Raitenbuch small fort

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Raitenbuch small fort
limes ORL –– ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Rhaetian Limes,
route 14
Dating (occupancy) last third of the 2nd century AD (?); abandoned until around AD 205 (?)
Type Small fort
size 18 × 18 m
(= 0.032 ha)
Construction stone
State of preservation Elevations in the terrain
place Raitenbuch
Geographical location 49 ° 0 ′ 56.5 "  N , 11 ° 6 ′ 21.4"  E
height 573  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Gündersbach (northwest)
Subsequently Petersbuch small fort (southeast)
Backwards Burgus Burgsalach (west)
Oberhochstatt Fort (northwest)

The small fort Raitenbuch was a Roman military camp that was built near the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes , a UNESCO World Heritage Site , and is now located on the edge of the forest west of the village of Raitenbuch in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district in Bavaria .

Location and research history

The little researched stone fort is about 20 meters behind the Limes wall. It was built on an almost dead straight, often still clearly visible piece of the Limes, which slopes down in a southeastern direction. To the west of the small fort is the younger centenarium "In der Harlach" and the unexplored underground storage facility south of the centenarium . From the Raitenbuch border fortification only small overgrown debris dams of the north-western and south-western defenses can be seen in the forest.

The system was examined in 1924 on behalf of the Reich Limes Commission (RLK) by the archeology pioneer Friedrich Winkelmann (1852-1934). Since then, no more excavations have taken place at this site. The provincial Roman archaeologist Sebastian Sommer formulated initial suggestions for a temporal reassessment of the fort site after an on-site inspection in December 2009 and the resulting theoretical research.

Building history

The small fort Seitzenbuche - Raitenbuch could also have looked similar.

The approximately square, 18 × 18 meter (= 324 square meter) complex differs from most of the other small forts on this Limes route in that it has rounded corners, as can be seen in the larger and larger fort buildings of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes period. Winkelmann also noticed that the enclosing wall was made somewhat smaller and weaker than is usually the case with small forts on this border section. He observed an extensive eruption of the flanks of the originally 0.60 meter thick defense, while the corner areas had been preserved with the exception of the eastern curve, which was obviously not excavated. The single-lane entrance in the northeast, which was also only reconstructed and bordered by two door cheeks, was apparently oriented towards the imperial border. In 2009, Sommer discovered inconsistencies that Winkelmann should have noticed, but there is no reference to them in the documents handed down by the Reich Limes Commission. These were massive eruptions in the area of ​​the northwest wall, which caused a series of pits several meters in size and still up to half a meter deep today, running roughly parallel to the Limes, through the rear area of ​​the small fort facing away from the Limes and also disturb the not excavated southeast wall. Sommer suspected that these pits are related to the very well-known material extraction pits that were created for the construction and repair of the Raetian Wall. In the case of Raitenbuch, these pits must be younger than the fort, as they cut through its existing structure without any consideration. Perhaps this fact alone can give an indication of an older construction phase of the Limes, because the material pits could testify that Raitenbuch was abandoned before or with the construction of the stone Limes wall. This means that the small fort itself would have been largely used as a quarry before the workers were even able to dig the pits. The dendrochronological data from the substructure of the Raetian Wall at the Dambach Fort point to the winter months AD 206/207, which means that the wall will likely be erected in the spring of 207 in the summer. The earlier construction and use of the small fort Raitenbuch can possibly be dated to the last third of the 2nd century AD.

The interior development, most likely made of wood, stood in the square around an inner courtyard. Wooden stairs lead to a circular battlement.

In the “Grenzgräbchen” near Raitenbuch a primer from the beginning of the 3rd century was found in the 19th century .

Along with the towers, small forts were one of the main bases of the Roman troops directly behind the Limes. However, their occupation and use are usually unknown.

  • Excavation findings of the Reich Limes Commission in 1924

  • KK Raitenbuch
    (referred to here as "Feldwache")
    and the adjacent Limes facilities

