Hillscheid small fort

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Hillscheid small fort
limes ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes ,
route 1 (Rhine-Lahn)
Type Small fort
unit unknown vexillation
size a) 0.16 ha
b) 0.025 ha
Construction stone
State of preservation Walls partially reconstructed in the foundation area
place Hillscheid / Höhr-Grenzhausen
Geographical location 50 ° 24 '39.2 "  N , 7 ° 42' 35.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 24 '39.2 "  N , 7 ° 42' 35.6"  E
height 420  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Ferbach (northwest)
Subsequently ORL 3: Arzbach Castle (southeast)
Backwards ORL 2a: Niederberg Fort (southwest)

The small fort Hillscheid was a Roman fort in the Upper German Limes , which was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005 . The ground monument , which has been partially preserved and reconstructed in its foundation walls, is located in the woods northeast of the present-day local community of Hillscheid , which belongs to the Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis .

location

Reconstructed foundation walls

The small fortification is located a good kilometer as the crow flies from Hillscheid in the Hillscheid Forest, on the high terrace of a foothills of the Montabaurer Höhe extending to the southwest .
In Roman times it was about 22 meters behind the Limeswall at a point where two old paths rising from the Rhine plain to the ridges of the Westerwald merged and crossed the Limes. One of these routes came from the south-westerly direction from the next larger garrison, the Niederberg fort , and the second led from the Vallendar area .

Research history

Wall and moat of the Limes with reconstructed palisade near Hillscheid

In 1833, the Limes and Roman road explorer Friedrich Wilhelm Schmidt found well-preserved ramparts and ditches as well as a not inconsiderable height of rising masonry of the weir system in the Hillscheid Forest. As early as 1857, Carl August von Cohausen had to state that only small parts of the complex were visible. The stones of the masonry had meanwhile been broken off for the construction of the road, the area had largely been leveled. In the period that followed, treasure hunters completed the work of devastation, so that the Imperial Limes Commission was confronted with severely disturbed findings when they began their investigations . The archaeological excavations of the commission were carried out in the spring of 1894 under the local direction of the route commissioner Otto Dahm .

After a break of more than 100 years, the Archaeological Monument Preservation, Koblenz Office, carried out further investigations in 1999. In spring 2003, the foundation walls of the fort and the neighboring watchtower Wp 1/71 were preserved and partially reconstructed by the Hillscheid community.

Findings

Floor plan of the fort from 1894, the accuracy of which was doubted in later research and which must now be regarded as outdated
Reconstructed foundation walls of Wp 1/71 in front of the foundation walls of the small fort Hillscheid

The small fort at Hillscheid was a double complex consisting of a larger outer and a smaller inner fort. The high degree of destruction of the findings caused considerable difficulties for a reliable interpretation from the start of the investigations. Against this background, the documentation of the findings of the Reich Limes Commission can only be viewed with certain reservations.

The larger complex, with its sides of 43.10 × 36.60 meters, took up an area of ​​just under 0.16 hectares, the wall thickness averaged 1.20 meters. According to current knowledge, the wall, which is rounded at its corners, was not occupied by defensive towers. The only gate facing southeast also consisted of a simple opening, only about two meters wide. In front of the wall, after a 0.35 to 1.10 meter wide berm, there was a six to eight meter wide trench with a remaining depth of 70 to 100 centimeters.
Traces of an interior development could not be detected. The teams may have been housed in tents.

The fortification within the layout of the larger fort was probably built at a later date. With its sides of 15.90 by 15.40 meters, it had an almost square floor plan and took up an area of ​​just 0.025 hectares. The defensive wall, which was also rounded at its corners, was 1.20 meters thick. The only gate, about eight feet wide, faced northwest. The smaller fortification was separated from the outer fort with a ditch. In its southern corner there was a perhaps two to three story tower-like building with an inner usable area of ​​around 25.5 square meters. On its northeast side there was a presumably only one-storey vestibule with an interior area of ​​a good 5.5 square meters. The wall thickness of both structures was 100 centimeters.

About halfway between the fort and the Limes was the watchtower Wp 1/71, which, like the fort, was reconstructed in its foundation walls.

Nothing precise is known about the occupation of the Hillscheid garrison. Presumably it was the vexillatio ( detachment ) of a larger nearby auxiliary unit . Niederberg Fort is a possible location for the main unit .

Limes course between the small fort Hillscheid and the fort Arzbach

On its way from the small fort Hillscheid to the next military post, the fort Arzbach , the Limes and its tower parts are essentially quite well preserved. In some cases it is only visible in aerial photographs, especially on agricultural areas, but in some cases it has also been extremely well preserved, especially in the more inaccessible, wooded areas. The citizens and associations of the neighboring communities of Hillscheid and Neuhäusel are making every effort to do justice to the importance of the historical relics on their soil and to present them to the public with the installation of information boards, the reconstruction of the findings and the creation of hiking trails.

