The City and the City Museum
- Ingolstadt has much more to offer than cars and an oil refinery. The Danube area around the city is one of the richest archaeological regions in Central Europe. The city today reflects its past as a thriving medieval settlement and Bavaria's principle military stronghold. Over more than five centuries the Bavarian State University of Ingolstadt has attracted scholars from far and wide, and established a world wide reputation as a centre of learning.
- Each era from prehistory to early history has left significant archaeological traces within the Ingolstadt area. Some highlights of the museum are a unique 3,000 year old amber necklace made up of almost 3,000 beads, and spectacular finds from the Celtic oppidum (fortified town) of Manching.
- Ingolstadt enjoyed a glorious period in the Middle Ages. As a ducal residence the town gained a cathedral and a new castle during these times. In 1472, the first university in Bavaria was founded here. The city Museum tells about princely representation, civic pride, scholarship, artistic sense and deep religiosity.
- From the 16th to the 20th century the mightiest fortress in Bavaria was the „Schanz“ of Ingolstadt, in part of which fortifications the City Museum is now housed. It was the activities of the military which gave to us what is today a modern industrial town.
- Many and various products of both handwork and machinery illustrate the development from handcrafting in the Middle Ages of our residence town to machinery which has made it into a leading industrial city today. The large medieval roof truss of the cathedral, one of the largest in Southern Germany, and the modern oil refinery are two of the models which mark highpoints in this development. A mill used for grinding tobacco snuff, has been reconstructed in its original scale as an exhibit to illustrate Ingolstadt's past and present tradition of craftsmanship.
- A room documenting the period of the Third Reich in Ingolstadt also demonstrates the commitment of this city to tolerance and openness to the world.
The City Museum in Kavalier Hepp
- As soon as you enter Kavalier Hepp your attention is drawn to its military history. Most of the small arms slits and embrasures for cannon have been replaced with generously-sized windows or have been simply walled up. And yet at the museum's entrance the stucco work over it reminds one that here the 9th Company was at home. Also the barrel-vaulting above, on the first floor, is strikingly decorated and strongly suggests that this is a place where soldiers came and went.
- The history of the principle Bavarian state fortress in the city of Ingolstadt began about 500 years ago under Wilhelm IV. Together with Ulm and Vienna the fortress has been one of the most important strongholds on the German Danube and since then has been involved in every larger European conflict. Soldiers of Schmalkalden, Swedes, the French and the Austrians have appeared before its walls until, after WWII, the Americans blew up the strongpoints of the fort. The post-war demand for building materials was met in part by further destruction such that there remains today only isolated structures in a generous green belt around the city.
- Kavalier Hepp is part of the youngest fortifications. It was built between 1838 and 1843 to protect the western town gate. This entrance to the city has been known as the 'Kreuztor' since the late middle ages and thus, after the new structures were built, they were given the name 'Neues Kreuztor'. It was planned and realised by the court architect, Leo von Klenze and stands today with no structural context in front of the Kavalier Hepp.
- The building, which takes its name from Major Kaspar von Hepp (1758-1806), has, like the other Kavaliere, lost its defensive purpose after 1875 when an outer protection belt was completed. It was therefore rebuilt as military barracks which in 1899 received a new arrangement of windows. One year later the layer of earth which should protect the roof during bombardment was removed.
- The renovations begun in 1973 were the start of a new phase in the architectural history of the fortresses of Ingolstadt. They were, by this time, disregarded and had deteriorated structurally. Then their strict functionality was once again recognised and seen as an attraction. This encouraged their conversion to a variety of uses which can be seen, for instance, in today's Kavalier Hepp accommodating not only the City Museum but also a scientific library and the City Archive.
- Virtually all the fortifications and old military installations have now been renovated and, because of the new uses to which they have been put, are mostly open to the public. The Kavallier Hepp and the Neues Kreuztor are both now part of the Ingolstadt fortifications path which permits visitors to experience the town's great military heritage.
