Langackertal
In the Langackertal in Karlstein near Bad Reichenhall there was one of the most important pre-Christian settlements in the Reichenhall valley basin. After the prehistoric settlement areas of Karlstein , these are the oldest known settlements in Bad Reichenhaller Saalachtal.
The sites that have been discovered and archaeologically examined so far are entered as ground monuments in the Bavarian list of monuments.
location
The Langackertal stretches from the "Langackerbauern" (Bruckthal, house number 1) in an easterly direction to the fish farming road about 50 m below. "Langackerstraße" is the name given to a section of the Bruckthal road between the Fischzuchtstraße and the Langackerbauer.
Lower part of Langackerstraße ( Bruckthal ), junction Fischzuchtstraße
Fish farm at the junction with Langackerstrasse
history
Bronze age
The oldest archaeological finds in Bad Reichenhall are the prehistoric settlement areas of Karlstein . The oldest of the settlements investigated there between 1901 and 1905 by the local researcher Josef Maurer from Bad Reichenhall come from the bell beaker culture and document a four thousand year history of settlement in the basin.
The size of the Bronze Age settlements and the fire victims' sites in the Langackertal is out of proportion to the area's agricultural potential. The fact that prehistoric settlers knew about the value of the brine springs is proven by the discovery of a rag ax from the Bronze Age, which was discovered during the excavation of the foundation for the new construction of the old salt works in the 19th century. However, there is no further archaeological evidence of settlement near the brine springs, as the area around the old saltworks and within the town wall of Bad Reichenhall is very densely built and has been drastically changed over the centuries. That is why it has not been conclusively clarified how and where the settlers of this time extracted salt from the Reichenhall brine. The settlements in Langackertal were far too far from the sources to have served as a saltworks. However, three factors are likely to have been responsible for the fact that the settlements reached this size and wealth. The most important aspect was the location at a junction of old trade routes to the west into the Pinzgau and on to Tyrol , to the north via today's Inzell to Upper and Lower Bavaria and to the east. The trade in salt is obvious, archaeological finds also prove that today's Karlstein and thus the Langackertal was a regional center of bronze production . It was probably also the salt that provided the necessary purchasing power to buy the raw materials for bronze production - copper from the area around Bischofshofen and tin from the German low mountain ranges.
The fact that the Langackertal valley was chosen for the location of the settlement in the basin is due to the area within the Bad Reichenhall basin at that time. The Saalach then flowed through the middle of today's urban area and there formed an extensive marshland. In the event of heavy rainfall and melting snow, there was also flooding, which also affected the brine springs. The higher settlements in the Langackertal were not reached by the water of the Saalach.
From around 1500 BC A large burnt offering site was used in Langackertal, which was popularly known as the "bone mound" because of its shape and the bone splinters that kept coming to the surface. Another, much smaller place for burn victims was at the "Eisenbichl", a few hundred meters from the Langackertal. Both sacrificial sites were used until around 1200 BC. Used.
Iron age
From around 400 BC The Celts settled the basin and areas of today's Karlstein , in particular the easily defendable rock plateaus of Karlstein, Pankraz and Burgstein rocks, which offered protection against plundering Germanic tribes . Karl Stein continued to be a center for metallurgy, but now had iron , the bronze replaced as a material. A small settlement area was also created at the entrance to the Langackertal, where handicrafts and trade were carried out.
Roman times
While the settlements on the high altitudes of Karlstein were apparently abandoned before the Romans appeared, the settlements in the lowlands of the Langackertal passed into Roman civilization. At the Roman settlement on today's fish farm there was both a cemetery and a cremation site for the deceased , based on the size and useful life of the cemetery, a hamlet-like settlement can be assumed in which 60 to 80 people lived. The settlement was less manorial than, for example, the villas in Marzoll at the eastern end of the Reichenhall Valley, it was more of a collection of small buildings that consisted of a low central section, side wings and an inner courtyard enclosed by a courtyard wall. The spring at Langacker not only supplied the settlement, but also an attached bathing wing. Around 242 AD, the settlement on Langacker and other Roman settlements in the Reichenhaller Valley were destroyed by the Alemanni and subsequently not rebuilt.
Archaeological research
Burnt offering place at the Langack farmers
The Brandopferplatz (ground monument D-1-8243-0066) was located in a south-westerly direction directly below today's Langackerbauer . Until 1870 there was a four meter high hill with a diameter of 32 meters in an orchard. The superstructure consisted mostly of burned bones and was gradually distributed to the surrounding fields by the landowner to improve the soil.
The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1890 and 1891 by Max von Chlingensperg on Berg. Work began in October 1890 and continued until after Easter 1891. Under the turf there was a layer about four feet high, which consisted mainly of splintered, whitewashed animal bones. The approximately 270 m³ bone gravel from thousands of slaughtered domestic animals also contained the fragments of more than 700 vessels. Mainly economic vessels made of iron-containing clay were found, but finer jugs, cups or bowls were only found sporadically. Two bronze arm rings were found on metallic objects.
