Melk Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melk Castle
Alternative name Namare  ?
limes Limes Noricus
section Route 1
Dating (occupancy) unknown
Type unknown,
unit unknown
size unknown
Construction unknown
State of preservation unknown
place Melk ,
Spielberg (municipality of Melk)
and Aggsbach
Geographical location 48 ° 13 ′ 42 "  N , 15 ° 19 ′ 52"  E
height 244  m above sea level A.
Previous Fort Pöchlarn (west)
Subsequently Limestorms in the Wachau (east)
Limes3.png
View plan of the monastery complex and old town of Melk / Danube
Mention of Namare (red marking) in the Tabula Peutingeriana
Melk Abbey in Lower Austria, view from the northwest
View of the monastery park and the old town

Melk Fort is a presumed, archaeologically unsecured Roman military camp . It could have been part of the fortress chain of the Roman Danube Limes in Austria and is located in the federal state of Lower Austria , Melk district, Melk an der Donau municipality .

Due to various finds, it has been assumed at the site of today's Melk Abbey since the 19th century , but has not yet been archaeologically proven due to the extensive overbuilding of the area. The impressive location of today's monastery building on a 60 meter high rock ridge made of diorite stone near the banks of the Danube, as well as the first verifiable church building in the city - on the plateau of today's monastery park - leave the presence of a Roman Limes fortification on this Place seem at least likely.

In addition to the fort, this article also deals with the Burgi of Spielberg and Aggsbach Dorf .

Surname

The place " Namare " is only mentioned on a Roman road map from the 2nd century, the Tabula Peutingeriana . It is given here as seven Roman miles from Arelape ( Pöchlarn ) and 16 Roman miles from Trigisamum ( Traismauer  ?).

The philologist Alfred Holder (1840–1916) believed in a Celtic origin of this name, the albanologist Norbert Jokl (1877–1942), the archaeologist Erich Polaschek (1885–1974) and the philologist Gerhard Rasch thought it was Illyrian because the syllable "Nam" (according to Rasch) can be found in both Celtic and Illyrian. According to the philologist Walter Steinhauser (1885–1980), the name Melk itself can be traced back to Slavic roots ( Medjilica = border river).

Due to the Roman finds made in 2006 in the area of ​​the cadastral community Großpriel , “ Namare ” may not actually be equated with Melk. In order to obtain final certainty about this, these have been subjected to a thorough evaluation by the Austrian Archaeological Institute since 2010 . It could have been a Roman settlement / street station (Mansio) as well as a villa rustica .

location

As early as the 18th century, a number of chroniclers tried to prove the Roman roots of Melk by means of extensive investigations into the location and distances of the places in this region.

The Bohemian court secretary Johann Christoph von Jordan († 1748) came to the conclusion that Namare could only have been located in the vicinity of Melk. In his extensive history of the town of Melk, Ignaz Franz Keiblinger decided to equate Place Namare with this place, as he believed

" From the location of Melk with regard to the distance from better-known Roman places and from the memorial stones and coins found at Melk", "

It has been sufficiently proven that the Melk fort can only be found on the site of the present-day monastery complex. Due to the favorable location of the monastery rock, Friedrich von Kenner spoke out in favor of a Roman fortification at this place, but opposed an occasional equation with Ad Mauros ( Fort Eferding ), as this place listed in the Notitia Dignitatum with equites promoiti (selected riders) was occupied and therefore could hardly have been on a steep rock ridge.

Polaschek flatly rejected the existence of a Limes fort, since the northern bank of the Danube was almost impassable at that time and such a fort is not even mentioned in the Notitia dignitatum . Also Herma Stiglitz and Franz Ertl took the view that the previously discovered Roman graves and relief stones need not necessarily come from the area around Melk, as their inscriptions on members of an in Pöchlarn ( Castle Arelape refer stationed) unit. Stiglitz also emphasized that those in the Tabula Peutingeriana. given place names on the Danube do not necessarily have to designate all forts, as these can only be viewed as a guide, probably without any military reference. Nevertheless, she considered the existence of a smaller fortification or an observation post ( Burgus ) in Melk to be entirely possible.

Werner Jobst and Geza Alföldy also rejected a Namare fort in Melk due to the lack of archaeological evidence. At best, Alföldy believed in the presence of a watchtower and suspected Namare. much further south of Melk, at the mouth of the Pielach . In fact, the foundations of a Roman burgus were found there at the southern abutment of the Danube bridge (see below).

Even today, there is still no consensus in research about the location where the fort would be located in the urban area of ​​Melk itself. It is also located on the Pielach , among others . Ignaz Franz Keiblinger and Rudolf Schachinger spoke out in favor of a location under the former Babenbergerburg , which is now completely overbuilt by the monastery complex.

Research history

Some indications of settlement in the Stone, Bronze, Iron and Roman Ages could be observed in the city area, in the valley of the Weierbach, in the area of ​​today's Sterngasse, the oldest district on the southern slope of the Stiftsberg, only a few meters above the valley floor , on Wiener Strasse and on the hilltop at today's cemetery and hospital, further behind the former Prinzl brewery, at the episcopal seminary and in the courtyard of the Austrian Pioneer Barracks. Knowledge of the presence of the Romans in Melk is essentially limited to gravestones and some reading finds.

Petrus Apianus reports three Roman inscriptions from Melk. Apian writes about the sources of "in monasterio Melck ad Danubium". also from “in monasterio Melicensi in limine ecclasiae” (although these may have been copied from one and the same stone) and “ibidem in gradibus subterraneis sub choro in fornice ad manum sinistram”. Three Roman relief stones have been known for a long time Exit to the crypt of the collegiate church in whose east wall are walled, probably once part of grave structures. They were first mentioned in 1636 in the chronicle of Abbot Reiner von Melk. There is also talk of a Lupa relief on the east wall of the church. However, it is not known when the stones were walled in there. The collection of Antiquus Austriacus / Lower Austria contains only a single inscription from Melk at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1740 a certain T. Trunzer found a gold coin of Nero " in agro haud dubie Mellicensi " . In the autumn of 1819 a coin from Vespasian was discovered at the foot of the Stiftsfelsen , in 1864 the archaeologist Johann Oehler (1857–1921) reported the discovery of three Roman gold coins. Also, the numismatist Charles Pink (1884-1965) found numerous coins, including three gold also.

Fort

In 1928 Eduard Nowotny put forward some theses about the location and scope of the Melker Fort. He came to the conviction that it could only have been in the area of ​​the park that is today east of the monastery. In old views he believed he could see a trench-like depression in this part of the rock plateau, which he called a "neck ditch". The plateau, which slopes steeply on all sides, also reinforced its impression of a “section fortress”. In addition, there was the fact that the probably oldest church in Melk, consecrated to Saint Stephen, once stood here. This naming confirmed his theory for him, as it - in comparison with other fort locations in the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes - indicates a very old age of this church foundation. Therefore, in his opinion, it could not be identical with the collegiate church founded around 980. Nowotny also included a fort area of ​​around 3.2 hectares.

Dating and strategic importance

From the ancient finds it can be concluded that the settlement may have become an outpost on the Danube at the latest at the time of incorporation into the Roman Empire around the birth of Christ, even if there was certainly no larger Roman settlement here. Due to the lack of related finds, one can only speculate about Roman buildings on the Stiftsberg. Every now and then, in the older specialist literature, attempts were made to set up a fort for the 1st century ( under Vespasian ). However, due to the lack of archaeological finds, these views are purely speculative.

The Melk fort probably covered the western entrance to the Wachau , possibly a ford over the Danube and the Limes road leading to Aelium Cetium ( Sankt Pölten ). In addition, the roughly 60 meter high rock provided an excellent all-round view of the surrounding terraced landscape.

Limes course between Fort Arelape and Burgus Bacharnsdorf

Surname Description / condition Illustration
Burgus Melk-Spielberg The house Pielamünd is located at the confluence of the Pielach in the Danube and belongs to the place Spielberg. A small plateau rises behind him (plot no. 987), which slopes steeply to the west, east and north. In the northeastern area of ​​the plateau, Roman walls were observed in an emergency excavation by the Federal Monuments Office , which are interpreted as the remains of a late antique Limes watchtower. To the east of Melk, a rock spur of the so-called “Bohemian Mass” protrudes into the Danube valley. The primary rock rocks drop 16 to 18 meters down to the Danube valley. In the eastern part the spur is limited by the mouth of the Pielach. On the NS-oriented plateau with an area of ​​around 70 × 45 meters, the southern support pillar of the Melker Danube bridge stands today. The plateau can be reached via two ravines (coming from the east and west, Roman or medieval?).