- The Kavallier Hepp should not simply be seen as a more or less random location for the City Museum but also as a historical landmark of great importance. It follows that its preservation and the incorporation of the museum were not a burden for the city but an integral part of the museum's concept.
- The strict fortress architecture characterised by openess has largely been retained unchanged. The exception is one newly created large room made without driving new gangways through existing walls or closing gangways which already existed. Not even corners or edges were altered. At the same time the long line of almost identical rooms was not rearranged to make larger units but kept like a row of exhibition cabinets. Each was then assigned a specific topic and additionally the order of the rooms follows the chronology of the displayed objects.
- By choosing not only the exhibits themselves but also the way of presenting them, the difference in quality is deliberately emphasized and documented. This means that the exhibits reflect the quality that has actually been found in the town and its surroundings and not a non-representative selection. Moreover in presenting the exhibits considerable trouble has been taken regarding the veracity of the documentation. Supplementary material, copies etc. can be useful as aids to understanding the whole but should be purposely separated from the original exhibits and, if possible, confined to printed explanatory panels.
- In the archaeological section not only are finished implements displayed but also raw materials used in the making, unfinished objects and remains. The intention is to make clear the occult and mythological associations common to life in prehistoric times as well as the religious dimensions of Roman and Christian times. In favour of objectivity the question of design in presentation tends towards the unobtrusive.
Prehistory and Early History
Introduction to the History of Landscape
- The first room offers basis information concerning the prehistory and early history of the Ingolstadt region. The core from a 158 m deep borehole near Buschletten serves to illustrate the timetable of the earth's history. The Danube is presented not only as one of the four principle rivers of the ancient world but also as a link between middle Europe and the Balkans and near East and also as a trade route and cultural landscape, lastly as a frontier in Roman times. Ingolstadt as a town on this river has its place in history and not merely because it offered a place to cross the river.
- A large, layered model of the district around Ingolstadt makes it clear how different the landscapes of the region are with the wide valley of the Danube contrasting with the Jurassic mountains. The valley with its floodplains and rising terraces are presented as a cultural landscape. Coloured lights in the model mark the positions of important archaeological sites such as caves, tumuli, Celtic 'Viereckschanzen' defensive earthworks, the Roman frontier or the oppidum (fortified Celtic town) of Manching. The old meandering river Danube made many different river beds. This was changed in the 19th and 20th centuries to a single artificial river bed. A plan also illustrates these changes.
- Display panels help with the understanding of geological and ecological structures in the Ingolstadt basin. They are the result of erosion of the soft sediments by water. The harder stone of the Jurassic mountains with their narrow valleys between Steppberg-Neuburg and Neustadt-Kelheim resisted erosion. The result was that the Danube could now use the Ingolstadt basin after leaving its old valley, the present-day Altmühltal.
- A large display case contains objects found in the Ingolstadt region including the tusks and jaw of a mammoth from the ice age also fossil pinewood, imprints of leaves and the remains of other animals of Tertiary times. Representative examples of life in the in the coral reef of Großmehring (1.5 kilometres north of Großmehring) during the Jurassic era are exhibited and include coral, sea urchins, sea shells and snails.
From Stone Age to Bronze Age
- The second room gives a synopsis of the finds from the Paleolithic era (Old Stone Age from about 200,000 BC to about 10,000 BC) to Neolithic times (from about 5,500 BC to about 2,200 BC) in the region around Ingolstadt.
- In addition to the sites at Gaimersheim and in the Donaumoos which have been known for some time, new Paleolithic site complexes at Wettstetten, Menning, Irgertsheim as well as Gaimersheim have been opened up during the last few years. They are some of the earliest examples which mark the presence of mankind in Bavaria.
- There are other sites which have been discovered dating from the Mesolithic era (Middle Stone Age) in the Donaumoos and still others at Gaimersheim and Menning from the Neolithic period (New Stone Age).
