Roman marching camp from Wilkenburg

Pointed ditch of the Roman Marschlag from Wilkenburg with cleaning ditch (below), above it the topsoil of the arable land.
(Pointed ditch colored by photo editing)

Main excavation area in the south-western gate area of ​​the Roman Marschlag from Wilkenburg, October 2015

The Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg from the time of the birth of Christ offered space for around 20,000 Roman soldiers on an area of ​​around 30  hectares and was located near today's Wilkenburg in the Hanover region . The traces of the characteristic Roman pointed trench in the ground were already spotted in the early 1990s during aerial archaeological overflights, which led to the preliminary assessment as a Roman fort . The archaeological evidence of a Roman marching camp was only made in 2015 on the basis of research by a volunteer aerial photograph archaeologist. Since then, archaeological investigations have taken place on the site. The facility is the first marching camp discovered in Lower Saxony and the furthest north-east in Germania ( Germania magna ) on the right bank of the Rhine . Efforts have been made since 2014 to mine large areas of gravel on the site , which would destroy the archaeological remains.

location

Sketch of the location with signs of vegetation (colored red) of the Roman Spitz trench, green the wooded strip of lowland thick Riede

The Brook “ Dicke Riede” in the wooded lowland strip within the Marschlag

The Roman marching camp was located about eight kilometers south of today's city center of Hanover . The site is located between the Hemming districts of Wilkenburg and Arnum in the Obere Leine landscape protection area . State road 389 runs to the west and the Im Häge forest to the east . The western part of the warehouse is located in the Eulenkamp parcel and the eastern warehouse area is in the Müggenwinkel parcel. The site is about 2 km from the east-running Leine and about 1.2 km from the old old arm of the Leine to the east. The marching camp was between Hanover and Sarstedt at the narrowest point of the linen lowland that was suitable for crossing. It was laid out on a dry sand dome of the low terrace on the eastern edge of the river valley, where a dry rest was possible. It is believed that at that time it was an open area that was not forested.

The storage area is cut through almost in the middle by the thick Riede lowland strip with a stream of the same name . The lightly wooded lowland area is about 100 meters wide and several hundred meters long. Geomorphologically it is to be addressed as the oxbow lake of the Leine and should have served the Romans as a fresh water supply. According to findings from 2017, the watercourse was navigable and had a connection to the leash, so that the camp could be supplied by Roman transport boats.

From a spacious perspective, the camp was located on the edge of the fertile Calenberger Loessbörde in an area that was a densely populated Germanic settlement chamber around the time of Christ's birth . Not far in the area of ​​today's Hanover, important north-south routes crossed with east-west connections north of the low mountain range threshold.

Today the former storage area is surrounded in the south, east and partly in the north by ponds that have recently been created by gravel mining in the linen lowlands. There are no longer any traces of the march on the site of the find; it is now subject to agricultural use.

description

The camp was an almost square facility with a side length of around 500 to 600 meters and an area of ​​around 30 hectares. It was surrounded by a moat of the usual Roman construction. Excavations in 2015 revealed that the in the upcoming eintiefende sand storage digging today has a depth from 0.9 to 1.3 meters and a width of 1.2 meters. About 2000 year old Germanic ceramic shards that were found in the backfilling of the trench contributed to the temporal classification of the trench. Of the four corners of the system that were previously four geometrically precisely rounded corners (like playing card corners), three have been preserved in the floor. The fourth, northwest corner has recently been built over with residential houses. The marching camp presumably had a gate area of unknown construction on each of the four sides , of which the southwest gate was identified. It was located at the highest point of the camp, which is typical for Roman marching camps and corresponds to the traditional specifications from the work De munitionibus castrorum by an author called Pseudo-Hygin for the construction of such systems. The gate opening, which is around 20 meters wide, was an interruption of the Spitz trench.

While the archaeologists assumed the legionnaires would stay for a very short time between one and three nights shortly after the discovery, today (2017) they suspect a longer useful life of up to several weeks due to the high number of coins found (approx. 50). They consider the system to be single-phase, i.e. only used once.

Grounds of the previous marchers

Arable land in the western area of ​​the Marschlag with a sketch of the viewing angle

Field in the eastern area of ​​the Marschlagers

Discovery and disclosure

The aerial archaeologist Heinz-Dieter Freese giving a lecture on the marching camp, 2016

Announcement of the discovery at a press conference at the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation , October 2015

The aerial photograph archaeologist Otto Braasch recognized positive growth marks in three places in a grain field near Wilkenburg during systematic flight surveys , which he carried out on behalf of the Institute for Monument Preservation at the time. This indicated former ditch structures under the cultivated area. Since trenches usually with humus-rich topsoil are filled, they have a higher profitability on. As a result, plants grow taller over former ditches and, especially in the case of grain, have a stronger green color in the ditch area compared to the surrounding area and later ripening .

In the following years Otto Braasch documented the conspicuous vegetation features with additional aerial photographs. With his experiences, which among other things led to the discovery of the Roman camp Marktbreit in 1985 , Braasch assessed the Wilkenburg property as a possible “ Roman fort ”. Both camps are among the few Roman camps identified from the air. The soil structures seen by Otto Braasch in Wilkenburg could initially be interpreted as the remains of Neolithic earthworks , land weirs , field enclosures, bee fences , camps from the French era or as modern pipeline trenches . Since there was in 1992 for the area applied for gravel mining, it examined the archaeologist Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf and numismatists Frank Berger promptly with inspections . They found individual ceramic shards from the Iron Age , which indicated an earlier settlement in this area, but no remains of a fortification or traces from Roman times. In 1993 a special excavation was carried out with five excavation cuts in the course of the possible trench, which could not be recognized in the ground. The area has been classified as an archaeological site of unknown date. Further investigations were not carried out in the following 20 years, as the gravel mining process was no longer carried out and the ground monument was therefore not threatened with destruction.

The identification of the Roman origin of the complex was only possible at the end of 2014 through research by the honorary aerial photograph archaeologist Heinz-Dieter Freese . The reason was the renewal of the application for mining gravel in the same year. Freese compared his aerial photos, which he had taken as a member of the Luftbild AG of the Friends of Archeology in Lower Saxony , with those of possible Roman sites from the holdings of the State Office for Monument Preservation. The 200 or so aerial photos of Wilkenburg were rectified and superimposed in the state office so that a larger square system could be seen on the ground. The rounded corners of the complex, which are so even in no other archaeological culture, were decisive for recognizing the Roman origin . These findings prompted the first archaeological investigations on site in April 2015.

