Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Germany
Riesenberg Barrow
Nobbin village is best known for the megalithic tomb known as the Riesenberg. The tomb was constructed of glacial erratic boulders and dates back to the New Stone Age in Rügen. It is one of the largest stone graves in North Germany and lies just a few metres from the steep coast on the bay of Tromper Wiek, immediately by the cliff top path. The trapezoidal enclosure, which originally had 53 large boundary stones, is ...
Founded: 4300-2800 BC |
Location:
Putgarten, Germany
Kriemhildenstuhl
The Kriemhildenstuhl is an old Roman quarry, which was worked by the 22nd Legion of the Roman Army, who were stationed in Mogontiacum (Mainz) around 200 AD. Immediately above the quarry is the Heidenmauer, a 26 hectare fortified Celtic settlement from the late Hallstatt era. The Brunhildisstuhl a little below the Kriemhildenstuhl was probably another a Roman quarry. Other old Roman quarries in the vicinity are found in th ...
Founded: 200 AD |
Location:
Bad Dürkheim, Germany
Danevirke
The Danevirke is a system of Danish fortifications. This important linear defensive earthwork across the neck of the Cimbrian peninsula, was initiated by the Danes in the Nordic Iron Age at some point before 500 AD. It was later expanded multiple times during Denmark"s Viking Age. The Danevirke was last used for military purposes in 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig. The Danevirke stretches for 30 km, from the ...
Founded: 500 AD |
Location:
Kleindannewerk, Germany
Lancken-Granitz Dolmens
The Lancken-Granitz dolmens are a group of seven megalith tombs in the Lancken-Granitz municipality on Rügen. Erected during the middle Neolithic, when they were used by the Funnelbeaker culture, at least some were in use until the early Bronze Age. Three of them are encircled by solitary rocks forming either rectangles or a stone circle, one has a solitary 'guardian stone' on its eastern side. The dolmens were construc ...
Founded: 3500-3200 BC |
Location:
Lancken-Granitz, Germany
Lembecksburg
Lembecksburg was a medieval ring wall with a diameter of 95 meters and a height of ten meters. According to old lore, it was constructed in the 9th century as a stronghold against the Vikings and is named after the knight Klaus Lembeck who had allegedly been residing there as a steward of king Valdemar IV of Denmark in the 14th century. After breaking his feudal oath, though, Lembeck is said to have been besieged by the k ...
Founded: 9-10th century AD |
Location:
Borgsum, Germany
Hüfingen Roman Bath Ruins
Hüfingen Roman Bath Ruins (Römische Badruine Hüfingen) are an extraordinary testimony to the Roman culture of bathing and one of the oldest examples of baths in a fortress north of the Alps. Around 70 AD, Roman legions crossed the Alps to construct and secure the Danube Limes, or Roman frontier. At the western end, in today’s Hüfingen, the Brigobannis fortress was built. This boasted a sophistic ...
Founded: |
Location:
Hüfingen, Germany
Ruffenhofen Roman Park
Ruffenhofen Roman Park is an archaeological park covering an area of about 40 hectares. The ancient fortification lies around 2.2 km from the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes. Roman fort of Ruffenhofen Castle as well as large elements of the associated civilian settlement have survived underground and have not been built over.
Founded: 100-200 AD |
Location:
Gerolfingen, Germany
Leutstetten Villa Rustica
Villa Rustica in Leutstetten was a roman estate built around the year 133 AD and was in use probably only 50 years. The house was probably abandoned by its inhabitants when they had to flee from the invading tribe of the Marcomanni. Most of what was left was taken away and possibly reused during the Middle ages. Today the Villa Rustica site is restored.
Founded: 133 AD |
Location:
Starnberg, Germany
Tinnumburg
Tinnumburg is the best preserved of the three ancient ring forts in Sylt. The fort was built around the birth of Christ. The rampart has a diameter of 120 meters. The wall is up to seven meters high and has a circumference of about 440 meters. The castle had at least two gates (east and south). Excavations in 1870, 1948 and 1976 provided evidence that the Tinnumburg was built in the style of early Roman Empire round ramp ...
Founded: 0 AD |
Location:
Sylt, Germany
Dwasieden Dolmen
The Great dolmen of Dwasieden was excavated in 1970 by Ewald Schuldt. The megalithic site of the Funnelbeaker culture was constructed between 3500 and 2800 B.C. Of the 54 kerb stones - including the four guardian stones - 41 have survived. The rectangular, roughly east-west oriented chamber at the wide end of the frame, with its western entrance and porch consists of seven supporting stones, a half stone the height of the ...