- Some notable finds from the latest Neolithic period have been made in the graves from burials of the „Glockenbecherkultur“ and the „schnurkeramischen Kultur“ at Großmehring, Oberstimm, Ingolstadt, Zuchering and Mailing.
- At this last site was found an exceptionally richly furnished grave of a young boy who has become known as the „Prince of Mailing“. These finds and relevant information will be integrated step by step into the museum's public collection.
- Not only the grave of the „Prince of Mailing“ which had a copper dagger and five richly ornamented vessels, but other finds which also indicate a social differentiation include a golden Tänie (jewelled decoration for head covering) found at Großmehring. Amber which was found suggests trading and routes to distant places.
- Using the location of finds and appropriate maps attempts were made to discover caves and open air sites used by hunters from the Old and Middle Stone Ages along the upper Danube and Alb rivers and also signs of even earlier colonization and rural settlements.
- Characteristic examples show a great variety of tools made from flint. These range from hand axes, scrapers, drills and burins to arrowheads, daggers and sickles together with hatchets and axes worked from other stone. As well as such tools for daily use large axes from the late Neolithic times were found which could be status symbols, signs of authority or ceremonial objects.
- The steps from raw material to half-finished article and finally to the finished product are illustrated here. Serving as examples of raw materials are hornstone nodules, unusually large hornstone nodules, alpine serpentine pebbles, chalk hornstone from Kelheim weathered and as pebbles and also plate hornstone. Evidence of processing can be seen with serpentine, smoothed and polished, haematite used as a polish, stones with shaft holes, bored out cores, flakes and nodules, rough blades and refinished blades and the remains of flint after working. The winning and trading with hornstone along the rivers Altmühl and Danube are also featured.
- Pottery in a great variety of different types is to be seen. This concerns not only the shape of vessels but also their decoration which includes Linearband-, and Stichbandkeramik, Müncheshöfener and Schussenrieder ware to the almost unadorned vessels of the Altheimer culture dating from the later Neolithic Age. Decoration rather like the surface of textiles giving a woven effect are to be found alongside schematic depictions of human figures in Neolithic times. This has given rise to much discussion.
- In Room 3 are artefacts of the Bronze Age (from 2,200 BC on) and the Urn field period (from 1,200 to 800 BC). There are exhibits divided into three separate themes: Burial practices, settlements, and the safe-keeping of valuables, treasure and sacrificial trove.
- As an example for an Early Bronze Age flat grave the burial site of a young girl was chosen. The grave was discovered in the old town of Ingolstadt within the castle complex of the 13th century close to the „Herzogskasten“ in 1987 – 88. Near to the head and the upper parts of the remains were found, in addition to teeth, a neck ring, a cloak pin and a spiral armlet of bronze. Near to Zuchering a cremation grave with a cinerary urn and accessory vessels was discovered. This is representative for the last phase of the Bronze Age. As yet no evidence has been found for a richly furnished and well-documented tumulus from the Middle Bronze Age within the working area of the city museum. This gap has been filled with a fictive presentation of the chambered tomb of a woman's burial. At this time artefacts from older excavations are being exhibited. These convey an idea of the cultures living at this time in the area around Ingolstadt. They comprise pieces of jewellery, daggers and a long sword. The presence of settlements is evident from fragments of ceramic vessels some of which have been reconstructed for exhibition.
- In stores or depots some of the most important finds have been made. These include: ring-like ingots of bronze, axes and sickles of that metal and bronze ore. Six Early Bronze Age solid-hilted daggers from north central Europe were discovered in 1984. They probably were very grand weapons or served as objects of ceremony. There are difficulties in the interpretation of „Depots“ for example: a depot found in Menning contained two phalerae, finished and semi-finished neck rings, and an armlet with obvious signs of use. These treasures can be construed as the store of a merchant, requisites for the afterlife or as supplements for graves and offerings.
