Pfarrhofen small fort
| Pfarrhofen small fort | |
|---|---|
| limes | ORL NN ( RLK ) |
| Route (RLK) |
Upper German Limes , route 2 (Lahn-Aar) |
| Type | Small fort |
| unit | unknown vexillatio |
| size | 38 m × 40 m (= 1500 m²) |
| Construction | stone |
| State of preservation | easily recognizable traces of the terrain |
| place | Miehlen |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 13 '35.6 " N , 7 ° 53' 24.7" E |
| height | 378 m above sea level NHN |
| Previous | Small fort Pohl (northwest) |
| Subsequently | ORL 6: Holzhausen Fort (east-south-east) |
The small fort in Pfarrhofen was a Roman military camp in the Upper German Limes , which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005 . The fortification is located today as a ground monument between the local communities of Bettendorf and Holzhausen an der Haide / (both belonging to the association community of Nastätten ) in the Rhineland-Palatinate Rhein-Lahn district .
location
The Pfarrhofen fort was located on a slope that fell to the northeast, just below a 388.4 m high hilltop and just above a flat mountain saddle that ran from northwest to southeast.
In today's settlement topography, the soil monument is located in the north-eastern edge of a wooded area that belongs to the district of Miehlen. It is located immediately southwest of the federal highway 260 , which when coming from Pohl passes Bettendorf and Obertiefenbach and leads to Holzhausen an der Haide.
Research history
The Pfarrhofener fortification was described in 1884 by Karl August von Cohausen , at the time of which the surrounding wall was still almost half a meter high, although the stones of the fortification had been looted for road construction in 1802 and 1852. When Ernst Fabricius carried out archaeological excavations for the Imperial Limes Commission in September 1897 , almost nothing was left of the rising masonry. Today only flat bumps are visible on site.
Findings
The Pfarrhofen military camp was a stone fort with a single established construction phase. With its sides of 38 × 40 meters, it had an almost square floor plan and covered an area of just over 1,500 square meters. The foundations of the defensive wall had a thickness of 0.90 to 1.05 meters, the quarry stone wall was 75 cm thick as it rose. Their corners were not rounded, but rectangular. No towers could be found at any point of the defense. There was also no earth wall on the inside of the wall, as well as an approach obstacle in the form of a ditch. These peculiarities clearly distinguish the fort from the usual defense architecture on the Upper German Limes.
With its probably only gate, the defense structure faced east, towards the Limes, which passed the camp at a distance of almost 180 meters. No traces of stone structures could be found inside. The large amount of fire rubble mixed with wickerwork, pieces of clay, broken roofing slate and whitewash in the interior indicates that the interior buildings are made of half-timbered structures. The camp streets were at least partially paved.
Nothing is known about the occupation of the small fort. It was probably the vexillatio ( detachment ) of a larger auxiliary unit or a legion. Their task and thus the function of the fort is possibly to be seen in connection with the paths crossing the Limes at the watchtower Wp 2/28.
Limes course between the small fort Pfarrhofen and the fort Holzhausen
The Limes initially runs from the small fort in Pfarrhofen in a south-easterly direction, parallel to today's federal highway 260, the so-called "Bäderstraße". First pulling through agricultural areas, it passes the center of Holzhausen an der Haide. About half a kilometer south-east of the village it turns east and now runs exclusively through forest areas until it reaches the Holzhausen fort. On this section of the route it climbs from 337 to 495 meters in altitude.
