Late Roman fortification at Katzenberg

The late Roman height fortification Katzenberg , also called Roman observatory in Mayen, is a Roman refuge from the 4th century near Mayen .

Reconstruction of parts of the defensive wall of the former late Roman height fortification Katzenberg near Mayen

Located on the Katzenberg fortification was built. 300 n. Chr after the Roman Limes had been overrun and Germanic tribes at the Limes case plundering the Roman Empire invaded. The residents of the vicus at what is now Mayen were able to flee to the 1.2 hectare facility in the event of danger. The provincial capitals Trier , Cologne and Mainz received city ​​walls during this time , as did smaller towns such as Koblenz or Andernach . The Katzenberg was the largest of the approximately 60 late Roman height fortifications that arose in the Eifel and Hunsrück region. It was in use for about 70 years and after a 30-year break then again until about 450 AD. There was a small military post on the top of the mountain, the lower open areas were probably available to the civilian population in the event of an alarm.

The remains of the late Roman fortifications were discovered around 1900 and excavated for the first time between 1907 and 1932. After a long break, excavations as part of the volcano park project were resumed in 1997. The finds were archaeologically examined together with the city of Mayen and on behalf of the State Office for Monument Preservation in Koblenz .

The roofing finds are particularly important for the history of the craft. The found roof slate capstones from the round towers surprisingly showed a scale shape that was rare in Roman times.

In 2000, parts of the defensive wall and two round towers were reconstructed on the remains of the wall. A protective structure was built on the remains of the former military station on the hilltop, which had underfloor heating . All roofs were given a roof slate covering in the form of scales and in hexagonal templates (protective structure).

literature

• Angelika Hunold : The fortifications on the Katzenberg near Mayen and the late Roman fortifications in northern Gaul. Monographs of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Schnell and Steiner, Mainz 2011, ISBN 978-3-7954-2425-1 .
• Angelika Hunold, Alwin Punstein , H. Wolfgang Wagner & Franz Wierschem : Reconstruction of the Roman Moselle slate roofs on the Katzenberg near Mayen / Eifel and other contributions to the more than 2000-year history of the craft and mining history of slate. Der Anschnitt, 56, 2004, H. 1: 27 - 34, 10 fig., 1st map, 2 tab., Bochum 2004.
• Ewald Hoppen , Angelika Hunold & H. Wolfgang Wagner: Römerwarte - completion of a reconstruction of the craft and mining history on the Katzenberg near Mayen. Der Anschnitt, 57, 2005, H. 4: 169 - 171, 4 figs., 1 tab., Bochum 2005.
• H. Wolfgang Wagner & Wolfgang Schultheis : Roman Roofing Slate - New Finds and New Findings. In: The cut. Vol. 63, Bochum 2011, pp. 202-206.

Web links

Commons : Spätrömische Höhenbefestigung Katzenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Katzenberg and the Römerwarte
• The Katzenberg in the volcano park

Coordinates: 50 ° 19 ′ 12 ″  N , 7 ° 14 ′ 38 ″  E