Fort Bendorf

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Fort Bendorf
limes ORL 2 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes ,
route 1 (Rhine-Lahn)
Dating (occupancy) Fort: Flavian to late Trajan / early Hadrian
Vicus: Domitian to Antonine
Type Cohort fort
unit Cohors I Thracum
size 2.8 ha
Construction Wood earth
State of preservation largely destroyed, invisible ground monument
place Bendorf
Geographical location 50 ° 25 '10 "  N , 7 ° 34' 0"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 25 '10 "  N , 7 ° 34' 0"  E hf
Previous ORL 1: Fort Heddesdorf (west-north-west)
Subsequently ORL 3a: Niederberg Fort (south-south-east)
Upstream Small fort Ferbach (east)

The fort Bendorf was a Roman frontier fort of the Upper Germanic Limes , the status since 2005 UNESCO world cultural heritage has. The former auxiliary fort is now a largely destroyed ground monument, partly under a residential area and partly under an industrial area of Bendorf , a town in the Mayen-Koblenz district in Rhineland-Palatinate .

location

The Roman fort area is located around three kilometers from the Limes on a weak elevation directly on the right bank of the Rhine . About 500 meters downstream the Sayn flows into the river. The square was strategically located to monitor traffic on the Rhine and at the same time to protect the southern flank of the fertile settlement chamber of the Neuwied Basin . Furthermore, half a dozen old traffic routes start in the area of ​​Bendorf, in order to fan out from here in a westerly to northeastern direction. Even Caesar's Rhine bridges (55 and 53 v. Chr.) Have already been suspected in Bendorfer space. In later times, the place in the Chat Wars (83-85 AD) of Domitian (81-96 AD) have played a not insignificant role and even later in the neighboring town of Engers , a district of Neuwied , a late Roman Burgus confessed (see Burgus Neuwied-Engers ).
On the opposite, left bank of the Rhine between Urmitz and Weißenthurm, Neolithic , Iron Age , Roman and Franconian settlements have been identified.

In today's townscape, the location of the fort is roughly described by the square that forms the "fort settlement" named after him. However, nothing can be seen above ground.

Research history

At the beginning of the activities of the Imperial Limes Commission towards the end of the 19th century, the area of ​​Bendorf had long been known as a find area of ​​Roman remains. Nevertheless, there were hardly any written records, let alone scientific documentation. In the 1880s, Roman graves were found between Bendorf and Engers, the finds of which date back to the Claudian or even Tiberian times. In the same decade, further discoveries were made during the alignment of the railway line on the right bank of the Rhine, and in 1890 the fort was discovered . These discoveries also went largely unnoticed.

It was not until 1896 that the Reich Limes Commission, under the local direction of Emil Ritterling, provided systematic archaeological excavations and at least a makeshift documentation. The impending destruction of the Roman findings through the mining of gravel and pumice sands caused sporadic follow-up investigations by the Rhenish Provincial Museum, which later became the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn , between 1910 and 1937 .

The archaeological investigations carried out in the 1960s by Hans Eiden for the then State Office for Prehistory and Protohistory in the administrative districts of Koblenz and Montabaur were also primarily carried out as emergency and rescue excavations . The ongoing expansion of the area and the brisk construction activity at that time made excavations necessary as a last resort before the final destruction.

Findings

The findings referred to in the literature as Fort Bendorf are at least three overlapping, simple wood and earth forts from the second half of the first century AD. There is also a stone balineum (fort bath) and a spacious vicus . The fact that the forts were only in use for a short time, as well as the ongoing destruction of the findings from the beginning of the discovery made clear identification and interpretation difficult. Only a single fort could be recorded in its complete outline, the location of two other camps is considered to be secure. In all other trenches that have been cut, the interpretation moves on uncertain terrain, an absolute dating of the findings and the context of findings is naturally difficult.

The secured earth forts were marked with the letters a to c, with fort c being the best recorded and also the youngest of the three camps. It took up an area of ​​around 2.8 hectares and thus corresponds to the forts in Heddesdorf and Niederberg , also located in the immediate vicinity of the Rhine , with which it may have a strategic connection. It was evidently documented with the Cohors I Thracum ("1st Thracian Cohort "), an infantry unit of around 500 men who, according to evidence of military diplomas found in Mogontiacum / Mainz and in the Balkans, at least in the years 74 , 82 and 90 AD was part of the Upper German Army. Little is known about the internal structure of the camp. It was surrounded by a pointed ditch, the width of which could be determined to be up to 6.20 meters at a depth of 3.20 to 3.60 meters and which left an access open on the southeast side.
The trenches of forts a and b were overlaid by the trench of camp c. The other trenches (d following) were for the most part only cut so minimally during the emergency rescues that even halfway reliable statements about the connections can hardly be made.

The Balineum of Bendorf, the thermal baths to be found at every Roman garrison, came to light in 1890 in the garden of a villa north of the fort c. In contrast to the rest of the Bendorfer findings, the massive stone building could still be reasonably well documented. It is a row type bath of the size typical of a cohort.

The vicus , the civilian settlement of the garrison, in which members of the military, released soldiers, traders, craftsmen and service providers settled, stretched northwards from fort places a to c. It was evidently oriented towards camp c and built on with the strip houses typical of the Vicus . The buildings were built exclusively in wood and only partially had a basement.

The military settlement area of ​​Bendorf was probably occupied from the late Flavian to the late Trajan or early Hadrian period. The vicus is likely to have been founded at the same time and existed until the middle of the 2nd century AD, as was the bathing complex.

Monument protection

Fort Bendorf is a ground monument and is protected as a registered cultural monument in the sense of the Monument Protection and Maintenance Act (DSchG) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

Web links

  • Fort Bendorf on the website of the Ministry for Education, Science, Youth and Culture Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Fort Bendorf on the website of the Society for History and Local Lore of Bendorf and Surroundings e. V.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b After Hans-Helmut Wegner : Bendorf. Fort on the Limes . In: Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Licensed edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , p. 332, the earliest fort was probably built in Claudian times.
  2. ^ Hans-Helmut Wegner: Bendorf. Fort on the Limes . In: Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Licensed edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , p. 332.
  3. ↑ CIL 13, 6821 , CIL 16, 20 and CIL 16, 28 .
  4. ↑ DschG or DSchPflG RP