Kalefeld is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is situated approximately 10 km north of

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document r ...

. It comprises the villages of Dögerode, Eboldshausen, Echte, Kalefeld, Oldenrode, Oldershausen, Sebexen, Westerhof, Wiershausen, and Willershausen. In 2008, a Roman battlefield was excavated near the town. Currently it is very probable that Roman legionaries won a battle for a blocked pass against local Germanic fighters.

Roman Battlefield of the early 3rd Century AD

In summer 2008 German archaeologists unearthed the remains of a battle fought in

Magna Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

very probably between Roman legionaries and Germanic tribes. The archaeological find was originally made in 2000 by amateurs in a hilly pine-wooded region between

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2 ...

who discovered metallic items using metal-detectors. The archaeologists have now ascertained that a fierce battle now called the

Battle at the Harzhorn The Battle at the Harzhorn took place in the early 3rd century between Germanic and Roman troops near the Harzhorn hill between the towns of Kalefeld and Bad Gandersheim, in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. The battlefield, spanning severa ...

took place on the approach to a pass, involving archers and cavalry equipped with long-range catapults ( Scorpio) capable of piercing shields at a distance of 300 metres (yards). "The findings show that possibly 1,000 Romans were involved" in the battle, according to the leading archaeologist, Petra Lönne. "This is an unrivalled, well-preserved site," she added. Some 600 artefacts have been found so far, including spears, arrowheads, axes, armour plating, tent pegs, catapult bolts, and coins. In 2013, a complete coat of mail was discovered as well. One such coin depicts the Roman emperor Commodus, who reigned from 180 to 192 AD (''terminus post quem''), while fragments of swords and carts suggest the battle took place in the first half of the third century AD Contrary to the belief of the German media that the Romans completely retreated behind the river Rhine in the wake of the Teutoburg Forest massacre in which thousands of legionaries were slaughtered, historical records regularly reported about military operations as punitive raids east of the Rhine. Such military operations are reported for the time of

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...

and

Maximinus Thrax Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus "Thrax" ("the Thracian"; – 238) was Roman emperor from 235 to 238. His father was an accountant in the governor's office and sprang from ancestors who were Carpi (a Dacian tribe), a people whom Diocletia ...

, the first Roman soldier-emperor who reigned briefly from 235 to 238, was personally involved in operations against the Germanic tribes. In April 2009 the responsible archaeologists presented six newly found silver denarii: one of

, three of

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...

, and two of

Severus Alexander Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself wa ...

. The new discovery narrows the date of the battle down to between 230 AD and 235 AD. Since January 2012, one of the units participating in the Roman battle is known as well: A Roman engineer's axe (''dolabra'') found on the battlefield is inscribed with LEG IIII (4th Legion) and further letters that reveal that its owner belonged to the Legio Quarta Flavia Severianan Alexandrina, which was stationed in Singidunum (now Belgrade, Serbia).Archaeologieportal article Rätsel um römische Inschrift entschlüsselt with press release

Churches

* Weissenwasserkirche, built in 1145, romanesque architecture * Liebfrauenkirche, built in 1872 with construction plans by Conrad Wilhelm Hase

Notes

External links

Archaeology Daily News report from Dec. 16, 2008
{{Authority control Northeim (district)