Around 1900 Ludwig Hans Fischer explored several places on the hill head, as he suspected a prehistoric settlement here. Among other things, he found “some shards of vessels ... possibly Roman ...” . In a letter to Oswald Menghin , the remains of Roman masonry, broken roof tiles and a bronze coin from the time of Constantine I are reported. A few years later, Franz Linde explored the eastern slope of the rock spur, as it belonged to his property and a building project was planned here. His find material was then published by Oswald Menghin. During the construction of the Melk Danube Bridge in 1969/70, the Federal Monuments Office (Johann Offenberger) carried out an investigation into the entire area of ​​the plateau in an area excavation, uncovering the foundation trenches of an approximately 17 × 16 meter antique building and ultimately the findings of one Burgus could confirm. In addition, a late Neolithic hilltop settlement and an early Bronze Age burial ground could be observed. The found objects were not published and are kept in the Federal Monuments Office.

The remains of the tower were largely destroyed by improper excavations at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. The wall width should not have exceeded 80 centimeters. The foundations of the roughly 16 × 17 meter building were partially sunk into the rock and consisted of mortared rubble. To the west of the watchtower was an ancient rubbish pit, filled with charcoal and clay , which was already in the slope. Further south, three dome ovens (baking ovens) were uncovered, one of which was completely destroyed. They consisted of a circular combustion chamber sunk into the ground, smeared with clay and burned red. A Roman vaulted brick was also found here, which allowed the furnaces to be dated. The floor plan of the tower is unclear because part of the quarry stone wall has been relocated secondarily. Kurt Genser speaks of a round floor plan, but it was probably rectangular. The building dates from late antiquity. The troops stationed here are unknown due to the lack of relevant finds. The site was completely removed by the construction of a bridge pier for the Danube bridge.

Spielberg tower
Burgus Aggsbach-Dorf / Blashauskapelle The tower is located on a six-meter-high terrace above the Danube, between Aggsbach-Dorf and Schönbühel Palace on the Danube at the exit of the Blashausgraben. Here the Danube formed a tributary and gravel banks. In 1991 the Federal Monuments Office carried out an emergency excavation as part of the renovation of the brass house chapel. The findings revealed a stone building with a side length of around twelve meters. Judging by the bricks found, the observed walls belong to the remains of a Roman-era watchtower with a square plan. The troops once stationed here are unknown.
Tower point Aggsbach-Dorf

Note

The Donauradweg leads at the site on the Danube bridge, another route runs on the southern Danube in addition to the less busy state road 33 at the house Pielamünd over further over Aggsbach according Bacharnsdorf ( Burgus Bacharnsdorf ) and Rossatz .

Monument protection

The facilities are ground monuments within the meaning of the Austrian Monument Protection Act. Investigations and targeted collection of finds without the approval of the Federal Monuments Office are a criminal offense. Accidental finds of archaeological objects (ceramics, metal, bones, etc.) as well as all measures affecting the soil are to be reported to the Federal Monuments Office (Department for archaeological monuments).

