Weltenburg-Frauenberg small fort

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Weltenburg-Frauenberg small fort
limes	ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK)	Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes
Dating (occupancy)	a) early imperial (?) b) late antique (?)
Type	Small fort (?), Burgus (?)
State of preservation	most likely undiscovered to date; The location is only assumed; the visible remains are of medieval origin
place	Weltenburg Abbey
Geographical location	48 ° 53 '44.4 "  N , 11 ° 49' 22.3"  E
height	407  m above sea level NHN
Previous	Small fort Weltenburg-Galget (south)
Subsequently	Burgus Untersaal (east)
Backwards	Burgus Thaldorf (southeast)

Small fort Weltenburg-Frauenberg is the name of a site that is located on the Frauenberg in the area of the Weltenburg monastery in the Kelheim district , Bavaria . The remains of a small building complex discovered there are on a mighty rock spur that was formed by the deeply dug Danube flowing below . According to the excavator, the prehistorian Konrad Spindler (1939–2005), as a Roman fortification , the small complex could be assigned to the late antique Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes . After their research, the prehistorian Michael Maria Rind and the medieval archaeologist Mathias Hensch questioned the older excavation results of the fort until the end of 2008 and pleaded for the excavated building structures to be viewed as part of a castle of the bishops of Regensburg, which was handed down as a world inopolis in the early 11th century . In the 13th century, for example, a castrum appeared on the Weltenburg Frauenberg in written records.

location

The striking Frauenberg has been populated again and again since the Early Bronze Age. The fortification, which is around 390 meters high below the mountain plateau, took advantage of the topographically favorable location on the northwest-oriented rock spur of the Frauenberg far above the Danube and was located at the entrance to the Danube breakthrough at Weltenburg as the successor to a possible early imperial post . The river, which flows at a height of 342 meters, has worked its way up to 80 meters deep into the limestone of the Upper Jurassic . The facility was built directly on the south-western edge of the mountain, which slopes steeply towards the Danube. It was thus possible for the residents to watch the ship traffic entering and exiting the dangerous breakthrough. To the northwest you could see the heights of the Hienheim Forest between the Schönberg (456 meters) and the Hirsch-Berg (478 meters) across the river valley; to the northeast, the view was restricted by the rising terrain of the Frauenberg. The mountain spur allowed an attack only from the south-east, whereby the impassable Danube breakthrough had to be avoided beforehand. The view to the southeast made it possible to monitor the path coming from there on its last section. To what extent the Wolfgangswall, also visible in the south, already existed in antiquity or prehistoric times as a predecessor is not yet known. There is documentary evidence that this wall, which blocks the mountain spur, was fortified in the course of the Hungarian invasions (899 to 955). Three more prehistoric ramparts have been found further south. According to church tradition, a Minerva temple is said to have stood north of the complex. This would not have been visible from the fortification and would have been located on the north-west sloping mountainside at a height of around 360 meters. In the middle of the 1st century AD, the Romans set up the eastern starting point of the so-called Donausüdstrasse near Weltenburg . This via militaris was an important military and supply route secured by forts, which accompanied the Danube westwards to its origin. At Weltenburg, the upper Danube formed the border between the Roman Empire and Germania, which was not occupied by the Romans .

Research and construction history

The building excavated by Spindler with Wolfgang's Wall in the background

According to analyzes by the archaeologists Hensch and Rind, the remains of the building, originally referred to as a small fort, are of medieval origin.

The Wolfgangswall, which is difficult to classify in terms of time

The Frauenberg was a destination for treasure hunters early on. Again and again prehistoric finds, especially Celtic coins, from its millennia-old, very complex settlement history appeared. The scientific research that started concentrated not only on examining the founding of the monastery but also on the early finds. In addition, it was necessary to check the history of the place, which was remarkably Roman in its tradition. Wolfgang's Wall, which is still eleven meters high today, was also known as the “Roman Wall” and Johannes Aventinus reported the legend that Saint Rupert of Salzburg (around 650–718) had a chapel built over a Minerva temple. The building visible there today is a baroque church that was built under Abbot Maurus I. Bächl (1713–1743). As early as 1960, sparse pre-Flavian finds from Frauenberg were known, from which research either did not draw any reliable conclusions or took them to a greater or lesser extent as evidence of the early presence of the Roman military.