| ORL | Name / place | Description / condition |
|---|---|---|
| Wp 2/28 | "Am Oberen Pfarrhofen" |
  The stone tower was a square structure with a side length of 5.33 meters. Its wall thickness was 80 cm. The bottom of the Limes trench was about 23 meters from the tower. It was interrupted in this area in order to allow two hollow paths embroidered with stones to cross the Limes. A wooden tower could not be identified at this tower location. |
| KK | Pfarrhofen small fort | see above |
| Wp 2/29 | "At the cemetery of Holzhausen" |
 The two square wooden towers were on a circular platform about 8.50 meters in diameter. By setting the posts, the inner tower could be determined to have a side length of 2.45 meters, the outer one of 5.40 meters. Both towers were surrounded by moats. The diameter of the inner ring trench was 12 meters, on its northeastern side it was interrupted by a 0.80 meter wide earth walkway. The outer ring trench had a diameter of about 20 meters. Its northeast side was intersected by the Limes moat. The entire find was covered by thick layers of fire rubble in such a way that the destruction by fire must be assumed to be certain for both towers. The Limes ditch was interrupted to the southeast of the wooden tower site and immediately in front of the stone tower over a width of around twelve meters. Three were found at palisade ditches. The connection is largely unclear, but due to their shallow depth, the outer and inner trenches could hardly have been suitable for accommodating the heavy palisade trunks. A grave and a pit from the La Tène period were also uncovered within the overall findings. |
| Wp 2/30, 2/31, 2 / 31a and 2/32 | Due to the distance between Wp 2/29 and Wp 2/33 as well as the topographical conditions assumed but not proven tower locations. | |
| Wp 2/33 | "In the wooden houses community forest" | It was not until autumn 1902 that Hans Lehner discovered and partially excavated the tower where only the stone tower could be identified. This had an unusually uneven floor plan. Compared to 6.73 meters on the north side facing the Limes, the wall on the back was only 5.30 meters long. The length of the two side walls was equally about 5.80 meters. The walls were between 0.80 and 0.90 meters thick. The Limes ditch passing the tower at a distance of 10.80 meters (middle of the ditch) showed no interruption at this point. |
| Wp 2/34 | "West of Holzhausen Castle" |
 A building 8.70 meters northeast of the tower must be added to the vicus of the Holzhausen fort, which extended from here over 280 meters to the military camp. The building consisted of four architectural elements. A basement room, which was provided with an entrance, which probably once included a wooden staircase, was connected to two ground floor rooms. |
| ORL 6 | Holzhausen fort | see main article Kastell Holzhausen |
Monument protection
The small fort in Pfarrhofen and the aforementioned ground monuments have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, the facilities are cultural monuments according to the monument protection of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (DSchG). 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 , p. 111.
- Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich . Department A, Volume 1: The routes 1 and 2 (1936), p. 62 ff., Panel 8, fig. 2 and 3, panel 9, fig. 2, panel 10, fig. 1.
- 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. (= Saalburg writings. 6). Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92.
- Margot Klee : The Limes between Rhine and Main. From the beginning of the Upper German Limes near Rheinbrohl to the Main near Grosskrotzenburg. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0276-1 , pp. 58-59.
- Margot Klee: Limes. Course 2, SS 2/1 - 2/34. In: Heinz Cüppers : The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Theiss, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0308-3 , pp. 449-450.
- Cliff Alexander Jost: The Roman Limes in Rhineland-Palatinate . (= Archeology on the Middle Rhine and Moselle. Volume 14). State Office for Monument Preservation Rhineland-Palatinate , Koblenz 2006, ISBN 3-929645-07-6 , p. 195.
Web links
- The Limes near Pfarrhofen and Pohl on the official website of the community of Bettendorf
- The Limes near Pfarrhofen and Pohl ( Memento from May 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on the old website of the tourist information office of the Nastätten municipality
Remarks
- ^ Karl August von Cohausen: The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same . Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884, pp. 211-212.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
- ↑ Wp 2/28 at 50 ° 13 '39.88 " N , 7 ° 53' 31.89" O .
- ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
- ↑ Wp 2/29 at 50 ° 13 '26.14 " N , 7 ° 54' 1.32" O .
- ↑ Wp 2/29 at 50 ° 13 '26.69 " N , 7 ° 54' 0.9" O .
- ↑ Wp 2/30 at approximately 50 ° 13 '3.6 " N , 7 ° 54' 29.98" O , Wp 2/31 at about 50 ° 12 '47.53 " N , 7 ° 54' 52.59 " O , Wp 2 / 31a at approximately 50 ° 12 '43.12" N , 7 ° 55' 9.54 " O and Wp 2/32 at approximately 50 ° 12 '43.81" N , 7 ° 55' 27 , 73 " O .
- ↑ Wp 2/33 at 50 ° 12 '37.38 " N , 7 ° 56' 4.24" O .
- ↑ Wp 2/34 at 50 ° 12 '50.6 " N , 7 ° 56' 33.5" O .
- ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL
