Rainau-Dalkingen

Q1746996

Rainau-Dalkingen: site of a gate in the Roman limes between Rhine and Danube.

The Dalkingen gate
The Dalkingen gate

In the neighborhood of the fort of Rainau-Buch, the remains of several other Roman buildings are visible. For instance, there is the ruin of a monumental gate in the limes wall near the modern village of Rainau-Dalkingen, about a kilometer north of the fort. Originally, it was a wooden construction, but it was rebuilt several times.

Reconstruction
Reconstruction

In the final phase, at the beginning of the third century, it must have had a façade like the stage of a theater, with rather plumb columns. In the upper part of the gate, there must have been a bronze statue of an emperor, perhaps Caracalla, who defeated the Germanic tribe of the Alamans in 213, and must have started his campaign from Dalkingen. Twenty years later, the Alamans stroke back, and the gate was burned down.

This page was created in 2005; last modified on 13 October 2020.