Small fort Hunnenkirchhof

Small fort Hunnenkirchhof
limes	ORL Wp 4/29 ( RLK )
Route (RLK)	Upper German Limes, route 4 (Wetterau route)
Dating (occupancy)	around 100 AD (wooden fort); around the middle of the 2nd century (stone fort), end unknown
Type	Small fort
size	36.5 × 33 m = 0.12 ha
Construction	Wood-earth and stone
State of preservation	Ground monument
place	Butzbach - Nieder-Weisel
Geographical location	50 ° 24 '51.7 "  N , 8 ° 37' 41.8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 24 '51.7 "  N , 8 ° 37' 41.8"  E
height	250  m above sea level NHN
Previous	ORL 13: Fort Langenhain (south-south-west)
Subsequently	Small fort Degerfeld (north-northeast)

The small fort Hunnenkirchhof (also Wp 4/29 after the naming of the Imperial Limes Commission ) was a Roman fort on the Wetterau line of the Upper German Limes . It was located southeast of today's city of Butzbach in the Wetterau district in Hesse .

location

The fort complex is located below Butzbach's local mountain , on which a prehistoric ring wall system from the older Latène period can be seen, in a wooded area between the villages of Hoch-Weisel and Hausen-Oes . Although not far from both places, the small forest area belongs to the more distant Butzbach district of Nieder-Weisel . The Limes moved south, coming from Fort Langenhain , through areas that are now heavily used for agriculture. Only a few hundred meters south of the fort it has been preserved in the forest.

Castles

Excavation plan of the two small forts in the Limeswerk

Wood and earth fort

An older wood and earth fort was built before the Limes was built, as the Limes overlay its southwestern side. In addition, it is disturbed by a modern forest path and difficult to recognize as such in the terrain.

View from the southwest into the interior of the stone fort, the wall is still clearly visible.

Stone fort

Around the middle of the 2nd century AD the wooden fort was abandoned and replaced by a stone fort that was about twice as large (0.12 ha). It is a little further behind the Limes and can still be seen in the forest today. Friedrich Kofler , route commissioner of the Reich Limes Commission , found the wall, which was about one meter wide, still up to 90 centimeters high. A wall was built on the inside of the wall, and a seven-meter-wide pointed ditch ran outside. A gate was found on the eastern side of the small fort facing away from the Limes. Dark discoloration of the floor inside are probably remnants of the wooden barracks there.

Limes course from the small fort Hunnenkirchhof to the small fort Degerfeld

The Limes runs for long stretches north and south of the small fort through wooded area on the Taunushang and is well preserved and visible. It is about 3500 meters to the next small fort Degerfeld . At the rear was the Butzbach fort with an extensive civil settlement to the west of the fort.

ORL	Name / place	Description / condition
NN	Small fort Hunnenkirchhof
Wp 4/30	At the sand pear tree	Presumed to be located on the outskirts of Hausen.
Wp 4/31	on the Sommerbergweg	Flat wooden tower site with ring moat, southwest of it a rubble mound of the stone tower.
Wp 4/31 *	at the bullet trap path	Outside the Limes, a wooden tower with a ring ditch, probably belonging to an earlier Limes line, which was later adapted to the slope and, unusually, relocated back. From Wp 4/31 * the earlier line presumably moved to another, far behind the Limes and the later tower point 4/33 On the Schrenzer wooden tower point with two ring trenches (= Wp 4/33 *).
Wp 4/32	In the Suterwald	flat stone tower hill
Wp 4/33	On the Schrenzer	Wrongly reconstructed watchtower on the Schrenzer The tower site is recognizable today by an incorrectly reconstructed tower that was built over the site of the younger wooden tower. It probably replaced the older wooden tower Wp 4/33 * in the first half of the 2nd century. The stone tower is located northeast of it and can be recognized by the reconstructed foundation. Before that, a piece of the palisade was reconstructed.
Wp 4/34	supposed	Possibly on the north-western outskirts of Butzbach.
KK	Small fort Degerfeld

Monument protection

The small fort Hunnenkirchhof and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes since 2005 . It is also a ground monument in the sense 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.

See also

• List of forts on the Upper German-Raetian Limes

literature

• Eduard Anthes , Friedrich Kofler and Wilhelm Soldan: stretches 4 and 5 (the Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near the Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg). The route description. In: Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreiches / Abt. A, Volume 2, routes 4 and 5 (The Wetterau line from the Köpperner Tal near the Saalburg to the Main near Gross-Krotzenburg) , 1936, pp. 78–82.
• Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz, Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. 3. Edition. 1989. Licensed edition Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9 , p. 399 f.
• 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. 151-154.
• Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. 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. 75-92.
• Margot Klee: The Limes between Rhine and Main. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0276-1 , pp. 95 f.
• 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. 118 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes.
2. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell.
3. ↑ 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.