- The depot which contained the unique amber necklace (Bernstein-Collier) is the most important archeological find in the city museum. Amber was a much sought-after ware which was only available after merchants had travelled many hundreds of kilometres. The necklace comprises about 2700 pieces of amber on a least nine separate chains. The same depot also contained a necklace of 87 large pearls and two decorated bronze spirals. It is uncertain if the jewellery of Baltic amber was worn often or not at all. That there is no evidence for grand burials during this period tends to support the thesis that it was not private property. It could be that it was an offering to the earth deposited in the bank of a stream. It remains unclear.
Hallstatt and Latène Periods
- Room 4 shows the passage from the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age; the Hallstatt time ran from about 800 to 500 BC. The material displayed here comes primarily from the urnfield cemetery of Zuchering and the barrows of Mailing which are from the Hallstatt Period. Many of the featured ideas about the afterlife during the Iron Age, for example the dead being hosts as the living, come in fact from the Bronze Age.
- It is in the Bronze Age that the Celts obviously have their roots. It will be shown that the old practices gradually changed to become eventually over opulent and pathetically grand (R.A. Maier). The use of iron became only slowly established and mining of iron ore deposits in the Alb proceeded systematically.
- From 1983 to 2002 in Zuchering one of the largest urnfields of this cultural epoch was excavated by a team under K.H. Rieder of the Bavarian State Conservation Office. A total of 600 graves could be 'rescued' from 800 to 1000 originally present. One of these is quite extraordinary: in a rectangular enclosure there was found, in addition to the cremated remains, among other treasures, a „Schöpftasse“ of beaten bronze sheet which was certainly for ceremonial purposes. Its cast handle is the form of a steer's head with horns. The youngest graves in Zuchering are from the Hallstatt Period. A representative selection of the finds from the Zuchering necropolis are now, after restoration and conservation, provisionally on exhibition.
- During the urnfield time an upper social class of owner/driver of transport wagons arose. A deposit from Münchsmünster including parts of a wagon, tack and weapons made possible the reconstruction of such a wagon.
- The Ingolstadt district is situated within the area of expansion of the Hallstatt culture but did not overlap with the larger economic centres. It counts to those areas of middle economic importance. This is reflected in the characteristic monumental graves and fortifications. Here they are merely impressive but not as grand as those in some other places.
- A connection of the Hallstatt culture to the previous centuries is seen in the reuse of tumuli which were traditionally arranged in small groups in the pasture landscape, for instance in the meadows near to the Danube at Gerolfing. Here Bronze Age tumuli have been reused, the necropolis extended and employed for the burial of both bodies and ashes. They were still being used during the Latène period. Other examples can be found near Mailing The stele or menhir on display is from non-local limestone and is either a memorial to a dead person or was mounted close to a tumulus near the last named village.
- Two cista made of sheet bronze, including a fragment of a lid, show a high technical standard of handwork. The larger of these two, from Dünzlau, is probably (R.A. Maier) a „Gewässer-Votiv“. The exhibited ceramic articles from tumuli near to the Mailing and Kösching streams are surprisingly large and elaborate: bowls, pots and urns painted white, brown and red. Domestic ceramics, in contrast, seem to be quite plain. The ceramic bowl taken from the ground of the „Schauermühlequelle“ near to Großmehring was probably for cult purposes. In the graves metal objects were also found including iron swords, daggers, bronze needles and armlets.
- As possible places for sacrificial use, caves and vertical shafts as well as natural holy locations and mountain fortresses have been discussed. Investigations suggest that they may have been used over a long period. Such places found near the Alb and Danube crossings were definitely used in the Hallstatt time and show signs of a long period of usage.
- Rooms 5 and 6 illustrate the Latène period in the land around Ingolstadt. After a short general introduction to the Latène period and the late Iron Age information is provided about the migration and expansion of the Latène culture and the Celtic peoples in the later Iron Ages. Objects were discovered of widely differing uses especially from the early to the late Latène periods. From the early to the middle of the Hallstatt era objects from settlements show considerable regional continuity. Both settlements and cult sites between the Altmühltal and the Danube proved to be not only from the late Hallstatt times but also from the early Latène period. These places seem not to have been abandoned until the end of the 5th century BC.