Traces of the Limes structures between the small fort Hillscheid and the fort Arzbach:

ORL Name / place Description / condition
Wp 1/68
Wp 1/68
The presumed location of the watchtower was probably in the area of ​​today's Kannenbäckerstraße on the north-western edge of the industrial area of ​​Hillscheid and was completely destroyed during road construction work. A reconstruction is located around 150 meters northwest of it. It is one of the rare, somewhat authentic attempts to reconstruct Roman border watchtowers, which was made under the professional guidance of the Saalburg Museum, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , and which was completed in 1994. The entrance is not at ground level, but at the level of the first floor, but for security reasons a second entrance had to be created on the ground floor. From the outside, the tower is painted in the white paint typical of Roman watchtowers and auxiliary camps with painted red false joints. The basic dimensions of the square tower are around 5.00 × 5.00 meters. In 1996, the inside of the tower was designed as a museum, and there is also a small information pavilion built in 2002 in the immediate vicinity.
Wp 1/69 "In the Hillscheider sand pit" During the excavations in 1894, the remains of a square stone tower with a side length of five meters and a wall thickness of one meter, which had already disappeared in 1902, were documented.
Wp 1/70 Only suspected, not proven tower location.
KK Hillscheid small fort see above
Wp 1/71
Wp 1/71
Preserved and partially reconstructed foundations of a square stone tower with a side length of 5.60 meters and a wall thickness of one meter. The ground floor had a screed floor . At the time of the excavation in 1894, there was a layer of fire 0.40 meters thick, filled with some finds, which indicates the violent destruction of the tower. Below the stone tower, the postings of an older wooden tower and its shallow ring moat could be verified. The tower is about 22 meters behind the moat of the Limes between it and the north corner of the small fort Hillscheid.
Wp 1/72 Rubble hill from a former stone tower. At the time it was uncovered, the ruin had already been so badly destroyed that the dimensions of seven meters on each side and a wall thickness of 1.40 meters determined by the Imperial Limes Commission can only be viewed with reservations. The tower is located around 22 meters from the Limes Wall. There was no search for a wooden previous building.
Wp 1/73 Rubble mounds of a square stone tower with a side length of 5.40 meters and a wall thickness of 1.20 meters.
Wp 1/73 to Wp 1/78 “Stone rush” in the Eitelborn Forest near Neuhäusel
Limes course with Hallstatt period settlement southwest of the fort
Not far from the community of Neuhäusel, in the course of the Limes between the watchtowers Wp 1/73 and Wp 1/78, there is an extensive settlement from the middle to later Hallstatt period . It extends around the mountain Steinrausch in the Eitelborn Forest, adapting to the topographical conditions, and is provided with a non-uniform, almost four-kilometer-long surrounding ditch.
Hallstatt period building

The fortification of the complex as well as individual buildings inside were cut in several places by the construction of the Limes.

After the discovery by the Reich Limes Commission, the settlement itself was researched and documented by Wilhelm Soldan at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century - as one of the first larger and complete Hallstatt- era settlements . A smaller burial ground belonging to the settlement was also examined at that time.

Wp 1/74 Presumed but not proven watchtower based on average distance between towers.
Wp 1/75 "Am Steinrausch"
Wp 1/75
The foundation walls of a rectangular stone tower, which were already very well preserved at the time of the excavations by the Reich Limes Commission, were uncovered again in the 1990s, conserved and walled up around a few layers of stone. It is a rectangular watchtower with side dimensions of 5.20 × 4.40 meters. The wall thickness is up to 1.20 meters, the foundation base protrudes 0.15 to 0.20 meters. The building was erected on an artificial hill and in Roman times was around 31 meters behind the palisade of the Limes. The tower was destroyed by fire. A wooden predecessor building was not proven or not sought.
Wp 1/76 and 1/77 Due to the distinctive Limes bend and the average distance between the towers, suspected but not proven watchtowers.
Wp 1/78 "On the Haferröder"
Wp 1/78
Visible rubble mound of what was once an unusually large stone tower. The square stone building had a side length of 8.50 meters and a wall thickness of one meter. On the northwest side there was a 1.80 meter wide entrance. The structure was surrounded by a four-meter-wide trench, which at the time of the excavations still had a remaining depth of 1.20 meters.

The unusual size probably results from the importance of the tower, which was pushed out from the Limes line to the northeast. From the gallery of the tower located at 390 meters above sea ​​level , it was possible to view almost the entire course of the Limes between the watchtowers Wp 1/71 and Wp 1/84.

Inside the building, the post holes of the previous wooden tower could be identified.

