Horse head from Waldgirmes

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The horse head, as it is exhibited in a showcase made of armored glass in the Saalburg Museum, was probably part of an equestrian statue that was made about 2000 years ago.

The horse head from Waldgirmes is an archaeological find that was recovered in 2009 in a field near Lahnau - Waldgirmes in Central Hesse . The head probably belonged to an equestrian statue that stood on the forum of the Roman settlement there .

Due to a legal dispute between the state of Hesse and the owner of the site about the value of the object, the restored object was only exhibited in the Saalburg Museum on August 19, 2018 .

Description and origin

Modernized replica of the equestrian statue in Waldgirmes

The horse's head is made of bronze and gold-plated . There are different information on weight and length: the ministry's press release speaks of 15 kg and 59 cm, in the exhibition on the object the information is 14 kg and 55 cm.

Despite being well preserved, the object had to be painstakingly restored for 75,000 euros after it was found. During the restoration, which took around a year, the horse's head was cleaned and the loose gilding attached. The corrosion products of the bronze had to be removed with the greatest care in order not to damage the remaining, only wafer-thin gold plating. Finally, the horse's head was given a protective coating made of acrylic resin.

On the bridge of the horse's nose you can see a plate depicting Mars , the god of war . On the side there are depictions of goddesses of victory. The horse has a bridle richly decorated with six decorative discs and is probably of Italian origin.

Archaeologists suspect that the horse's head belonged to a splendid equestrian statue , as it was erected at that time throughout the Roman Empire as part of a controlled program for the imperial cult . This is supported by the fact that in addition to the head, the statue's left foot and a piece of bridle were found. It was probably shown to Emperor Augustus - which the gilding would speak for, among other things - or less likely to another male member of the imperial family and was exhibited in a central square. That could have been the forum in the Waldgirmes settlement.

The statue was made in the year 4 BC at the earliest. The settlement - and thus probably also the statue - was destroyed after the Varus Battle in 9 or 10 AD.

Locating and litigation

During excavations for the settlement, the remains of the horse's head were found: in a wooden barrel, eleven meters deep in the former well shaft. It is possible that opponents of the Romans destroyed the statue when the settlement burned down and threw the debris into the well.

There has been a legal dispute over the horse's head since the excavation. In federal states without extensive treasure shelves , the owner of a piece of land on which archaeological objects are found shares in the value of the find in accordance with the Hadrian division . In Hesse, the compensation at the time of the find was 50 percent of the value. The land and the farmer could not agree. In 2016 he received 48,000 euros. According to an expert judgment that estimated the value at around 1.6 million, the Limburg Regional Court awarded him compensation of 821,000 euros in the first instance in July 2018. At the end of August 2018, it became known that the state of Hesse was appealing to the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main . It wanted to "protect the interests and the legal position of the country" (Az .: 1 U 174/18). A settlement was reached at the beginning of March 2020, the content of which was agreed not to disclose.

presentation

The horse's head is exhibited in the last room in the Saalburg Museum in a branch of the Principia . The museum itself is actually more dedicated to the Limes , which emerged much later . The size of the statue is indicated on a mural behind the showcase.

From November 7th to December 17th, 2018, the horse's head was displayed in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin in the exhibition Moving Times. Archeology shown in Germany , which took place on the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018.

literature

Web links

Commons : Horse head from Waldgirmes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Horse head accessible as an exhibit. In: Gießener Allgemeine. August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Alexander Wächtershäuser: Roman horse head can be admired from today on the Saalburg. In: Taunus newspaper. August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c Saalburg offers the ideal exhibition environment for ancient Roman horse heads. In: Hessian Ministry for Science and Art. August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Roman horse head costs Hesse over 800,000 euros. In: Welt.de. July 27, 2018, accessed August 20, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Antique horse head to be seen in the Saalburg from August. In: Hessenschau.de. July 31, 2018, accessed August 20, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Bronze horse head from Waldgirmes will be on public display from August 19th. In: Archaelogie-online.de. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  7. ↑ dpa: The dispute over the Roman horse head goes to the next round . In: FAZ.net, August 27, 2018
  8. ↑ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/archaeologie-frankfurt-am-main-vergleich-im-streit-um-roemischen-pferdekopf-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-200305-99-201183 .
  9. ↑ Turbulent times. Archeology in Germany. September 21, 2018 to January 6, 2019. Gropius Bau
  10. ↑ Saalburg offers the ideal exhibition environment for ancient Roman horse heads. In: Hessian Ministry for Science and Art. August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  11. ^ Horse head made of gilded bronze can be seen for six weeks in Berlin at the Hessian Ministry for Science and Art on November 6, 2018
  12. ↑ The stallion from the fountain in Der Tagesspiegel from November 7, 2018