The public learned of the discovery through media reports in October 2015 a few days before the official announcement. It spoke of finds in a Roman camp south of Hanover, the location of which was still kept secret by the experts at the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation. On October 15, 2015, the Lower Saxony State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and the University of Osnabrück announced the discovery of the Roman march at a press conference in Hanover. The announcement met with broad national media coverage.

Prospecting and excavations

Excavation section through the Spitz trench with the marked profile, in the foreground the "spooned out" profile of the Spitz trench, 2015

Trial excavation to find the Spitz trench, 2017

Geophysical investigation of the subsurface with a fluxgate magnetometer , 2019

On the basis of the new aerial photo findings from the end of 2014, the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation carried out a new excavation with two probe cuts in April 2015 after the special excavation of 1993, which was headed by the district archaeologist Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf responsible for the site. At the same time, participating institutions undertook geophysical and systematic area surveys in the area of ​​the suspected storage facility , including using metal detectors . The archaeologists suspected further Roman remains in the area, such as garbage pits and latrines . They also reckoned with the remains of ovens , as the Romans usually baked bread in their marchers. There were around 270 ovens in the Roman camps in Holsterhausen, which were used several times .

Geophysical measurements of geomagnetics and soil resistance confirmed the pointed ditch recognized in aerial photographs and the garbage pits recognized in the images. During the two excavation cuts in April 2015, V-shaped pointed trenches of Roman construction emerged in the soil profiles . From September 2015, a larger excavation was carried out by the State Office in cooperation with the Department of Ancient History , Archeology of the Roman Provinces of the University of Osnabrück. The south-western gate area and the surrounding moat of the Marschlagers were examined by two excavation cuts. The trench is rectangular in the bottom area, a good 20 cm deep and about 30 cm wide. This closure is regarded as the “cleaning ditch”, which was common in Roman defensive ditches and is known from research.

The investigations in 2015 were only carried out on a small scale and selectively. The Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation (NLD) and the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich started a joint research project with interdisciplinary partners in 2016 and announced further research with various partners.

According to media reports, after the discovery was announced at the end of 2015, in one case illegal probes were expelled from the area of ​​the Roman camp, and in another case there was presumably activities of robbery graves . The archaeologists drew attention to the fact that there are no finds of financial value to be expected there, but that the objects in their context are of great importance for research.

At the beginning of 2017, investigations were carried out in the lowland area of Dicke Riede with suspected boggy soils that run through the former storage area. The NLD drilled holes using a Pürckhauer drill rod in order to gain knowledge of the condition of the wetland during the presence of the Romans by means of paleobotanical investigations. However, no peat layers with pollen material that could be examined could be found. During further geophysical investigations in 2017, a new piece of the trench course was identified in the northeastern storage area, so that the storage area could have been up to 40 hectares in size.

In August and September 2017, the Lower Saxony State Office for the Preservation of Monuments carried out another special excavation 20 meters long and two meters wide in order to prove the Spitz trench. In order to detect small finds such as coins, the soil material was manually slurried and sieved . The Roman camp ditch could not be proven. Instead, as with the 2015 excavation, the remains of a cremation cemetery were found , which indicates that the march camp area was previously used in the Bronze Age. A funeral urn could be traced back to the 12th century BC using the C-14 method . Date to the younger Bronze Age.

In 2018, excavations in Rethen uncovered the remains of a Germanic settlement and an associated cemetery with 380 cremation graves five kilometers east of the Roman Marschlagers . The settlement existed in the two centuries before and after the birth of Christ. The analysis of the finds takes place in particular with regard to a connection between the settlement and the Roman marching camp in Wilkenburg. According to archaeologists, it is possible that the Germanic inhabitants had contact with the Romans.

By 2019, around one percent of the area of ​​the marshes had been archaeologically investigated using ground interventions. In 2019, the chemist Franz Renz from the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at Leibniz University Hanover suggested using Mössbauer spectroscopy as a non-destructive method in the search for Roman remains on the camp grounds. He has been using the technology for years for soil analysis on Mars on behalf of NASA .

Finds

Excavation site and marked course of the former Spitz trench, 2015

Parallel to the investigations in Wilkenburg, the evaluation of the previous finds and their restoration is taking place in the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation. There is also a numismatic assessment of the coins found . The archaeometric investigations are carried out by the archaeometallurgist Robert Lehmann from the Archaeometry Working Group at Leibniz Universität Hannover .

The search on the site so far (2018) has led to around 2500 non-ferrous metal finds from all historical epochs up to the 20th century. They were all found in the plow horizon . An archaeometric investigation has been carried out on around 220 pieces. So far (2017) about 200 of the investigated finds are proven to be of Roman origin. These include shoe nails , silver-plated brass tweezers, ornate brass buttons and the fragment of a clasp . A special find is a crescent-shaped lunula as an ornament on a horse harness, which has a repair spot made of tin . Another special find is a small, fully plastic wolf head made of lead bronze, which probably belonged to an open arm ring. A comparable piece was found in 2015 in the Kymijoki valley in Finland, suggesting trade relations between southern, central and northern Europe.

In addition, around 70 coins or parts thereof have been found so far (2018), including bronze and silver coins as well as copper coins as Roman soldiers' money. Almost all the coins found are badly corroded , making them difficult to identify from their coin images. Several of the copper coins found are halved, which was common around the birth of Christ in the north, as they had twice the purchasing power there compared to Italy. One of the copper coins, an ace from Nemausus with a crocodile head, was made during the 2nd and 1st decades BC. Minted. These coins were common during the time of the Roman occupation of Germania; they were also found in the supply camp Hedemünden and in the Roman camp in Oberaden . The finds also include a mint master Ace, which according to an initial determination by the numismatist Frank Berger of the Frankfurt Historical Museum under C. Plotius Rufus 15 BC. Was coined. There were also a republican denarius and Celtic coins , which are also known as small ores and were typical soldiers' money. The oldest coin is a denarius from 113 BC. A Gaius Lucius denarius, which according to studies by the numismatist Ulrich Werz from 2 BC. BC to 1 BC Was minted, is currently (2018) as the final coin . The range of coins differs significantly from those found in the Druze Roman camp in Hedemünden and from the coins found in the Kalkriese area of the Varus period . According to the Lower Saxony state archaeologist Henning Haßmann, the coin finds in Wilkenburg are reliable evidence that Roman soldiers were staying in central Lower Saxony.

• Coin finds
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  Denarius , 82 BC Chr.

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  Roman ace , 15 BC. Chr.

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  Roman Nemausus -As

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  Silver denarius Gaius Lucius, from 2 BC. BC to 1 BC BC as the final coin

• Metal finds
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  Strap fitting

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  Harness hanger in lunula shape

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  Harness hanger

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  Brass tweezers, Roman origin

meaning

Historical interpretation

Archaeological science has long suspected Roman marching camps in northern Germany . It is extremely difficult to prove it, as the very short-term use has hardly left any traces. The Wilkenburg marching camp is one of the few sites with Roman findings in Lower Saxony , along with the Kalkriese and Harzhorn battlefields , the Hedemünden Roman camp and the Bentumersiel site . While Roman references have so far only been found in the outskirts of Lower Saxony, Wilkenburg is in a central location and is the marching camp furthest northeast in the North German lowlands . The special significance of the Wilkenburg march is seen in the fact that it revises the previous knowledge of Roman campaigns and points to new marching routes for the conquest of Germania on the right bank of the Rhine ( Germania magna ).

According to the Roman provincial archaeologist Salvatore Ortisi , who scientifically directed the work in the Kalkriese find region, the dimensions of the camp allowed for around 20,000 soldiers to be accommodated, which corresponds to three legions including auxiliary troops and entourage . This makes it one of the largest Roman camps of this type discovered to date on the right of the Rhine . The closest parallels are the Haltern field camp and one of the Holsterhausen marching camps .

At a first assessment, the camp was roughly dated between 12 BC. And 9 AD, when the Romans made several attempts at a military occupation of Germania magna.

Based on the coin spectrum with that of 2 v. BC to 1 BC With the Gaius Lucius denarius minted as the final coin, it is most likely that the marching camp was created between the years 1 and 6 AD. For this period, the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus narrated other military actions of the Romans in Germania, which he described as Immensum bellum ("mighty war"). The campaigns served to subjugate Germanic tribes that had revolted against the Roman exercise of power on the right bank of the Rhine. These tribes also included the Cherusci in the Leine-Weser-Harz region and the Longobards on the Elbe. Velleius Paterculus witnessed the military operations as an officer under the command of Tiberius . According to his own statement, he served from AD 4 under the command of Tiberius, initially as a cavalry prefect.

The archaeologists have designed two historical scenarios for classifying the camp. The marching camp could have been created during a campaign in Germania magna, with which the Romans in Germania , starting from their large camp in Mainz , tried to expand their sphere of power to the east. In order to be able to transport supplies effectively, the Roman expeditions also moved along rivers with military bases lined up on their banks , such as the Roman camps along the Lippe . The Provincial Roman archaeologist Bettina Tremmel from LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen believes it is possible that the Romans came to Wilkenburg from the Barkhausen camp and that there were two or three more marching camps on the route. The Barkhausen camp was again two days' march from the Bielefeld-Sennestadt Roman camp, which was discovered in 2017 . The Lower Saxony state archaeologist Henning Haßmann suspects the next Lower Saxony marching camp to be within a radius of 20 kilometers from Wilkenburg. According to the archaemetallurge Robert Lehmann, the high quality of the metal finds indicates that they belonged to special troops, such as guards and parade troops .

In the case of Wilkenburg, the marching camp, together with the Roman camp Hedemünden, is seen as part of the Roman strategy to use the Leinegraben and, beyond that, the lower reaches of the Leine as a parade line. The scientists hope to find more systems of this type at a distance of 20 kilometers from Wilkenburg, as this distance corresponds to a day's march by the Romans.

According to the other scenario, the Wilkenburg marching camp could have been laid out by the Roman army commander Varus , who was appointed in 7 AD . This is currently countered by the lack of coins from this period, for example with counterstamps of the Varus from the years 7 to 9 AD.

Archaeological importance

The Wilkenburg marching camp is one of the largest Roman camps on the right of the Rhine and is the largest Roman ground monument in Lower Saxony. It is one of the few Roman marshals north of the Limes that has largely not been built over. It is also the most northeastern camp found so far and represents the first archaeological evidence of the written tradition of the Immensum bellum ("mighty war") by the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus .

The then Lower Saxony Minister for Science and Culture Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić ( Alliance 90 / The Greens ) said in October 2015:

“The discovery of the Roman march near Wilkenburg is an outstanding achievement in Lower Saxony archeology. It is based on the use of modern prospecting techniques and the close cooperation with the University of Osnabrück. "

Against the background of the threat posed by gravel mining ( see below: Threat from gravel mining ), the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation (NLD), in consensus with German and international experts, sees an outstanding scientific and public interest in its preservation. The importance of the place of discovery is that the storage area has not been built over.

According to the Lower Saxony Monument Protection Act, there is a basic requirement for preservation of monuments, from which deviations are only made in exceptional cases. If important public concerns predominate, the findings must be documented before they are destroyed by rescue excavation. In the case of Wilkenburg archaeologists are also demanding a sludge and seven of the topsoil as a fund-leading layer of soil, as the small-scale and fragmented Roman legacies can not be found by conventional excavation. According to the NLD, a rescue excavation at the Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg is prohibited from a technical point of view. Archaeologists want to keep the site as a research reserve, as further improved research methods can be expected in the future. The district archaeologist of the NLD Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf, who was responsible for the site, commented on the importance of the site as follows:

“We have a lot of gravel pits, but only this one Roman marching camp”.

