Roman Watchtower 13/45

The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, with a length of 550 km, from Eining near Regensburg to Rheinbrohl on the Rhine, is the largest archaeological monument in Germany and has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Limes (Latin: border path/wall) refers to the border fortifications of the Roman Empire, which were erected towards the end of the 1st century AD.

This border was monitored by more than 900 towers, which were built in timber construction during the initial phase, starting around 80 AD. Stone towers followed, which were plastered from 150 AD onwards. Excavations have shown that the white plaster often had cracked joints, which were painted in terracotta. This created the impression of beautiful ashlar masonry.

At this location, the RLK discovered two stone towers and an older timber tower ditch. The finding is unique along this stretch. The timber tower, lying almost exactly in a north-south direction, stood ten meters behind the later erected Rhaetian wall. When it was replaced, a stone tower measuring 5 × 4.4 meters, also oriented north, was built next to it. Reinforcements of the masonry were discovered on both its flanks and its rear side. These reinforcements extended more than half the side length to the west and east and were aligned to the south at their northern end. On the south wall, the reinforcement was not quite as massive and was interrupted in the middle of this wall for about one meter in width. However, no ground-level access could be found. A fireplace was discovered inside. West of this structure, on the already existing Limes wall, was another, younger stone tower. The reasons why the older stone tower was abandoned remain unknown to date. Palisade and wattle fence were not discovered here.