Saarbrücken Roman fort
| Saarbrücken Roman fort | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | unknown |
| limes | Protection in the hinterland, Belgica province |
| Dating (occupancy) | 4th to 5th century |
| Type | late Roman fort |
| unit | unknown |
| size | 66 a |
| Construction | Sandstone |
| State of preservation | late Roman fort at the intersection of Roman highways |
| place | Saarbrücken |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 13 '25.7 " N , 7 ° 1' 26.9" E |
The Roman fort Saarbrücken was a late Roman fort , the restored remains of which are in what is now Saarbrücken - St. Johann . In Roman times it belonged to the Roman province of Belgica , in the eastern part of which today's Saarbrücken was located. The remains are under monument protection .
history
The fort, consisting of a six-sided polygon with four proven round towers, was built after 352. In the area of the fort there was a crossing point of the highways Metz-Mainz and Strasbourg - Trier . The fort was probably never completed. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the fort was abandoned and destroyed in the 5th century. With the reports of a Roman bridge over the Saar and the towers only on the side facing away from the river, this Roman fortification can also be interpreted as a Roman Burgus .
The foundations of the fort were exposed during excavations in 1924 and 1962, conserved and are now freely accessible in a small park north of the Saar-Osthafen. Due to a construction project in the immediate vicinity in the north of the fort, hidden areas of the walls were exposed again for a long time in 2017, conserved and together today give an impression of the extent of the late antique fort. Presumably the fort was intended to secure the Saar crossing of the trunk road and at the same time to secure the nearby Roman settlement.
A fully preserved Roman skeleton was unearthed in a late Roman body grave during excavations south of today's east port in 2009, the complete decoding of which is still in progress. The restored shoes found in the process can now be viewed at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History on Saarbrücken Castle Square. To the east of this are the remains of the Mithras Chapel on Halberg , which is related to the remains of the Vicus Saravus .
Building description
The excavator from 1924, the Saarbrücken Conservator Carl Klein , described the fort in the record of the excavations given by him as follows: The fort has a built-up area of around 66 a . The polygon consists of a rectangle and an attached trapezoid . Four round towers between 6.4 and 6.6 meters in diameter were excavated at the corner points of the trapezoid pointing north from the Saar. The Roman main road Metz- Worms ran in the middle from NNE to SSW . The base of the fort 's walls was about 2.15 to 2 meters below today's level. In its structure, the core of the wall consisted of cast masonry with inlaid roller layers and sand rubble stones laid outwards in a bond, which were processed on the outside. The excavators of 1924 describe the execution as not very careful , but praised the mortar as of excellent quality .
The northeast tower, where a lot of fire rubble was found, was completely excavated. Three brick steps with a threshold led the excavators to a building leaning against the tower with internal dimensions of 4.5 by 3.8 meters. A room measuring 3.4 by 1.2 meters was also found near the north tower. Upstream safety trenches could not be found.
In the middle between the two towers, another 65 cm wide masonry was found, which was identified as a system that must have existed before the fort was built. The remainder of the trunk road was found at the same place, only 30 to 40 cm below the surface of the earth. The side of the path was lined with shod limestone. A pack layer made of small limestone up to 12 cm thick was detectable as the road surface. Parts of Terra Sigillata with the stamp VITRIOFE (CIL XII 1010, 2066 a) were excavated at the foundation area of the fort. 25 coins were found, but most of them were so damaged that they could not be determined with the means available at the time. Sesterces ( called Kleinerzen ) of Tetricus (last Roman emperor of the Gallic special empire ), of Constantinus I and Julianus could be determined.
Roman fort as namesake
Numerous objects in the area bear the name "Roman fort":
- The street at the Roman fort
- The Saarbahn stop at Römerkastell
- From 2010 to January 2016, the Club Römerkastell existed in the former, now demolished Becolin paint factory
- Various buildings bear the name affix to the Roman fort
literature
- Carl Klein: A late Roman fort near Saarbrücken. , Germania (correspondence sheet of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute) Vol. 9 , Bamberg 1925, pp. 58–62
- Pascale-Luisa Huber: The late antique Saarbrücken Castle , University of Mainz 2014.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Corresponds roughly to the area of a small cohort fort
- ^ The mysterious skeleton from the Osthafen from June 6, 2010 in www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de ; accessed on August 7, 2019
- ↑ Mithras Sanctuary ; accessed on August 7, 2019
- ↑ Alfons Kolling : The name of the Roman Saarbrücken , in: 12th report of the state preservation of monuments 1965 , p. 61–65.