In the NLD's view, the public concern of maintaining a ground monument of European importance should take precedence over public and private interests in the extraction of raw materials. In stark contrast to this was the first assessment of the Hanover region under monument law as a lower monument protection authority in December 2016. It did not attribute any “outstanding importance” to the ground monument, since hundreds of comparable marching camps of Roman troops had already been found in Europe. According to the local archaeologist responsible at the time, Ute Bartelt , the ground monument had no “European significance” because it did not meet the criteria for the European Heritage Label.

presentation

Since the discovery of the Roman marcher from Wilkenburg on October 15, 2015, the public has been regularly informed about the historical background of the former facility by the state through the town of Hemmingen responsible for the site and the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation (NLD).

guides

Guided tour on the area of ​​the Marschlagers, 2016

Guided tour, on the right a legionnaire in Roman military equipment, 2016

Reading of a historical Latin text by Karola Hagemann

On the Open Monument Day 2016, the NLD offered public tours of the found area, in which around 400 people took part. A first information board was unveiled in the south-western area of ​​the camp, near a former gate area, with the participation of the Friends of Archeology in Lower Saxony . At the beginning of 2017, the Römer AG Leine (RAGL) ( see below: Römer AG Leine ), the citizens' initiative against gravel mining in Wilkenburg and the Numismatic Society in Hanover set up a second information board. It is located in the north-eastern warehouse area on the outskirts of Wilkenburg. In the summer of 2017, the RAGL set up a third information board in the southeastern warehouse area. On the Open Monument Day 2017, archaeologists from the NLD dug a short piece of a Roman moat in the arable soil for demonstration purposes.

In 2017, plans for the museum and tourist use of the site were announced. At the beginning of the year, a lecturer from the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Hanover presented a design for a  visitor center with an educational trail at the Roman camp. This would consist of a 15 meter high observation tower . The cost is around 350,000 euros. At the end of 2017, plans by Römer AG Leine became known to set up an information hut as an information center with a Roman wooden tower as an observation tower in an allotment garden on the edge of the find area. A financial participation in the information center as an extracurricular learning location and tourist attraction is not planned by the Hanover region or the state of Lower Saxony; according to Römer AG Leine , it could be funded by foundations. In addition, with the project “Wilkenburg: Archaeological Exhibition Room and Visitor Center” , students from the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences are developing concepts for the museum use of the found area, which could also include the nearby Graf Carl von Alten mausoleum .

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  Unveiling of the first information board on the Open Monument Day 2016 by the Lower Saxony state archaeologist Henning Haßmann (center)

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  Installation of the second panel by Robert Lehmann and Karola Hagemann from Römer AG Leine (RAGL), 2017

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  Explanations by Robert Lehmann when setting up the third panel, 2017

Römer AG Leine

Information hut of the Römer AG Leine on the edge of the Marschlagers, lecture "Wine in ancient Rome", 2018

Disputation of a bachelor thesis on metal finds from the Roman camp at the Infohütte, 2018

Shortly after the March hit became known, five people founded the Römer AG Leine (RAGL) as an interdisciplinary working group in 2015 in the spirit of Citizen Science . It includes experts from various fields such as soil science , chemistry, graphics and aerial photography archeology, including the numismatist Ulrich Werz , the author Karola Hagemann and the archaeometallurgist Robert Lehmann . The working group carries out public relations work on the marching camp in coordination with the preservation of monuments. This is done in cooperation with the city of Hemmingen, the Leibniz University of Hanover , the Numismatic Society of Hanover , the Circle of Friends for Archeology in Lower Saxony and the State Association of the Jewish Communities of Lower Saxony . Since the beginning of 2016, the RAGL has been organizing regular tours of the site, also accompanied by a legionnaire . They take place on various topics from the time of the Romans, such as the life of the Roman legionnaire, Tiberius, traders in the Roman army, wine in ancient Rome and take place monthly in the winter half-year. In 2016, almost 1,000 interested people were shown around the site.

In the summer of 2017, the RAGL started a project called Hanover, Aleppo, Rome - brought into being by the Romans , in which people from different nations are committed to preserving the Roman camp. The patron of the project is the chairman of the regional association of the Jewish communities of Lower Saxony Michael Fürst.

In 2018, the RAGL set up an information hut on the edge of the site as a small information center for the marching camp. It is located on a garden parcel of an allotment garden and consists of a garden shed painted in the traditional Roman colors of red and white. On the site, the participants are welcomed by tours and information about the Roman camp is offered. For the first time in the open air, the disputation of a bachelor thesis at the Leibniz University Hannover took place on the site in August 2018, which deals with the chemical analysis of metal finds from the Roman camp.

Symposia and information events

In September 2016, the University of Hanover , Römer AG Leine , the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation (NLD) and the Lower Saxony Heimatbund organized a symposium on the subject of the Wilkenburg Roman Camp in the Hemmingen town hall . The district archaeologist Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf from the State Office for Monument Preservation informed about 90 visitors about the current state of research. The ancient historian Horst Callies from the Department of History at the University of Hanover gave a lecture on the Roman advance into Germania in connection with the politics of the Roman emperors Tiberius and Augustus .

A second symposium on the subject of the Wilkenburg Roman Camp took place in April 2017 in the Hemmingen town hall. The organizers were the University of Hanover , Römer AG Leine , the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation (NLD) and the Numismatic Society of Hanover . In front of around 60 visitors, the Provincial Roman archaeologist Bettina Tremmel from LWL Archeology for Westphalia compared the Wilkenburg camp with the Roman camps discovered in North Rhine-Westphalia along the Lippe .

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  First symposium of the Wilkenburg Roman camp in the town hall of Hemmingen, 2016

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  Ancient historian Horst Callies at the first symposium, 2016

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  Lecture by the district archaeologist Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf at the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation, 2017

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  Second Symposium Roman Camp Wilkenburg , 2017

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  Archaeologist Bettina Tremmel from LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen at the second symposium, 2017

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  Lecture by the ancient historian Peter Kracht in the town hall of Hemmingen, 2019

Threat from gravel mining

Due to a dismantling application from the building materials manufacturer Holcim in 2014, the site is threatened with destruction by gravel mining . According to the planning documents publicly laid out in the summer of 2015, over 30  hectares in the Obere Leine landscape protection area are planned to be gravel in two places (17 and 16 hectares) over a period of about 10 years, which will create two quarry ponds. According to the Regional Spatial Planning Program Region Hannover (RROP), the extraction of raw materials through gravel extraction is fundamentally not compatible with the interests of landscape protection. Nevertheless, the planned mining area is designated in the state spatial planning program (LROP) as a " priority area raw material extraction" and "1st order deposit", in which matters of landscape protection are less important than matters of securing the supply of raw materials. The total of 40 hectares affected by gravel mining makes up around 0.25 percent of around 16,000 hectares that are reserved for the mining of gravel and sand in Lower Saxony as safety areas in the state spatial planning program.