- Bronze ankle and leg rings and an amulette of stone arrowheads were found in graves (or later burials in much older barrows) from the early Latène times. An iron torc (neck ring) with attached 'rattling rings' came from an early Latène flat grave near Wackerstein. Arm rings of iron and bronze, fibulae and vessels dating from the early and middle Latène periods exemplify the developing culture. A very beautiful fine chain belt of bronze excavated from a woman's grave near Lenting is a further example. Similarly armlets of bronze, glass and lignite were also discovered. Other objects exhibited are jewellery and prestigious goods such as torcs of bronze „Hohlbuckelringe“ and armlets of sapropelic coal from Manching and Oberstimm.
- Two very important cemeteries of flat graves, „Am Steinbichel“ and „Am Hundsrucken“, are situated in the fields near Manching. They belong, not only to the largest, but also to the scientifically most interesting of their kind in southern Bavaria (W. Kramer). „Am Steinbichel“ is to the West of the oppidum on the left side of the stream Paar. „Am Hundsrucken“ is about 2 kilometres to the East within the oppidum. The contents of these graves were exceptionally opulent and examples are here to be seen.
- Once again your attention is drawn to a beautifully made belt chain which, in this case, has a belt hook in the form of a horse's head. Also to be seen are the first depictions of human beings that are life-like and are evidence of the handwork skills of the Celts. Fibulae of the early, middle and late Latène periods and into the imperial Roman times are displayed also swords, sword chains, lances, shield bosses and fragments of helmets. Some of these pieces were found in the oppidum Manching which is dealt with in the next room.
- Celtic coins from Manching and Westerhofen suggest a culture with a well developed economic life. Different gold coins („Regenbogenschüsselchen“) were found in a very large treasure trove discovered in Westerhofen in 1858. The Manching find of silver coins in 1936 is also very important. The coins have characteristic motifs such as horses, snakes, torcs and whorls.
- The mining of iron ore and the working of iron are demonstrated both in explanatory charts and samples of ores, limonite and pisolithic iron ore. Tuyéres or vents for the entry of air into furnaces were found at Feilenmoos near Manching. Ceramic vessels could be given a metallic gloss by the making them from a graphitic clay. Most iron mining was done in the Donaumoos, the Feilenmoos and at the Michelsberg near Kehlheim.
- A documentation of oppida and „Viereckschanzen“ includes speculation as to whether they together formed a chain of cult sites.
- Room 6 is concerned with the oppidum of Manching. This enormous fortified town of about 380 ha has a diameter of 2.2–2.3 kilometres with an encompassing wall which was 7 kilometres long. Since 1955 a number of comprehensive investigations have been undertaken by the „Römisch-Germanische Kommission“ of the „Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts“ headed by W. Kramer, F. Schubert, F. Maier and S. Sievers. Even so, until this day, only a small part of the whole has actually been excavated. The scientific results have been published in a number of volumes which certainly count as one of the most representative works of German archaeology. In Ingolstadt's city museum characteristic finds are on display which document the early phase of oppidums discovery and summarize results of the 20th century.
- Because of its great size the oppidum must have been very important perhaps the seat of a prince. It is situated near to the place in the south where a crossing of the Danube is relatively easy since it is divided into several arms. When the settlement began as well as when it came to an end is unknown. It is certain however that the beginnings can be dated to the middle of the Latène period i.e. 2nd century BC. Its end has been a source of disagreement: some favoured around 15 BC perhaps as a result of the Räter campaign. Today however, the middle of the 1st century BC seems more likely. This would mean that it was not abandoned because Roman forces were threatening. Finds of ceramics suggest that Manching was affiliated with the East more than with the West and the oppidum is now considered to be part of the east Celtic zone (W.E Stöcklin).