In the summer of 1966, a field path that led from the village of Weltenburg along the southern edge of the “Römerwall” was to be expanded into a year-round drivable farm road. In order to document a suspected and later secured gate system of uncertain time, a small-scale emergency excavation took place in the run-up to the expansion, which for some scientists has proven that the wall dates back to the time of the Hungarian invasions. In the opinion of the medieval archaeologist Walter Sage , who was responsible for the excavations in 1966, this wood-earth wall was strengthened again after a fire at the time of Wolfgang von Regensburg (around 924–994), which is what the traditional name "Wolfgang Wall " refers to would. It was found that a massive mortar wall and a tower had been added to the top of the rampart. This tower sat about in the middle of the wall. At the southern end of the earthworks there was another 4.2 × 5.0 meter tower that had severe damage that had been repaired. In front of its southwest side was a three-meter wide doorway. Sage assessed the stone buildings as "rather post-Hungarian". The fact that the excavation of 1966 produced very few small finds from the 10th century and that the structure of the wall was only marginally touched remained problematic. This did not allow any statements about its structure or its development. The masonry of the defensive structure found in this area also did not allow any clear conclusions to be drawn about its age.

In the late summer of 1978 and 1979, Spindler carried out teaching excavations for specialist students on the Frauenberg in two campaigns. A third campaign followed in 1980. The impetus was provided by late Roman finds that had come to light while plowing. On the basis of small Roman finds, he defined a fortified 42 × 15 meter square walled area that was uncovered by the students as a small fort, which was located near the gate that was exposed in 1966. A mighty tower stood on the north-western narrow side, and a small walled-in area on the south-eastern narrow side was interpreted as crew accommodation. There was no trench and Roman finds only came out of the ground outside the building. The decision to build a Roman building was assessed differently in professional circles from the start. The provincial Roman archaeologist Thomas Fischer explained the result of Spindler's excavations, according to which an old Celtic wall, which should still be in Wolfgang's Wall, had been renewed by the Romans in late antiquity as a fortress of retreat. In terms of time, this system could possibly be set with the expansion of the Danube Limes under Emperor Valentinian I (364 to 375). The small fort is said to have been built at that time. In addition to the coin series from the first half of the 1st century, the early Roman finds also include a glazed mortar with an inclined rim, as can also be found in the forts of Aislingen, Burlafingen and Nersingen, which were counted as early as the Danube Limes . Of the late Roman pottery, the argon sigillata is worth mentioning. Overall, however, the small finds from late antiquity had a very clear Germanic impact and showed that the mountain was inhabited well into the 5th century.

Between 1990 and 1999, Rind undertook rescue and research excavations on the Frauenberg. This prompted him to address the previously uncovered stone buildings as dating from the 10th century, with the small fort being seen as part of an episcopal castle and palace. In 2004 and 2005, Hensch conducted research at the Frauenberg Church to find out more about its building history, and no Roman traces could be found. According to the archaeologist's findings, one of the oldest excavation results was a possibly profane hall building from the 9th / 10th. Century.

In 2008, Fischer spoke out in favor of the fact that, due to the Roman-Germanic finds on the Frauenberg, an early imperial and a late Roman fortification can be expected, which, however, has not yet been found. In addition, there could have been a late Roman hilltop settlement at this point.

In 2020, Hensch once again presented the medieval findings from Frauenberg in a comprehensive article and underlined the function of the square as a castle for the Regensburg bishops from the 10th to 12th centuries, while from an archaeological point of view there was no evidence of a late Roman use.

