Heidekringen small fort

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Heidekringen small fort
limes ORL - ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes,
route 3,
western Taunus route
Dating (occupancy) Early 2nd century
Type Small fort
unit unknown vexillatio
size 76 m × 64 m = 0.5 ha
Construction Wood and earth fort
State of preservation Ground monument
place Taunusstein - labor pains
Geographical location 50 ° 8 '52.9 "  N , 8 ° 11' 45.8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 8 '52.9 "  N , 8 ° 11' 45.8"  E hf
Upstream ORL 8 Fort Zugmantel (north)

The Heidekringen small fort was a Roman fort about five kilometers south of the western Taunus route (route 3) of the Upper German Limes , on the Roman road from Wiesbaden to Zugmantel fort . It is located in a wooded area in the Heidekringen district southeast of Taunusstein - Wehen .

Location and description

The Heidekringen small fort is located directly on Sonnenberger Weg around 500 m from the outskirts of Wehen on the northern slope of the Eichelberg. About 30 m north of the fort ran the Roman road, the so-called Hühnerstraße , which connected the Zugmantel fort (around 4.7 km further north) with Aquae Mattiacorum (Wiesbaden; around seven kilometers south).

The ramparts of the fort form an almost even rectangle, each around 76 m long in north-south and 64 m long in east-west direction. Entrances were found on the north and south walls, the associated moat was interrupted here. Due to the hillside location, the south side is around seven meters higher than the north side. The trench is about three meters wide and up to one meter deep. The walls reach a height of up to 1.0 m and were probably between 6.5 m and 7.0 m wide at the origin. The front of the ramparts was reinforced by wooden planks.

Traces of a camp village ( vicus ) were found between the fort and the road . Remnants of a 7.0 m by 10.0 m large stone building in the north are interpreted as a bathhouse.

History and exploration

The fort was probably built at the beginning of the 2nd century in the time of Hadrian , which can be deduced from stamped ceramic and brick fragments. It was probably only in use for a short time and served as a temporary measure during the expansion of the Zugmantel fort. It was probably later a post to control passenger and commercial traffic on the street, with the associated rest facilities.

Archaeological investigations took place in 1897 under Emil Ritterling , route commissioner of the Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK), and in 1949 by Helmut Schoppa , head of the "State Office for Cultural and Historical Land Antiquities", a forerunner of the Archaeological and Paleontological Preservation Department of the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse . Schoppa speculated on the basis of the findings from the camp streets that the fort was never completed.

In 2009 the front area was cleared by the forest and the State Office for Monument Preservation installed a board with information about the fort.

Monument protection

The Heidekringen small fort is a protected ground monument within the meaning of the Hessian Monument Protection Act , but is not located directly on the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, which was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005 . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

gallery

  • local information board

  • Northwest corner of the wall

  • North wall

  • View from Sonnenberger Weg

See also

literature

  • Dietwulf Baatz : Heidekringen, RÜD, fort. 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. 346.
  • Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92 (Saalburg-Schriften 6).
  • Charles Marie Ternes : The Provincia Germania Superior in the picture of the younger research. In: Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haase (Hrsg.): Rise and decline of the Roman world . Series II, Volume 5, 2. de Gruyter, Berlin 1976, p. 798.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz: The Romans in Hessen , p. 346.
  2. ↑ Once a guard post on Römerstrasse ( memento of October 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).