The Hemmingen city ​​council spoke out against the planned gravel mining in autumn 2015, as did the St. Vitus parish of Wilkenburg-Harkenbleck as the owner of a 30,000 m² area. In 2017, the CDU regional chairman, Bernward Schlossarek, declared that the Hanover region could be culturally enhanced by the Roman camp. Also in 2017, the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the Hanover Region Council announced that it supports efforts to preserve the march. The faction of this party in the Lower Saxony state parliament joined this in 2019 and sent a small inquiry with the title "Gravel mining or Roman camp?" To the Lower Saxony state government as to whether a change to the state spatial planning program was intended. The state government denied this, as gravel mining cannot be ruled out despite a change.

Plan approval procedure

The plan approval procedure for gravel mining has been running in the Hanover region since 2015 , which was delayed due to the discovery of the Roman Marschlag at the end of 2015. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation and the Hanover Region as the Lower Monument Protection Authority are involved in the process as monument protection authorities. As of September 2016, there were 28 statements from municipalities, associations and public bodies as well as around 250 objections from private individuals. In addition to the monument protection for the Roman camp, it deals with the issues of nature , species , noise and flood protection , taking into account a flood of the century . In 2016 it became known that it was also an approval procedure under the Federal Immission Control Act . In the summer of 2017, the Holcim company announced its continued interest in gravel mining. The company makes a realization dependent on the requirements of the monument protection authority for the archaeological work.

A final decision in the planning approval procedure was originally planned by the Hanover region after a public hearing in 2017. In mid-2018, the Hanover region announced that it had been waiting for a statement from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture on the requirements that specify the scope of a rescue excavation since 2017. At the end of 2018, the future of the Roman camp was still unclear and the plan approval process had not yet been completed. According to the Hanover region, the area is basically intended for gravel mining and the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Protection is waiting for the almost 40 hectare area to be protected. Despite the announcement by the Hanover region, no decision was made in the planning approval procedure in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, Holcim had geomagnetic surveys carried out in the planned mining area in order to calculate the profitability of gravel mining. If the decision is made to dismantle it around mid-2020, the approval process will continue with a public hearing.

Monument law statement

In December 2016, the Lower Monument Protection Authority of the Hanover Region announced its expert opinion on the site in the planning approval procedure. In it, the preservation authorities of the municipal association approve the gravel mining on the site of the Roman Marschlag, subject to certain conditions. According to Axel Priebs , the responsible head of the environment for the Hanover region , the company generally has a right to dismantle if there are no higher public interests that conflict with it. In the event of a decision in favor of gravel mining, this would be possible under the condition that the Hanover region have the site of the find professionally examined archaeologically beforehand. The costs for this, the sum of which could amount to several million euros, are incumbent on the mining company according to the polluter pays principle anchored in the Lower Saxony Monument Protection Act . Should gravel extraction not take place due to excessive costs, the Hanover region announced that it would not undertake any further archaeological explorations.

As regards the technical opinion of the Lower Monument Protection Authority, the city of Hemmingen announced in December 2016 that the issues of monument protection are only part of the pending plan approval procedure.

Criticism of the monument law statement

Information to the public through a press conference at the site by the archaeologists Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf and Henning Haßmann (center) and the Mayor of Hemmingen, Claus-Dieter Schacht-Gaida , 2017

At the beginning of 2017, the Hanover Region's statement on monument law was criticized. The Römer AG Leine (RAGL) demanded in an " open letter " from the responsible environmental officer of the Hanover region Axel Priebs a reassessment of the facts about the ground monument. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture initially saw no reason to intervene in the expert dispute, as the Hanover region was responsible for law enforcement. As a result, the RAGL called on the Lower Saxony Minister for Science and Culture Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić to intervene in an “open letter” . In the letter, the association criticizes the historical expert opinion of the Hanover region and sees it as scientific misconduct. The Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation was also critical. In a letter to the Hanover region, the state office refuted the region's report "point by point" and accuses the region of having laid down too lax conditions for the gravel mining company in the event of a rescue excavation.

At the beginning of 2017, the mayor of Hemmingen Claus-Dieter Schacht-Gaida ( SPD ) and the Lower Saxony state archaeologist Henning Haßmann informed the public about the Roman camp and the threat of gravel mining at an on-site visit. In 2017 the city council of Hemmingen passed a resolution supported by all four council groups , which is aimed at those responsible for the Hanover region and the state of Lower Saxony. In it they are asked to end the plans for gravel mining and to preserve the Roman camp. In the event of a permit for gravel mining, the city of Hemmingen announced that it would examine legal steps against such a decision.

round table

In 2017, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture intervened in the dispute over the preservation of the Roman camp. It formulated requirements that relate to scientific investigations and excavations and which the mining company would have to meet in the event of a gravel. The ministry also brought the monument authorities involved, such as the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation, the Lower Monument Protection Authority of the Hanover Region and other experts to a table in February 2017 to discuss how to proceed. The Roman provincial archaeologist Salvatore Ortisi , who led the excavations in Wilkenburg in 2015, took part. As a result, the Hanover region agreed to update its monument law statement. This is done on the basis of extensive new documents that the archaeologist Ortisi had made available.

petition

The initiators of the petition on the site of the Roman marcher Wilkenburg

Presentation of the petition by the initiative Kultur bergen, instead of digging gravel in front of the information hut at the Roman camp, 2019

At the beginning of 2019, the Kultur bergen initiative submitted an online petition to the Lower Saxony state parliament instead of gravel . In the submission, the Lower Saxony state government was asked to preserve and research the Roman marching hammer. According to the petition, the Ministry of Science should preserve the area as a cultural heritage worthy of protection and the Ministry of Agriculture should exclude the area from the extraction of raw materials in the spatial planning program. The initiators of the petition saw, among others, Agriculture Minister Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU), Science Minister Björn Thümler (CDU) and Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) have an obligation to work “for the preservation of cultural assets” and to prevent gravel mining. The petition was signed by around 6,000 citizens, which was followed by a public hearing before the Parliament's Petitions Committee . The petitioners called in the provincial Roman archaeologist Michael Erdrich and the chemist Franz Renz from the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at Leibniz University Hannover as experts . The petition was supported by the parliamentary group of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party on behalf of their spokesman Christian Meyer . At the end of 2019, after a parliamentary debate, the Lower Saxony state parliament decided not to refer the petition to the Lower Saxony state government for consideration, but to refer it to the Hanover region. The reason for the decision was that the Hanover region was responsible for approving gravel mining and, if necessary, excavating the marsher. Nonetheless, the members of the state parliament recognized the outstanding importance of the Roman marcher from Wilkenburg. It is a cultural monument worthy of protection and a novelty in research history because it is the first marching camp from the Augustan era to be documented in Lower Saxony.