The next layer consisted of a charcoal and ash store with different thicknesses of up to 0.60 m. Many animal bones were also found here, but hardly any remains of vessels. These bones were not calcined , which is why they are probably leftovers. Most of the bones came from domestic animals such as horses, cattle, sheep and goats, and two dog jaws were found. Of wild animals, on the other hand, only two antler shoots from a deer, several tusks and lower jaws from wild boar and a presumed lower jaw from a wolf were found. Two clothes pins were also found .
Most of the metallic objects were found in a firm layer of clay about 0.25–0.45 m high. The excavations under Chlingensperg produced a bracelet, a fragment of an arm ring, a fragment of a vase-head needle, a needle and a ring made of bronze wire, a flat sheet of bronze, a tongue-shaped piece of jewelry, a 15 cm long bronze needle, a pair of tweezers, a pointed chisel , a fragment of a fork split needle, an arrowhead, two round pieces of bronze and 28 short tips of bronze needles. In addition, over 50 other bronze pieces were found that were melted by the fire and made unrecognizable. A high level of heat exposure could be demonstrated in up to seven layers of clay lying one on top of the other. In the center of the hill there was a semicircular stone wall 2.5–3 m thick made of boulders weighing 20–30 kg . From there, 14 graves were mapped in a 17 m long and 6–9 m wide search section running from east to west . Due to the pressure of the weight on them as well as further burns, only calcined bone fragments and shards of vessels are left of the mortal remains. The remains of the funeral meal, unburned bones of various domestic animals and bronze pieces that can no longer be identified were found as grave goods.
Roman age settlement
The settlement from Roman times (ground monument D-1-8243-0068) extended from the south of the junction of Langackerstraße ("Bruckthal") from the fish farm along today's fish farm to the farm buildings in the northeast, which are now owned by a mineral water bottler. During excavations between 1892 and 1899, the Bad Reichenhall archaeologist Josef Maurer discovered the foundation walls of several Middle Imperial stone buildings that were located in the middle of a settlement area from the Urnfield period . Countless finds that were secured by masons date from this time. Settlement continued into the early imperial era, the clay half-timbered houses were followed by the quarry stone houses customary in the imperial era , which existed until the middle of the 3rd century. After that, the area remained undeveloped. Maurer examined a total of ten buildings, but unlike von Chlingensperg, he did not make any detailed records. The size of the buildings he examined and individual equipment details such as a hypocaust heater are known . When Langackerstrasse was expanded in 1966, an extensive follow-up investigation found the most valuable object from this area. It is an approximately twelve centimeter tall bronze statuette of the goddess Venus , a provincial work from the 2nd century AD.
Roman cemetery
The cemetery from Roman times (soil monument D-1-8243-0067) was located at the northeast end of the fish farm on the so-called mushroom meadow and extended to the east, where the fish farm passes into Im Poschengrund . From 1891 Josef Maurer started excavations on the Pilzenwiese, but after Max von Chlingensperg bought the area, he continued the excavations himself. 405 burials in 326 cremation graves were found on the meadow slope, the cemetery is believed to have served as the final resting place for the inhabitants of the Roman settlement in Langackertal for a period of around 200 years. The graves have different designs and some were provided with abundant grave goods. Knives, lance tips and spurs made of bronze or iron were assigned to graves of men, jewelry such as earrings, finger rings, pendants and bracelets were assigned to graves of women.
List of individual monuments
- D-1-8243-0063: settlement of the later La Tène period (middle part of today's Langackerstraße ▼ )
- D-1-8243-0065: Settlement of the Bronze Age (opposite the Langackerbauer, upper part of today's Langackerstraße ▼ )
- D-1-8243-0066: Burnt offering place and burial grave field of the Bronze Age (below the Langackerbauer ▼ )
- D-1-8243-0067: Cremation cemetery from the Roman Empire and settlement from the La Tène period (eastern part of the fish farm near Poschengrund ▼ )
- D-1-8243-0068: Body graves and settlements from the Bronze Age and settlements from the Roman Empire (lower part of today's Langackerstraße and on the Fischzuchtstraße ▼ )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bavarian Monument Atlas on blfd.bayern.de, accessed on September 14, 2018
- ^ Vogel: History of Bad Reichenhall
- ↑ Pfisterer: Bad Reichenhall in his Bavarian history , p. 300f
- ↑ a b c d e Lang: History of Bad Reichenhall , pp. 33–66
- ↑ a b c d Mertig: Das Langackertal , pp. 5–13
- ↑ Mertig: Das Langackertal , pp. 37–41
- ↑ Mertig: Das Langackertal , p. 42ff
Web links
Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
literature
- Lieselotte Mertig: The Langackertal near Bad Reichenhall in prehistoric times . Self-published, Bad Reichenhall 1968
- Johannes Lang : History of Bad Reichenhall. Ph.CW Schmidt, Neustadt / Aisch 2009, ISBN 978-3-87707-759-7 .
- Herbert Pfisterer: Bad Reichenhall in its Bavarian history. Motor + Touristik-Verlag, Munich, 1988
- Hubert Vogel: About the four-thousand-year-old Karlstein . New edition in the history of Bad Reichenhall . Anton Plenk KG, Berchtesgaden 1995
Coordinates: 47 ° 43 '42.7 " N , 12 ° 51' 2.2" E