Monument protection

The facilities mentioned 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

List of forts in the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes

literature

• Walter Sage : Excavations at the gate system of the "Römerwall" on the Frauenberg above Weltenburg . In: Annual report of the Bavarian Ground Monument Conservation 1974/1975. Pp. 144-145.
• Konrad Spindler : A late Roman fort on the Frauenberg near Weltenburg, Kelheim district, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 1980 . Pp. 128–129, figs. 121, 122.
• Konrad Spindler: The archeology of the Frauenberg from the beginning to the founding of the Weltenburg monastery. With the contributions by Sabine Rieckhoff-Pauli : The late Roman settlement and Thomas Fischer : The Roman found coins . Pustet, Regensburg 1981, ISBN 3791707205 .
• Konrad Spindler: The Roman military stations on the Frauenberg above Weltenburg Abbey near Kelheim on the Danube . Series 1/12, Weltenburger Akademie Aventinum, Kelheim 1984.
• Thomas Fischer in: Otto Braasch , Manfred Eberlein (eds.): Romans and Bavarians on the Danube. Pictures of the early history of Eastern Bavaria. Pustet, Regensburg 1988, ISBN 3791711318 , p. 30, fig. 31.
• Wolfgang Czysz , Lothar Bakker : The Romans in Bavaria . Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3806210586 , p. 537.
• Mathias Hensch , Michael Maria Rind : Frauenbergkirche Weltenburg - an episcopal palace church of the 10th century? City and district of Kelheim, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2005 . Stuttgart 2006. pp. 110-113
• Mathias Hensch, Michael Maria Rind: From the Roman fort to the episcopal castle: News about the early Middle Ages on the Weltenburger Frauenberg . In: Archaeological Working Group East Bavaria, West and South Bohemia, Upper Austria. Volume 16. Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden 2006. pp. 175-185.
• Mathias Hensch: New archaeological aspects of the medieval history of the Frauenberg . In: Regensburg contributions to prehistoric archeology . Volume 16/1. Universitätsverlag Regensburg, Regensburg 2006, pp. 341–433.
• Michael Maria Rind: The Frauenberg above Weltenburg Monastery II. Part I and II. Universitätsverlag Regensburg, Regensburg 2007. ISBN 3930480492
• Mathias Hensch, Michael Maria Rind: A monumental stone building under the Weltenburg Frauenberg Church . City and district of Kelheim, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2007. Stuttgart 2008, pp. 111–113.
• Mathias Hensch: Weltinopolis - Archaeological findings on the castle of the Regensburg bishops on the Weltenburger Frauenberg. In: Report of the Bayerische Bodendenkmalpflege 60, 2019 (2020), pp. 159–192.

Web links

Commons : Kleinkastell Weltenburg-Frauenberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ^ Günter Ulbert : The Roman Danube castles Aislingen and Burghöfe . Mann, Berlin 1959, p. 84.
2. ↑ Find report for the years 1965–1967 . In: Bavarian history sheets 37.Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1972, p. 221.
3. ↑ Hubert Glaser (ed.): The time of the early dukes. From Otto I. to Ludwig the Bavarian. Contributions to Bavarian history and art 1180–1350. Hirmer, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-77743180-X , p. 127.
4. ↑ Michael W. Weithmann: The "Hungarian refuges" of the 10th century. In: Gabriel Adriányi , Horst Glassl , Ekkehard Völkl (eds.): Ungarnjahrbuch. Magazine for the customers of Hungary and allied areas. Volume 20, 1992. Hungarian Institute, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-9803045-2-3 , p. 17.
5. ^ ^{A b c} Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier-Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria . Pustet, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7917-2120-0 , p. 212.
6. ↑ Michael Mackensen , Angela von den Driesch : Early imperial small fort near Nersingen and Burlafingen on the upper Danube. Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3406317499 , p. 154.
7. ^ Thomas Fischer: Romans and Bavarians on the Danube. Pictures of the early history of Eastern Bavaria. Pustet, Regensburg 1988, ISBN 3791711318 , p. 30. Fig. 32.
8. ^ Mathias Hensch , Michael Maria Rind: A monumental stone building under the Weltenburg Frauenberg Church . City and district of Kelheim, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2007. Stuttgart 2008, pp. 111–113; here p. 112.
9. ↑ Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier-Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-7917-2120-0 . P. 75.
10. ↑ Mathias Henschleben: Weltinopolis - Archaeological findings to the castle of the Regensburger bishops on the world Burger Fraunberg . In: Report of the Bavarian soil monument preservation . tape 60, 2019 , p. 159 ff. Habelt, Bonn, p. 159-192 .