literature

• Henning Haßmann , Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf : Large Roman army camp discovered in the Hanover region In: Heimatland des Heimatbund Niedersachsen , issue 4 / December 2015, pp. 140–143 ( online )
• Henning Haßmann, Salvatore Ortisi , Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: Roman marching camp discovered near Hanover. In: Archeology in Germany , No. 6/2015 ( beginning freely accessible online) ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
• Rome on a leash. The Roman troop camp near Wilkenburg. , Flyer, 2016, publisher: Römer AG Leine (RAGL), Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation, City of Hemmingen ( online )
• Henning Haßmann, Salvatore Ortisi, Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: Romans before Hanover. The Augustan marching camp of Wilkenburg. in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony , 4/2016, pp. 190–193 ( online )
• Henning Haßmann, Salvatore Ortisi, Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: aerial photo with surprise. A Roman marching camp near Hanover-Wilkenburg in: Varus-Kurier 18, December 2016, pp. 21–23 ( online )
• Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: Recognized in the aerial photo. The Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , 2018, pp. 102-105
• Robert Lehmann , Karola Hagemann , Henning Haßmann (Eds.): From Drusus to Maximinus Thrax - Romans in Northern Germany , Hanover, 2018 ( table of contents , pdf) with contributions:
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: On the coin finds from the Augustan Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg, City of Hemmingen, Hanover region , pp. 126–129
  • Robert Lehmann, Richard Barz: First archaeometallurgical analyzes in the Roman camp Wilkenburg - a first complete material template from the Roman non-ferrous metal finds , pp. 130–169
  • Thilo Kuhfuß: The location characteristics of the Roman camp near Wilkenburg from a soil and hydrogeological point of view , pp. 170–173
  • Robert Lehmann, Karola Hagemann, Benedikt Knoche, Werner Pollak: Interdisciplinary public relations using the example of the Wilkenburg Roman camp - Die Römer AG Leine (RAGL) , pp. 320–337
• Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: 17 kilometers northeast of Springe - The Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg in: Springer Yearbook for the City and the Altkreis Springe , Springe, 2018, pp. 11-20
• Ulrich Werz : The supply of small change in the Augustan period in Gaul and Germania - considerations on the small coins from the Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg in: Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 87, 2018, pp. 167-182. ( Online , pdf)
• Robert Lehmann, Karola Hagemann (Hrsg.): Schatzfunde - Fundmünzen , Hannover, 2019 ( table of contents ) with contributions:
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: On the coin finds from the Augustan Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg, city of Hemmingen, Hanover region , pp. 177–181
  • Robert Lehmann, Harald Nagel, Elvira Nagel: Some highlights from the Wilkenburg Roman camp in view of archaeometric analyzes 2015-2016 , pp. 183–195
  • Jouni Jäppingen: The Animal Heas of Huruksela (Finland) to Wilkenburg (Germany) , pp. 197-201
  • Robert Lehmann, Jens Kummerfeld: 100 Roman finds from the Wilkenburg Roman camp - a scientific classification , pp. 203–225
  • Robert Lehmann: Critical reflection of the previous assessment by Wilkenburg , pp. 226–227
  • Robert Lehmann: A Roman denarius from Laatzen as a reference to a Roman camp , pp. 371–373
  • Robert Lehmann, Karola Hagemann, Benedikt Knoche: Citizen Science using the example of the Wilkenburg Roman camp - Die Römer AG Leine (RAGL) , pp. 447–461
  • Robert Lehmann, Karola Hagemann, Benedikt Knoche: Citizen Science using the example of the Wilkenburg Roman camp - The Augustus Society (AVG) , pp. 463–465
  • Bettina Georg: Searching for traces - design of an archaeological exhibition room and visitor center for the Roman camp Wilkenburg , p. 467–469