  • Floor plan of the KK Raitenbuch

Limes course between the small fortifications Raitenbuch and Petersbuch

Traces of the Limes between the small fort Raitenbuch to the small fort Petersbuch
ORL Name / place Description / condition
Wp 14/50
Wp 14/50, floor plan and section
Lime kiln immediately south of the tower
Tower point visible as soil deformation. At this place there was only a wooden tower hill. Perhaps the nearby small fort in Raitenbuch replaced the tower.
Wp 14/51 Tower not visible. Location is only assumed.
Wp 14/52 Tower not visible. Location is only assumed.
Wp 14/53 "In the Raitenbucher Wald, Wildhau district, Mähderwiesen district" From this point to the Limes bend at Fort Petersbuch, three kilometers away, the debris wall of the Limes wall is clearly visible. Wp 14/53 has only survived in ruined remains.
Wp 14/54 "At St. Egidi"
The remnants of Wp 14/54 are particularly well visible in frost.
Of this 6 × 5.6 meter stone tower foundation, ruins can also be seen in the dense undergrowth of the forest.
Wp 14/55 "Forest District Paradise"
The stone tower from above
The seam from the tower to the subsequently added Limes wall is clearly visible
1.05 kilometers from Wp 14/54, the 6.2 × 5.9 meter, somewhat dilapidated stone tower foundation is visibly preserved in the forest. The tower with its 0.76 meter thick walls was already excavated, examined, measured and drawn up in 1789 by the clergyman and professor of mathematics Ignaz Pickel (1736-1818) from Eichstätt. Thereby, tuff stones were found on the paved floor inside the tower , which do not occur in this area. The tower, which was five Nuremberg shoes (1.50 meters) high at its highest point at that time, had a ground-level, laterally offset entrance. As the findings showed, the Limes wall, which, according to Pickel, was four shoes (1.20 meters) wide in this area and was apparently still in good condition at the time, was subsequently built onto the tower. Even Friedrich Ohlenschlager (1840-1916), the building looked "almost head-high with gemörtelter Wall" received in 1890 and mentioned that the Pappenheimer dean and consistory Michael Redenbacher (1764-1816) as an additional observation nor herringbone had seen in the masonry. But already in Ohlenschlager's time, the residents of the Kaldorf community destroyed the best-preserved tower in the area as a cheap quarry. The archaeologist Dietwulf Baatz saw a restoration carried out after the devastation at a height of 0.60 meters in 1974 as "preserved a long time ago."
KK Peter's Book

Monument protection

The Raitenbuch small fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, they are protected as registered ground monuments within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to authorization, accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube . Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1974. p. 252.
  2. ↑ a b c Sebastian Sommer : Roman ruins at the Raetian Limes? On the history of the Raitenbuch small fort . In: Reports of the Bavarian Ground Monument Maintenance 51, 2010, pp. 287–292; here: p. 288.
  3. ↑ Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner and Oscar von Sarwey (eds.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes des Roemerreiches , Department A, Volume 7: The routes 14 and 15, Petters, Heidelberg 1933, p. 38.
  4. ↑ a b c Sebastian Sommer : Roman ruins at the Raetian Limes? On the history of the Raitenbuch small fort . In: Reports of the Bavarian Ground Monument Maintenance 51, 2010, pp. 287–292; here: p. 289.
  5. ↑ C. Sebastian Sommer: On the dating of the Raetian Limes . In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): The Limes from the Lower Rhine to the Danube. 6th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . Theiss, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-8062-2466-5 , (= contributions to the Limes World Heritage Site, 6), pp. 137–147; here: p. 142.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Czysz, Franz Herzig: The pile grid in the Kreutweiher near the Limes fort Dambach. First dendrochronological results. In: Report of the Bavarian soil monument preservation. 49, 2008, pp. 221-227.
  7. ↑ Sebastian Sommer : Roman ruins on the Raetian Limes? On the history of the Raitenbuch small fort . In: Reports of the Bayerische Bodendenkmalpflege 51, 2010, pp. 287–292; here: p. 290.
  8. ^ Association of German Philologists and School Men: Negotiations Teubner, Leipzig 1896, p. 24.
  9. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Wp 14/50 at 49 ° 0 '51.51 "  N , 11 ° 6' 30.02"  O
  12. ↑ Wp 14/51 at about 49 ° 0 '34.09 "  N , 11 ° 6' 52.86"  O
  13. ↑ Wp 14/52 at approximately 49 ° 0 '15.18 "  N , 11 ° 7' 17.89"  E
  14. ↑ Wp 14/53 at 49 ° 0 '2.27 "  N , 11 ° 7' 34.91"  O
  15. ↑ Wp 14/54 at 48 ° 59 '39.68 "  N , 11 ° 8' 4.3"  O
  16. ↑ Wp 14/55 at 48 ° 59 '15.55 "  N , 11 ° 8' 38.1"  O
  17. ^ Friedrich Ohlenschlager: The Roman border marks in Bavaria. In: Treatises of the philosophical-historical class. Volume 18, Verlag der Königlichen Akademie, Munich 1890. pp. 120–122.
  18. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell.
  19. ↑ Petersbuch small fort at 48 ° 59 ′ 0.43 ″  N , 11 ° 9 ′ 3.96 ″  E