Wp 1/79 "Red spoon" At the time of the RLK, the tower was completely destroyed by stone robbery.
Wp 1/80 Traces of a stone tower ruin. During the investigations of 1894, a formerly square stone tower with sides of 4.60 meters and a wall thickness of one meter was documented.
Wp 1/81 "On the Mühlberg" Traces of a formerly square stone tower with sides of 5.20 meters and one meter thick walls.
Wp 1/82 Presumed but not proven watchtower based on average distance between towers.
ORL 3 Arzbach Castle see main article Arzbach Castle

Monument protection

The Hillscheid small fort and the aforementioned ground monuments have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, the facilities are cultural monuments according to the Monument Protection and Conservation 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

  • 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. 103-104.
  • Axel von Berg: The reconstructed Roman Limes Tower near Hillscheid . In: Arbeitskreis Augst (Ed. :): Die Augst 7 , Arzbach 1997, ISSN  0940-5941 , pp. 113-118.
  • Axel von Berg: Hillscheid. Limes and Roman fort . In: Hans-Helmut Wegner: The Westerwald, district Altenkirchen and Westerwaldkreis . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1093-4 , (Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany, 26), pp. 141-143.
  • Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich . Section A, Volume 1: Lines 1 and 2 (1936).
  • Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92 (Saalburg-Schriften 6).
  • Cliff Alexander Jost: The Roman Limes in Rhineland-Palatinate . State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate , Koblenz 2003, ISBN 3-929645-07-6 , (Archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle, Volume 14), pp. 112–125.
  • Margot Klee: The Limes between Rhine and Main. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0276-1 , pp. 48-50.
  • Margot Klee: Limes. Line 1, Wp 1 / 1–1 / 93 . In: Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate . License issue. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 445-446.
  • Markus Scholz : Reduction from the late Limes period versus medieval installation in Limes forts. In: E. Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 135-145. (Saalburg writings 6).

Web links

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

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Even Georg Loeschcke , the editor of the route description in ORL , the 1900 and 1902 itself adopted the findings on site in inspection, were inconsistencies in the Dahmschen documentation from 1894, especially in the graphic interpretation of the findings. (ORL Dept. A, Vol. 1, Section 1, p. 126 f.).
  2. ↑ a b Otto Dahm's interpretation was based on a corner tower on the south corner and a large, strongly protruding intermediate tower between the gate and the east corner. Loeschcke had already questioned the existence of the intermediate tower.
  3. ↑ a b The discrepancy is explained by the uncertainty in the interpretation of the findings in the area in front of the inner fort.
  4. ↑ Here, too, the interpretation of the first excavators is completely different: “The fort and field camp were undoubtedly built at the same time according to a uniform plan, because the connecting walls of both works are, as has been established by the breaking out of the same, built up to the base of the foundation . “ (ORL Dept. A, Vol. 1, Section 1, p. 126).
  5. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R aetic- L imes
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Wp 1/68 at around 50 ° 24 '53.23 "  N , 7 ° 41' 22.93"  E
  8. ↑ Wp 1/68, reconstruction at 50 ° 24 '57.85 "  N , 7 ° 42' 20.15"  O
  9. ↑ Wp 1/69 at 50 ° 24 '45.4 "  N , 7 ° 42' 48.88"  O
  10. ↑ Wp 1/70 at approximately 50 ° 24 '43.24 "  N , 7 ° 42' 18.06"  E
  11. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  12. ↑ Wp 1/71 at 50 ° 24 '40.62 "  N , 7 ° 42' 36.31"  O
  13. ↑ Wp 1/72 at 50 ° 24 '26.77 "  N , 7 ° 42' 45.4"  O
  14. ↑ Wp 1/73 at 50 ° 24 '11.02 "  N , 7 ° 43' 0.71"  O
  15. ^ Wilhelm Soldan: A Hallstatt branch near Neuhäusel . In: Nassauische Annalen , yearbook of the association for Nassau antiquity and historical research, 31 , (1900), pp. 91–96. Branch from the Hallstatt period near Neuhäusel in the Westerwald . in: Nassauische Annalen, 32 , (1901), pp. 145-189. Branch from the Hallstatt period near Neuhäusel in the Westerwald (addendum) . In: Nassauische Annalen, 33 (1902/1903), pp. 35–41.
  16. ↑ Wp 1/74 at approximately 50 ° 23 '58.04 "  N , 7 ° 43' 6.48"  O
  17. ↑ Wp 1/75 at 50 ° 23 '50.31 "  N , 7 ° 43' 24.51"  O
  18. ↑ Wp 1/76 at approximately 50 ° 23 '41.74 "  N , 7 ° 43' 43.38"  O and Wp 1/77 at approximately 50 ° 23 '48.1 "  N , 7 ° 44' 5.38 ″  O
  19. ↑ Wp 1/78 at 50 ° 23 '47.19 "  N , 7 ° 44' 26.42"  O
  20. ↑ Wp 1/79 at approximately 50 ° 23 '27.66 "  N , 7 ° 44' 30.74"  E
  21. ↑ Wp 1/80 at 50 ° 23 '8.47 "  N , 7 ° 44' 21.83"  O
  22. ↑ Wp 1/81 at 50 ° 22 '51.29 "  N , 7 ° 44' 24.86"  O
  23. ↑ Wp 1/82 at approximately 50 ° 22 '36.65 "  N , 7 ° 44' 39.47"  O
  24. ↑ DschG or DSchPflG RP