Story & photos by Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero
The German Limes, meaning limits, complements the UK’s Hadrian and Antonine Walls in demarcating and representing the boundaries of the former Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century.
As a large-scale engineering and military project, the two German sections thematically called Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes (there is also a Lower Germanic Limes) are said to be the longest network of structures of a singular function ever constructed in Europe. It cuts through Germany from the northwest to the southeast running across forests and parallel to rivers. Covering a total distance of 550 kilometers, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2005.
My recent trip to Germany allowed my friend and I to drive around to see three major components of the Limes: A Roman fort in a small village near Ingolstadt, another one in Osterburken in the state of Baden-Württemberg and, lastly, in Regensburg.
Castra Vetoniana. The weather forecast was not promising when we headed out to Ingolstadt. On the way, as predicted, it started to rain, and we could only hope that it would stop as we got closer. Lying on top of a hill, Castra Vetoniana provides a commanding view over the village of Pfünz. Thanks to the rain, the parking lot was empty and so we had the whole site all to ourselves. Luckily, after five minutes, the sky cleared up, and the structures were better revealed to us—indeed, a most dramatic introduction to the Limes.
As with most Roman cohort camps, Castra Vetoniana had defensive ditches and walls, as well as several buildings within. A section has been carefully reconstructed, allowing visitors to visually interpret the site. The recreated section comprises a tower, a gate, and the curtain wall that connects the two structures. We walked by the wall and then along the earthen trenches, reading a few information boards installed on the way. The patina-covered remains of the other three gates have been recovered and exposed for viewing, too.
It was also in Pfünz were we first saw a Römersäule, one of the nine historic stelas erected in the early 1900s, commemorating the initial interests made in mapping the Limes.
Osterburken. In figuring how to get to Maulbronn from Würzburg, my friend suggested a route that would pass through old towns. As I was not too keen on seeing more timber-framed houses, I took another look at the map and saw Osterburken instead. What drew me toward it were more Roman ruins. Osterburken houses a unique double fort. It also has a reconstructed watchtower that stands on the side of a hill, and the views from our short walk from the parking lot toward it were delightful. Just like in Pfünz, we were the only visitors then.
The remains of the double fort in town, on the other hand, are probably the most authentic constructions dating back to Roman times that we saw. The outline of the annex fort is clearly visible as its foundations are still intact. The site of the annex fort was landscaped as a Limes Park, allowing locals and visitors to fully enjoy the archaeological site while preserving whatever remains of it. The adjacent main fort, however, lost almost all its structures as modern houses have long taken up the site where it once stood. Only the remains of the wall that it shared with the annex fort stands nowadays.
Castra Regina. There is truth in the saying that Regensburg is “Italy’s northernmost city.” Regensburg was, in fact, built on the site of Castra Regina, a Roman legionary camp. Not much remains of this important fort except for two sections of Roman walls and Porta Praetoria, the second-oldest extant Roman gate north of the Alps. Since Porta Praetoria opens toward the Danube, it is the reason why Castra Regina is sometimes associated with the Danube Limes section that occurs more on the Austrian side. The gate is now incorporated into the north wall of the Bishop’s Court.
The unapparent Roman walls are tricky to locate. But once found, it is easy to distinguish them from latter-built walls as the former were constructed using larger stones. The longest stretch of wall can be seen underground inside a parking building. During the construction of the building, they accidentally came across the structure. They are now encased with a protective glass, but still visible to anyone walking down the basement.
Regensburg is already a World Heritage Site as an old town. Unlike the ones in Pfünz and Osterburken, however, Regensburg’s Roman components are still to be included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, a prospect tag being sought in 2020. When that happens, Castra Regina will instantly be catapulted to the elite group of monuments twice declared as historic sites of “Outstanding Universal Values,” a bragging right that Germany has yet to secure.
Considering the extent of the Limes, its rich history and its array of structures and landscapes that can be seen and experienced (400+ sites), it has been positioned by Germany as a premier travel route named “Limes-Straße.” It targets not only history geeks, but also hikers and bikers alike. I aim to see more next time.
Image credits: Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero