The Roman fort at Weissenburg (), called Biriciana in ancient times, is a former

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

ala

castellum A ''castellum'' in Latin is usually: * a small Roman fortlet or tower,C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War; 2,30 a diminutive of (' military camp'), often used as a watchtower or signal station like on Hadrian's Wall. It is distinct from a , which ...

, which is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

located near the

Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes (), or ORL, is a 550-kilometre-long section of the former external frontier of the Roman Empire between the rivers Rhine and Danube. It runs from Rheinbrohl to Eining on the Danube. The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian L ...

. It lies in the borough of Weißenburg in the

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

n county of

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Bavaria, Germany with a population of 95,000. Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Ansbach, Roth, Eichstätt and Donau-Ries. It is located in the south of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Today the castellum is one of the most important sites of research in the Roman ''limes'' in Germany. The site contains partly subterranean building remains, a reconstructed north gateway, large thermal baths and a Roman Museum with an integrated Limes Information Centre.

Literature

* Dietwulf Baatz: ''Der Römische Limes. Archäologische Ausflüge zwischen Rhein und Donau.'' 4th edn. Gebr. Mann, Berlin, 2000, , pp. 289 ff. * Wilhelm von Christ: ''Das römische Militärdiplom von Weissenburg.'' Franz, Munich, 1868. * Wolfgang Czysz et al.: ''Die Römer in Bayern.'' Nikol, Hamburg 2005, * Thomas Fischer and Günter Ulbert: ''Der Limes in Bayern. Von Dinkelsbühl bis Eining''. Theiss, Stuttgart, 1983, * Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner and Oscar von Sarwey (eds.): ''Der Obergermanisch-Raetische Limes des Römerreiches. Abt. A, Bd. 7, Strecke 14: Der raetische Limes von Gunzenhausen bis Kipfenberg.'' Berlin, 1927. * Eveline Grönke: ''Das römische Alenkastell Biricianae in Weißenburg in Bayern. Die Grabungen von 1890 bis 1990.'' (Limesforschungen, Bd. 25). Zabern, Mainz, 1997, * Eveline Grönke, Edgar Weinlich: ''Die Nordfront des römischen Kastells Biriciana-Weissenburg: Die Ausgrabungen 1986/1987.'' Prähistorischen Staatssammlung München, Laßleben, Kallmünz, 1991. . * Ute Jäger: ''Römisches Weißenburg. Kastell Biriciana, Große Thermen, Römermuseum''. Keller, Treuchtlingen/Berlin, 2006, * Hans-Jörg Kellner: ''Der römische Schatzfund von Weißenburg''. 3. erweiterte Auflage. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg, 1997, * Hans-Jörg Kellner, Gisela Zahlhaas, mit Beiträgen von Hans-Gert Bachmann, Claus-Michael Hüssen, Harald Koschik, Zsolt Visy und Ulrich Zwicker: ''Der römische Tempelschatz von Weissenburg i. Bay.'', von Zabern, Mainz, 1993, . * Martin Pietsch, Jörg Faßbinder, Ludwig Fuchs: '' Mehr Tiefenschärfe durch Magnetik: Der neue Plan des Kastells Weißenburg.'' In: ''Das Archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2006.'' Stuttgart, 2007, pp. 98–101. * W. Kohl, J. Tröltsch, J. Jacobs, W. Barthel and Ernst Fabricius: ''Der obergermanisch-raetische Limes des Roemerreiches. Abt. B, Bd. 7, Nr. 72: Kastell Weißenburg.'' Berlin, 1906. * Johann Schrenk und Werner Mühlhäußer: ''Land am Limes. Auf den Spuren der Römer in der Region Hesselberg – Gunzenhausen – Weißenburg''. Schrenk, Gunzenhausen, 2009, , esp. pp. 107–114. * Ludwig Wamser: ''Biriciana – Weißenburg zur Römerzeit''. 2nd edn. Theiss, Stuttgart, 1986. (Guide to Archaeological Monuments in Bavaria: Franconia 1),

External links

Weißenburg Roman Fort
on the website of the German Limes Commission

on the private project page by Bernd Liermann

References

{{Authority control Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen Heritage sites in Bavaria Roman fortifications in Raetia Roman auxiliary forts in Germany