in 1998 and on which some authors of the more recent literature now rely. (cf. Klaus Kortüm: On the dating of the Roman military installations in the Upper German-Raetian Limes area . In: Saalburg-Jahrbuch 49, 1998. Zabern, Mainz 1998, pp. 5–65, Egon Schallmayer : Der Limes. History of a border . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-48018-7 , pp. 49–52 as well as pp. 54f. And Ders .: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309 -5 , pp. 24f. And 35)
  2. ↑ The destruction of the fort was publicly criticized in 1887 by Eduard Anthes , in 1889 by Friedrich Kofler and in 1891 by Johann Georg Schaefer without success.
  3. ^ Claus te Vehme: Numerus fort Lützelbach .
  4. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  5. ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL
  6. ↑ Wp = W oh p east, watch tower. The number before the slash denotes the Limes section, the number after the slash denotes the respective watchtower.
  7. ↑ About 49 ° 46 '18 "  N , 9 ° 5' 12"  E
  8. ↑ Wp10 / 8 on the private Limes project page from Claus te Vehne.
  9. ↑ About 49 ° 45 '59 "  N , 9 ° 5' 4"  E
  10. ^ Wp 10/9 on the private Limes project page by Claus te Vehne.
  11. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  12. ↑ 49 ° 45 ′ 42 ″  N , 9 ° 5 ′ 2 ″  E