- The fortifications and the gates, parts of the wall as well as the eastern gateways are documented in the museum. The oldest defensive ring and the first eastern gate have been erected during the transition from middle to late Latène times.. The wall of the first gate complex (Murus Gallicus) can be dated at the earliest to 105 ± 6 BC. The destruction of this gate including the gate house is set at about the middle of the 1st century BC but it is still not known if this was caused by Germanic or Celtic attackers or if some other incident could have been responsible.
- The population of the oppidum was by no means evenly distributed. The way the houses and the roads were situated is documented in the museum. The colouring of the earth and the distribution of artefacts give clues to the directions of roads, the positions of residential quarters and storage facilities as well as workshops of different kinds. In the course of excavations (F. Schubert) an area with sacral buildings appeared and it is made clear that here the evidence points to several different periods of occupation.
- The museum displays a cross-section of the ceramic vessels found in Manching. An example is those vessels which were laid down probably for religious reasons. They are of four different kinds: painted vessels, wheel-thrown vessels (polished or rough), ceramics of graphitic clay and coarse ceramics. Additional examples were also found namely ceramics, both amphorae and campanae, imported from Italy.
- Most tools were made of iron, just a few from bronze, bone, horn, stone and clay. From finds one gets the impression of a rich and sophisticated society. The distribution and the local concentration of finds suggest that there were concentrations of workshops. With iron extraction there are to be found accumulations of iron dross, with copper and bronze accumulated copper and bronze drosses. Moulds found indicate the production cast tools and ornaments. „Tüpfelplatten“ (small moulds for coins) also found show that coins were being produced here at this time.
- Workshops for wood, leather and cloth can also be located through such finds as awls, sewing needles and weights for looms. Glass working was important for the making of arm rings etc. Tools from many different professions and various branches of handwork also came to light. Not only the tools themselves but also moulds, iron bridloons (made of rings), parts of wagons, harness and semi-finished objects were also discovered.
- The way in which houses were built is documented. Not only finds of houseshold objects but also post holes and garbage dumps help to locate such sites. Finds of domestic artefacts from houses and farms are displayed including handles of cauldrons and pans, and a small reaching shovel for the oven. Additionally axes, hatchets, ploughshares, a ring-handled knife, parts of knife sheaths, keys for bolt locks and weights to aid door closing are shown.
- Evidence of handwork and trading are to be seen, for example, in the marks under the base of vessels made of graphitic clay probably used for the transport of salt. Other examples are a very fine set of pieces of jewellery belonging to a woman from northern middle Europe, made of bronze, as well as imported goods from Italy.
- Small finds such as the amulet in the figure of a boar (with one tusk newly replaced) raise the question as to the purpose of such objects. Perhaps they also had a use in cult and ceremony. Similarly a pit made of layered stones (now in its entirety to be seen in the museum) could be a cult structure perhaps a place of sacrifice. Perhaps cultic practices are part of the reason why the Celts never adopted a written language from the Mediterranean area. There is one vessel with the inscription 'TAR' underneath: this is mysterious and a great rarity.
- From investigations of bones much has been learned about which animals were domesticated and their breeding (small horses, cattle and pigs). Additionally they provide information about which foods were produced, gathered or hunted.
- On the basis of finds from the early Latène period onwards and their documentation in these two rooms an idea of the development of Celtic culture in the region around Ingolstadt can be obtained.
The Roman Galleries
- Room 7 presents an introduction to Roman life around the rivers Danube and Altmühl, which areas are understood to have been conquered by Emperor Augustus as he expanded Roman territory north of the Alps. Also described is the establishment of a military administration and the founding of the province of „Raetia“ and the development of a defended border (limes) north of the Danube along the Altmühl. Additional topics presented are the spread of the Roman way of life in the province until the raids of the Alamanni in the first half of the third century, followed by Roman withdrawal from the „limes“ to positions south of the Danube, Iller and Rhine and then the end of Roman rule in the fifth century.
