Roman Watchtower 10/36

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. These were followed by stone towers, which were plastered from 150 AD onwards. Excavations have shown that the white plaster often had incised joints, which were painted in terracotta. This created the impression of beautiful ashlar masonry.

Wooden tower mound with ring ditch and preserved stone tower foundation. The stone tower had a square floor plan with a side length of 5.75 m, and the wall thickness was 80 cm. The wooden tower was located twelve meters southeast of the stone tower; its ring ditch had an outer diameter of 23 m (19 m from ditch bottom to ditch bottom). The Limes palisade passed the stone tower at a distance of 21.5 m, and the wooden tower at a distance of just under 20 m. 3.85 m behind the palisade ditch, the two-meter-wide, gravelled Limes accompanying path could be found.