Germanic-Rhaetian Limes - Limes germanico-retico

The Germanic-Rhaetian Limes is a set of fortifications built by the Romans to protect the borders of the provinces of Germany superior and of the Rezia.

History

Reconstruction of a stretch

The work was begun in 74 AD. to defend the northern borders of the Empire from the attacks of the Germanic barbarians. They were created, the forts a Schleitheim, Hüfingen, Rottweil, Waldmossingen, Offenburg is Riegel am Kaiserstuhl.

Ten years later Domitian (from 83-84), had the limes extended to what are today the cities of: Hofheim am Taunus, Frankfurt, Bergen, Hanau-Kesselstadt, Okarben, Altenstadt, Friedberg is Bad Nauheim. To these localities were added others such as Sulz, Geislingen, Rottenburg an der Laaber, Burladingen, Gomadingen, Donnstetten, Urspring is Günzburg.

In the following years, i.e. during the nineties, the limes was extended to: Butzbach, Arnsberg, Echzell, Heidenheim is Degerfeld.

Then it was the turn of Trajan who strengthened a new stretch of border further east by connecting the river Main with the Neckar. Immediately after the new emperor Hadrian continued the work of consolidation. But under the government of Antonino Pio the limes takes on an even more stable character by converting the wooden protections to the resistant stone.

Under Caracalla around 213 the limes was reinforced following the first invasions of the Alemanni. However, when Gallienus reigned in 260, it was decided to definitively abandon and evacuate all the territories east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, due to the continuous invasions of the Germanic tribes. From this moment the Germanic-Rhaetian limes lost its historical function.

On 15 July 2005 the Germanic-Rhaetian limes was included by UNESCO in the list of World Heritage Sites in Germany.

The limes today

The Limes map

With recognition UNESCO the limes route has been unearthed and its remains are visible along the many localities crossed in the territory of Germany. In the dynamic map, the line shows the limes which are the object of UNESCO attention.

All the information and the places crossed are available at the official site.

Other projects