See also

literature

  • Kurt Genser : The Austrian Danube Limes in Roman times. A research report . (= The Roman Limes in Austria. 33). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1986, pp. 251–263.
  • Manfred Kandler, Hermann Vetters (ed.): The Roman Limes in Austria. A leader . 2nd, unchanged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-7001-0785-4 .
  • Rene Ployer: Melk-Spielberg - Burgus. In: Verena Gassner, Andreas Pülz (Hrsg.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , p. 199.
  • Rene Ployer: Blashausgraben - Burgus. In: Verena Gassner, Andreas Pülz (Hrsg.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , p. 199.
  • René Ployer: The Norwegian Limes in Austria. Find reports from Austria, Materialhefte series B 3, Österr. Federal Monuments Office, Vienna 2013.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Burgus Melk-Spielberg at 48 ° 14 '21.43 "  N , 15 ° 20' 53.51"  E
  2. ↑ Segmentum III, 5th
  3. ^ Hans Krahe: Lexicon of old Illyrian personal names. Heidelberg 1929, p. 79.
  4. ↑ Colomezza, a pre-German border between Melk and Erlauf, In: JLNÖ. NF 39, 1971-1973, p. 19.
  5. ^ Statement by the archaeologist Stefan Groh , 2006.
  6. ↑ De originibus Slavicis, opus chronologico-Geographico-Historium, Part II, pars III: Apparatus seu Geographicus, Vienna 1745, p 71-72.
  7. ^ Ignaz Franz Keiblinger: History of the Melk Benedictine Abbey in Lower Austria, its possessions and surroundings. Volume 1, Vienna 1851, p. 18.
  8. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Occ. XXXIIII / XXXI
  9. ↑ In contrast to Heinrich Sitte : Roman monuments. Austrian Art Topography, 1909, XI.
  10. ↑ Erich Polaschek: The Tabula Peutingeriana and the Itinerarium Antonini as geographical sources for Lower Austria. In: Yearbook for regional studies of Lower Austria. NF 21, 1928, p. 26 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ); see also Herbert Mitscha Märheim: Prehistory and early history of the country between Enns-Erlaf-Ybbs-Danube until the end of Hungarian rule. In: Das Ybbstal 2. Wien-Göstling, 1951, p. 59.
  11. ^ Herma Stiglitz: Roman camps and early medieval settlements on the Noric Limes. In: Annual Books of the Austrian Archaeological Institute 46, 1961–1963. Pp. 146-147.
  12. ↑ Werner Jobst: Roman grave monuments in Melk Abbey. In: Annual Issues of the Austrian Archaeological Institute 50, 1972–1973 (1973), p. 267.
  13. ↑ Geza Alfoldy: Noricum. History of the provinces of the Roman Empire. Routledge, London / Boston 1974, ISBN 0-7100-7372-0 , p. 148; see. also Albrecht Aign: Castra Batava, and the Cohors nona Batavorum. In: East Bavarian border marks. 17, 1975, p. 146, note 130, on Namare cf. also Anton Harrer: Die Roman Zeit, in: Stadtbuch Melk (as note 1), p. 113 ff.
  14. ↑ See Alfred Benesch: Melk - city - landscape. In: City book Melk. P. 47 f .; Richard Pittioni: Hallstatt finds from Melk. In: Our home. 11, 1938, pp. 213-234; Individual finds from Melk and the surrounding area. In: Our home. 12, 1939, pp. 25-28; An early Bronze Age burial ground in Melk-Spielberg. In: Our home. 14, 1941, pp. 16-29.
  15. ↑ Petrus Apianus: Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis. Ingolstadt 1534, pp. 405-406; Ignaz Franz Keiblinger: History of the Benedictine monastery Melk in Lower Austria, its possessions and surroundings , Volume 1, Vienna 1851, p. 10 .; Eduard Freiherr von Sacken: 1877, p. 147.
  16. ↑ CIL III, 5668
  17. ↑ CIL III, 5667
  18. ^ Ignaz Franz Keiblinger: History of the Melk Benedictine Abbey in Lower Austria, its possessions and surroundings. Volume 1, Vienna 1851, p. 17; Friedrich von Kenner : The Roman places in Lower Austria. In: Yearbook of the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria. 2, 1868-1869, p. 212.
  19. ↑ Karl Pink: The money traffic on the Austrian Danube Limes in Roman times. In: Yearbook for regional studies of Lower Austria. 25, 1932, p. 66 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  20. ↑ Namare-Melk, Anzeiger Österr. Academy of Sciences 65, 1928, p. 59ff. Fig. 60.
  21. ^ Friedrich von Kenner: The Roman places in Lower Austria. In: Yearbook of the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria. 2, 1868-1869, p. 133; Eduard Freiherr von Sacken: Archaeological guide through the quarter above the Wiener-Walde of Lower Austria. In: Reports and communications from the Alterthums-Verein zu Wien. 17 (1877), p. 76; Max River : Namare. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XVI, Stuttgart 1893ff., Sp. 1610.
  22. ↑ List is from west to east.
  23. ↑ Ludwig Hans Fischer in communications from the Anthropological Society in Vienna. 27 (1897), p. 24; lost today.
  24. ^ Oswald Menghin: A late Neolithic station near Melk (Lower Austria). In: Mitteilungen der Anthropologische Gesellschaft in Wien 43, 1913, p. 96.
  25. ^ Oswald Menghin: A late Neolithic station near Melk (Lower Austria). In: Communications from the Anthropological Society in Vienna. 43, 1913, p. 97 ff.
  26. ^ Find reports 1969, Younger Stone Age. In: Find reports from Austria. 9, 1966-1970, pp. 171-172; Alexandra Krenn-Leeb: The early Bronze Age burial ground and the prehistoric and early historical settlement of Melk, Spielberg-Pielamünd. An emergency excavation by the Department for Ground Monuments of the Federal Monuments Office in 1969/70. Thesis. Volume 2, University of Vienna, 1994, pp. 370–371.
  27. ↑ Alexandra Krenn-Leeb: The early Bronze Age burial ground and the prehistoric and early historical settlement of Melk, Spielberg-Pielamünd. An emergency excavation by the Department for Ground Monuments of the Federal Monuments Office in 1969/70. Thesis. Volume 2, University of Vienna, 1994, p. 370.
  28. ↑ Kurt Genser, 1986, p. 262.
  29. ↑ Find reports 1991, Roman Empire. In: Find reports from Austria. 30 (1991), p. 279.