Founded: 3500-2800 BC |
Location:
Sassnitz, Germany
Great Dolmen of Dwasieden
The Great dolmen of Dwasieden is a megalithic site of the Funnelbeaker culture, which was constructed between 3500 and 2800 BC. The dolmen lies in a roughly northeast-southwest oriented, trapezoidal hunebed about 35 metres long and 12.5 to 7.5 metres wide. Of the 54 kerb stones - including the four guardian stones - 41 have survived. The rectangular, roughly east-west oriented chamber at the wide end of the frame, with i ...
Founded: 3500-2800 BC |
Location:
Sassnitz, Germany
Otzenhausen Celtic Hillfort
The Celtic hillfort of Otzenhausen is one of the biggest fortifications the Celts ever constructed. It was built by Gauls of the Treveri tribe, who lived in the region north of the fort. The first fortification was constructed in the 5th or 4th century BC, but the real heyday of construction dates to the 2nd and 1st century BC. For reasons yet unknown, the fort was abandoned shortly after this expansion. The site is form ...
Founded: 400 BC |
Location:
Otzenhausen, Germany
Boitin Steintanz
The Boitin Steintanz ('Stone Dance') is a very special monument to mankind’s early history. There are altogether four stone circles in the forest near the village of Boitin in the vicinity of Bützow. Three of them lie close together, the fourth one at a distance of about 200 metres. Already long ago there were theories about the age and function of the arrangement. Today it is assumed that this is a calendar from the 1 ...
Founded: |
Location:
Boitin, Germany
Dalkingen Roman Site
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. In the final phase, at the beginning of the third century, it must have had a façade li ...
Founded: c. 200 AD |
Location:
Ostalbkreis, Germany
Charenza
Charenza, also Karentia or Karenz, was a medieval Slavic burgwall on the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea. It was the administrative centre of the Rani tribe and of the Principality of Rugia. Today, the remnants are called Venzer Burgwall. Charenza was not only the administrative hub of the Rani tribe, but also a religious centre with the temples of Rugievit, Porevit and Porenut. The main religious centre of the Ran ...
Founded: 9th century AD |
Location:
Venz, Germany
Geisenklösterle
Geisenklösterle is a cave near Blaubeuren and an important site for the European Upper Paleolithic. It is one of a number of caves where early modern humans in the Aurignacian, between 43,000 and 30,000 years ago left traces of early artwork. Geisenklösterle was first archaeologically explored in 1963. Systematic excavations began in 1973, from 1974 to 2002 sponsored by the land of Baden-Württemberg. A 1983 ...
Founded: 41,000 BC |
Location:
Blaubeuren, Germany
Goloring
The Goloring is an ancient earthworks monument located near Koblenz. It was created in the Bronze Age era, which dates back to the Urnfield culture (1200–800 BC). During this time a widespread solar cult is believed to have existed in Central Europe. The Goloring consists of a circular ditch of 175 metres in diameter with an outside embankment extending to 190 metres. Technically this makes the structure a henge mo ...
Founded: 1200-800 BC |
Location:
Koblenz, Germany
Heidengraben
Heidengraben is the name given to the remains of a large Celtic fortified settlement (oppidum) dating to the Iron Age. The settlement was in use from about the late 2nd century BC to the early 1st century BC. By surface area, Heidengraben is the largest oppidum in all of mainland Europe. The outer fortifications delineate an area of over 1,700 hectares, making this oppidum the largest known in mainland Europe. The 2.5 km ...
Founded: 2nd century BC |
Location:
Grabenstetten, Germany
Heidenmauer
The Heidenmauer ('heathen wall') is a circular rampart or ringwork, two and a half kilometres long, which was built by the Celts around 500 BC. The wooden elements of the wall have disappeared over the course of time by rotting away, but the stones have survived. Copious numbers of pottery finds have enabled a very precise dating. Almost all the containers are hand-made, only a few show traces of having been tur ...
Founded: 500 BC |
Location:
Bad Dürkheim, Germany
Villa Rustica
In 1956, the discovery of a Roman countryside villa was unearthed alongside the road to Weiler Kreut, parallel to what is now the B17 neu federal highway. This existed from the beginning of the 2nd century until the middle of the 4th century AD. The site is part of a group of large villas belonging to the former province of Raetia. It is situated on the junction of the former Roman Kaiserstaße Via Claudia Augusta, w ...
Founded: 100 AD |
Location:
Peiting, Germany