- Within this very wide-ranging overview, archaeological finds collected in the Ingolstadt area are not presented according to their provenence, but according to function and use. For example after an excavation in Manching in 1936 the following range of objects were documented:
- Elements of military equipment for both men and animals;
- Building materials such as bricks and tiles as well as architectural fittings including hinges and door locks;
- Roman vessels in hellenistic style, terra sigillata and its imitations;
- Examples of Roman architectural and civil engineering capabilities in building roads and bridges and water supply systems;
- Civilian and military tools and ironmongery including nails and chains, scythes, axes, ploughshares, drills and a weighing scale.
- Situated only 3 kilometres west of the Celtic oppidum (fortified town) of Manching is the Roman fort of Oberstimm. The model of this fort was produced based on the results from the archaeological excavations of Hans Schönberger between 1968 and 1971. The fort was situated at the crossing of two important roads: one running north–south and the other, the Danube road, running east–west. In addition to protecting the border the fort probably also served as a base for distributing supplies to troops serving further to the east. Two periods of construction are recognisable: firstly from about 40 A.D. in the reign of the emperor Claudius to the year of the Three Emperors 69 – 70 A.D. and a second period ending around 120 A.D. A civillian settlement (vicus) outside the fort was identified as having existed up to the end of the third century.
- The second room focuses on Roman culture and presents objects found in Roman graves in and around Ingolstadt, such as ritual vessels, votive offerings and glass and stone bottles. The clay statue found at Lenting of a sitting woman feeding two babies shows influences of western Celtic culture. It could have been a votive offering or an accompanying grave object of western Celtic–Gallic influence. There are also magical or religious objects believed to have been used to protect houses, people or animals from evil spirits. Here one can also see amulets and charms with such motifs as lunulae and phalli. An extraordinary vessel decorated with cupids, metal mirrors and toys gives evidence of a wide range of cultural activities in everyday life. A particularly noteworthy exhibit is a small bronze fibula shaped like a man but with a horse's head.
- Objects documenting Roman burial culture include a tombstone reminiscent of that of M. Varius Montaninus from Kösching and accompanying grave goods from cemeteries close to the Roman roads, most of them near to the fort of Oberstimm.
- One showcase contains local Raetian rural pottery of Germanic origin contemporary with the Roman occupation. There is also a special Raetian form of drinking vessel where the handle arises from a dimple or depression in the beaker, and a drinking horn from Kösching. Many utensils, dishes and bowls from the Roman period are quite similar to those with which we are familiar today, including knives, strainers, cooking and storage vessels, pitchers and bulbous bottles. Dishes often appear to be parts of sets which include bowls, plates and beakers.
- The Roman farms (villae rusticae) along the Danube form a characteristic settlement pattern in Raetia. The villa at Westerhofen could, in fact, be regarded as a palace as awonderful mosaic floor was found there in 1865 which is now in the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich. The mosaic is divided into small sections by what appear to be braided bands. The resulting separate sections have geometrical designs and mythical sea creatures or scenes from deer hunting and of wild animals fighting in an arena. The City Museum has a technically accurate but rather freely styled copy of this mosaic showing nereids (sea nymphs) and hippokamps (hybrid sea monsters).
- The supply of soldiers and horses to the forts of Pfünz, Kösching and Pförring was a major logistic problem for the military administration. A key role was played by the Villa Rustica at Etting which had a courtyard with an area of 3.3 hectare making it one of the largest farmsteads near to the Danube in Raetia. A large wooden water basin in exceptionally good condition was found here and was conserved by the Bavarian State Conservation Office together with the City of Ingolstadt. It was part of a 150m long water supply system with wells and storage pools which served to drive a flour mill. The villa also had large storage buildings, silos for grain and a hard-surfaced threshing floor.
Siegfried Hofmann, Claus-Michael Hüssen, Gerd Riedel, Karl Heinz Rieder
Übersetzt von: John Wilcockson
- Siehe auch:
- Impressum - - - Nachricht an den Gestalter der Seiten: Kurt Scheuerer
- Zur Auswahl Stadtmuseum Ingolstadt - - - Zur Hauptauswahl Wissensspeicher Ingolstadt
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