Web links

Commons : Römisches Marschlager Wilkenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Römer AG Leine on the "Römerlager Wilkenburg"
• The newly discovered Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg, city of Hemmingen, Hanover region. Press release of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation and the University of Osnabrück from October 15, 2015 (PDF)
• Berthold Seewald: Huge legionary camp near Hanover points to Varus. In: Die Welt from October 15, 2015
• Andreas Zimmer: Dispute over the Roman camp: who means what? In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from September 9, 2017
• Sabine Guckel-Seitz: Gravel or Roman? as an audio contribution (45:31 minutes) on NDR 1 Niedersachsen from August 24, 2017 ( transcript )
• Hemmingen: Citizens want to save Roman camps on ndr.de on February 2, 2019 (Video, 03:32 minutes)
• Matthias Hennies: New findings about Roman camps in Northern Germany in: Logo - Das Wissenschaftsmagazin on NDR Info from January 25, 2019, audio (5.44 minutes)
• Klaus Wieschemeyer: Excavators threaten important Roman camp near Hanover in Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung from April 25, 2019
• Bad prospects for Roman camp Wilkenburg on ndr.de from December 18, 2019 (video, 1:00 minute)
• Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg in the Lower Saxony Monument Atlas of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Roman marching camp discovered near Hanover. Press release of the University of Osnabrück from October 15, 2015.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Nina Meyer Recke: Wilkenburger Römerlager threatened by gravel pit at NDR.de from September 20, 2016
3. ↑ Andrea Weber: Roman camp was supplied by ships in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 11, 2017.
4. ↑ A huge Roman camp discovered! In: Bild.de from October 15, 2015.
5. ↑ 20,000 soldiers lived in the Wilkenburg Roman camp. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from October 15, 2015
6. ↑ Hanover: Roman camp dispute continues in: [[Neue Presse (Hanover) |]] of January 6, 2017
7. ↑ German Prize for Monument Protection. “Silver hemisphere” to FAN member Heinz-Dieter Freese. In: Circle of Friends for Archeology in Lower Saxony (ed.): FAN-Post 2015, p. 5 (PDF).
8. ↑ Oliver Gressieker: Pastor explores the country from the air at NDR.de on May 2, 2016
9. ↑ The legionaries did not expect Martfeld's pastor in: Kreiszeitung .de of November 4, 2015.
10. ↑ Simon Benne : Traces of the Romans lead to Hanover in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 13, 2015.
11. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Roman camp on Wilkenburger Feld discovered in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 14, 2015.
12. ↑ ^{a b c} The newly discovered Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg, City of Hemmingen, Hanover region. Press release from the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation and the University of Osnabrück from October 15, 2015 (PDF).
13. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Great media coverage of the Roman camp in Wilkenburg in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 30, 2015.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Tobias Lehmann: Information board Roman camp is up - symposium will follow in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung on September 11, 2016.
15. ↑ A newly discovered Roman marching camp near Wilkenburg, Gde. Hemmingen, Hanover region near Osnabrück University, historical seminar.
16. ^ Illegal treasure hunters in the Roman camp in: Neue Presse from December 28, 2015.
17. ↑ Simon Benne: Probe walkers in the Roman camp in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of December 29, 2015.
18. ↑ Was Emperor Tiberius in Wilkenburg? in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of August 21, 2016.
19. ↑ Photo of the excavation area with an excavation technician from the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from September 6, 2017.
20. ^ Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: Graben searched in: Archeology in Germany 06 | 2018
21. ↑ Johannes Dorndorf: Archaeologists discover settlement from the Bronze Age in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of December 8, 2018.
22. ↑ ^{a b} Roman camp: From Wilkenburg to Finland? in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung on April 9, 2019
23. ↑ Using space technology to explore the Roman camp at ndr.de on May 21, 2019
24. ↑ Roman camp or gravel lake? This is how it continues in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung on January 9, 2016
25. ↑ ^{a b c d} Roman camp: Where are the shoe nails? in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from April 2, 2017.
26. ↑ Ulrich Werz: The supply of small change in Augustan times in Gaul and Germania - considerations on the small coins from the Roman marching camp of Wilkenburg in: Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte 87, 2018, pp. 167-182. (pdf)
27. ↑ ^{a b} Trenches and coins as proof: The Romans were here! ( Memento from October 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: NDR .de from October 15, 2015.
28. ^ Wilkenburg: Roman marching camp confirmed. In: Hannover.de of October 16, 2015
29. ↑ Marschlager: The Romans in the North at Leinetal Online News from February 10, 2016
30. ↑ 20,000 soldiers lived in the Wilkenburg Roman camp. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from October 18, 2015
31. ↑ A brief overview of the literature on this in Klaus Bringmann , Thomas Schäfer : Augustus and the justification of the Roman Empire. Akademie, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-05-003054-2 , p. 292, fn. 87 .
32. ↑ See literature: Friedrich-Wilhelm Wulf: 17 kilometers northeast of Springe , p. 16
33. ↑ Velleius Paterculus, Historia Romana 2,104,2. Translation after Hans-Werner Goetz, Karl-Wilhelm Welwei: Old Germania. Excerpts from ancient sources about the Germanic peoples and their relationship to the Roman Empire. Part 2. Darmstadt 1995, p. 39.
34. ↑ Rome on a leash. The Roman troop camp near Wilkenburg. , 2016, Ed .: Römer Arbeitsgemeinschaft Leine (RAGL), Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation, City of Hemmingen
35. ↑ (Velleius Paterculus, Historia Romana 2,104,3).
36. ↑ 20,000 Romans camped near Hanover. In: NDR .de from October 16, 2015
37. ↑ ^{a b} Andrea Weber: Fending off the enemy with the Spitzgraben in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of September 11, 2017.
38. ↑ Roman bearings and Roman coins discovered near Hanover at: German Numismatic Society
39. ^ Berthold Seewald: Varus came to Hanover. Then he had to die. In: Die Welt from October 17, 2015.
40. ↑ Does this Roman camp fall victim to gravel dredging? in: NWZ of January 7, 2017
41. ↑ Archaeologists promote the preservation of the Wilkenburg Roman camp in: New Press from January 6, 2017
42. ↑ Torsten Lippel: AG advertises the preservation of the Roman camp in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of July 9, 2017
43. ↑ ^{a b} Roman camp: Region wants to approve gravel mining at ndr.de on February 2, 2017
44. ↑ Archaeologists see the Wilkenburg Roman camp threatened in: Die Welt, January 7, 2017
45. ↑ See literature: Römer vor Hannover. The Augustan marching camp of Wilkenburg. in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony, 4/2016, pp. 190–193
46. ↑ ^{a b c d} Mathias Klein: Region allows gravel mining in the Roman camp In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of December 13, 2016.
47. ↑ "Roman March Camp" in Hemmingen at hannover.de from December 13, 2016
48. ↑ Mirjam Briel: Events of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments for the Open Monument Day. Lively crowds at the former Wilkenburg legionnaire camp near Hemmingen in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony 4/2015, pp. 221–222.
49. ^ Citizens' initiative against gravel mining in Arnum, Harkenbleck, Wilkenburg
50. ↑ Quo vadis, Roman camp? in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from January 8, 2017.
51. ↑ Archaeologists fear for the Wilkenburg marching camp in: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of January 6, 2017.
52. ↑ Achim von Lüderitz: A third sign informs about the Roman camp in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of August 7, 2017
53. ↑ Visitor center at the Roman camp? in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from February 9, 2017.
54. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: AG plans visitor center for Roman camps in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from November 2nd, 2017.
55. ↑ C. Bohnenkamp: Roman camp: No gravel for a museum? in Neue Presse on November 3, 2017
56. ↑ Student architecture competition in the Roman camp at leine-online.de from November 1, 2017.
57. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Römerlager: Search for ideas on muddy ground in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from November 2, 2017.
58. ↑ Student architecture competition in the Roman camp at leine-online.de on November 4, 2017.
59. ^ The Römer AG Leine (RAGL) .
60. ↑ Time travel to the Wilkenburger Marschlager ( memento from September 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in Leinetal Online News from February 14, 2016.
61. ↑ In the footsteps of "Rome on a leash" in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 14, 2016.
62. ↑ Guided tours and activities at RAGL
63. ↑ Themed tour: The careers of famous Romans in the Schaumburger Zeitung of November 30, 2018
64. ↑ ^{a b} Open letter from Römer-AG: Stock received in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of January 27, 2017.
65. ↑ New project at the Roman camp in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from July 7, 2017
66. ↑ Working group advocates the preservation of the Roman camp in Wilkenburg in Leineblitz on July 5, 2017
67. ^ Ingo Rodriguez: Peaceful campaign for the preservation of the camp in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 10, 2018.
68. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Römer AG designs the info point in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from August 1, 2018.
69. ↑ Achim von Lüderitz: Chemistry student examines finds from the Roman camp in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from August 19, 2017.
70. ↑ Program Symposium "Römerlager Wilkenburg" September 17, 2016 11 am-3pm ( Memento from December 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at leinetal-online.news (pdf)
71. ↑ What then: cultural property or gravel mining? in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from September 18, 2016.
72. ↑ 2nd symposium "Römerlager Wilkenburg" in the Hemmingen town hall in: LeineBlitz from March 30, 2017
73. ↑ Plan approval procedure for the start of a new soil excavation in the city of Hemmingen - OT Wilkenburg. In: StadtHemmingen.de , August 19, 2015. Official announcement text of August 14, 2014
74. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Gravel has been mined for ten years In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of August 21, 2015.
75. ↑ Regional Spatial Planning Program Region Hannover 2016 as of August 30, 2016, Appendix (draft), pp. 37–40 (pdf, 5.2 MB).
76. ^ ^{A b} Christian Bohnenkamp: Roman camp: "It's about preservation or destruction" in Neue Presse from May 21, 2019
77. ↑ Company directory stones, earths and industrial minerals for Lower Saxony 2016 at the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology
78. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Hemmingen: Unanimous vote against gravel mining. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from October 16, 2015.
79. ^ Andreas Zimmer: Wilkenburg / Arnum / Harkenbleck: Church says no to selling land for gravel mining. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from October 15, 2015.
80. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Roman camp: decision should be made soon in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from September 28, 2017.
81. ^ Roman camp instead of gravel at the Hanover council group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen from February 15, 2017
82. ↑ Simon Benne: Greens want to stop gravel mining In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from March 19, 2019.
83. ↑ Small request for short-term written answer with answer 04/03/2019 Printed matter 18/3416 (pdf)
84. ↑ Roman camp remains priority area for gravel mining in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of April 9, 2019
85. ↑ Greens ask about gravel mining in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from 7 August 2016.
86. ↑ Answer to the Greens' request: Gravel mining and Roman camps - state of affairs at the Hemmingen local association of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen on September 20, 2016
87. ↑ Answer of the Hanover region of August 16, 2016 to the request of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Hemmingen City Council on the planning approval procedure for the planned gravel mining in the Müggenwinkel / Wilkenburg area (pdf)
88. ↑ ^{a b} City of Hemmingen takes a stand on gravel mining in the Roman camp in LeineBlitz from December 14, 2016
89. ^ Wilkenburg Roman camp threatened by gravel pit on NDR.de from September 20, 2016
90. ↑ Holcim is still interested in gravel mining in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of August 21, 2017.
91. ↑ Now the minister interferes in: Hello weekend of February 11, 2017, p. 17
92. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: New applications for wind turbines soon? in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from August 11, 2017.
93. ↑ Tobias Lehmann, Daniel Junker: Römerlager: So far, the oldest artifact discovered in Schaumburger Nachrichten of May 11, 2018
94. ^ Marius Klingemann: Preservation of the Roman camp still unclear in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of November 8, 2018.
95. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Römerlager: Region wants to decide in summer in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from April 18, 2019.
96. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Gravel mining in Wilkenburg: Special company examines Roman camp grounds in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 7, 2020.
97. ↑ Region finds gravel mining more important than Roman camp at NDR.de from December 13, 2016.
98. ^ Reimar Paul: Gravel mining in the Roman camp in: The daily newspaper of January 17, 2017
99. ↑ Information board should point out the importance of Roman camps in: Neue Presse from 7 January 2017
100. ^ Sharp tones in the dispute over the Roman camp in: Neue Presse from February 1, 2017
101. ↑ Discussions about the preservation of the Roman camp continue at Leineblitz on February 2, 2017.
102. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Council adopts resolution on Roman camps in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of March 10, 2017.
103. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Council should pass resolution on Roman camps in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 8, 2017.
104. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Further controversy about Roman camps in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 2, 2017.
105. ↑ Simon Benne, Andreas Zimmer: Minister wants dialogue about Roman camps in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 7, 2017.
106. ^ Dialogue on the Roman marching camp Hemmingen-Wilkenburg, press release from the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture from February 7, 2017.
107. ↑ Minister of Culture wants to secure Roman camps in Hemmingen in: Neue Presse of February 7, 2017.
108. ↑ Andreas Zimmer: Römerlager: New statement comes in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of March 2, 2017.
109. ↑ Public petition for co-signature - Receipt of the Wilkenburg Roman camp from February 1, 2019 at the Lower Saxony State Parliament.
110. ↑ Tobias Lehmann: Petition: Roman camp should be preserved in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 2, 2019.
111. ↑ Simon Benne : Petition to stop gravel mining at the Roman camp in Wilkenburg in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 28, 2019.
112. ↑ Christian Bohnenkamp: Hemmingen: Petition to save Roman camps in: Neue Presse from January 31, 2019.
113. ^ Klaus Wieschemeyer: Roman camp friends advertise in the state parliament for receipt in Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of May 21, 2019
114. ↑ Simon Benne: Campaign against gravel mining: Citizens fight for Roman camps in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of May 24, 2019.
115. ↑ Wilkenburg Roman Camp: Solution in Sight? at ndr.de on May 21, 2019
116. ↑ State Parliament disputes the rescue of the Roman camp in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of December 18, 2019.
117. ^ Römerlager Wilkenburg - now it's the turn of the Hanover region with Calenberger Online News from December 20, 2019

Coordinates: 52 ° 18 ′ 21 ″  N , 9 ° 45 ′ 13 ″  E