Hildesheim Treasure

The Hildesheim Silver Fund is a Fund Roman silverware from the time of Augustus (1st century AD ). He is now in the antiquities collection of the Berlin State Museums.

Fund course

The comprehensive silver find was discovered on the western slope of the Galgenberg in the southeast of Hildesheim on October 17, 1868 the construction of a military firing range. The excavation of this shooting range for the Hanoverian infantry regiment Voigts- Rhetz the gunner August Armbrecht met with decorated metal parts. The rescue was carried out by participating in the construction soldiers. Most of the hoard was transported by truck to clean the barracks. At the site of Hildesheim citizens took part in custody Fund, which were released back later partly, but partly also remained in Hildesheim households. It is therefore to be expected that the Fund is not completely preserved. For other objects - such as an antique spoon - however, it is debatable whether they are attributable to the treasure trove.

The Senator Hermann Roemer, one of the founders of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, visited the locality, when he got aware of them. The day after the Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung reported on a valuable find, which probably came from the inventory of a royal household and was temporally assigned to the Renaissance. The excavation at the shooting range was again searched and collected several fragments of silverware.

The had traveled from Göttingen professors Pernice and Winter finally recognized the Roman inscriptions and stylistic features. Colonel August von Cohausen, who had studied Roman encampment in the Rhine region, interviewed a few days after the finding of the soldiers involved in the discovery regarding the Fund Schedule. He was also commissioned to make further investigations at the site, which he carried out in 1869.

August von Cohausen found during this excavation numerous horse skeleton and, for example, fragments of Roman brooches.

The objects found

In the locality there were apparently in a pit, in which the found objects were placed in a relatively orderly fashion as a triangle. Three large vessels - a bucket, a crater and a kantharos - apparently contained a number of smaller vessels, besides two silver tankard, a Klappdreifuß, a candelabra and a large rectangular dish were. From the perspective of local researchers are important pieces of the Hildesheim silver treasure a simple trowel and the so-called Athenaschale whose engravings are interpreted as the initials of the varus or were.

All finds are eating and drinking utensils, so that one can speak of a tableware total. From eingepunzten ancient numbering and weight, one can conclude that it is half of a tableware. Since exactly half of the specified total stock was found for a number of components of the dish, some scientists believe that there is a deliberate division of a once great double silver ensemble was made.

Show some of the objects found strong traces of use. Engraved owner name indicate that the dish components were different previous owners and the tableware was apparently compiled from various sources. There are mainly Augustan silver work, the rest is a bit older.

The interpretation of the find

The Fund has been used mainly by Hilde Heimern local researchers as evidence to locate the Varus battle near Hildesheim. Since this, however, only the discovery of the silver treasure can be used as evidence and other archaeological finds are missing may be considered unlikely. In the light of archaeological finds since 1987 the Fund Region Kalkriese applicable in the region of Osnabrück as the most probable site of the battle.

For local researchers, it is understood that it is not to the silverware of Varus in the Fund. But the dishes are too little bulky by far, and Varus would have certainly used no silverware, in the order lower ranks are processed. It is also not credible that the wealthy and allied with the imperial house Varus used a compiled from other panel harnesses silver ensemble. Due to the dating of the found objects however, it is conceivable that it is a dish from the possession of an officer of the Augustan army.

As a possible origin for example, the looting of the army campaign of Varus in the Battle of Varus or the legionary camp Vetera ( near modern Xanten ) was called during the Bataveraufstands. The orderly transfer of the silver discovery rather speaks for a sacrifice or a thorough hiding. Whether this was done by a Roman officer or Germans, will perhaps never leave without further excavations clarified. However, the obvious meticulous division of the dishes into exactly two halves gives rise to the presumption was that here divided neatly between the jealous Germanic military leaders and winners of the Battle of Varus, Arminius and Inguiomerus, the prey and one of the two there laid down as a sacrifice. See also Literature O. Höfler.

The theses Hildesheimer local researchers

The question of whether further excavations at the archaeological site of the Hildesheim silver discovery worth, is still the subject of local debate.

Some Hildesheimer local researchers suspect still missing about 70 counterparts in the ground and point out that Colonel of Cohausen excavations only directly at the site and only in an area of 15 × 15 m undertook. For example, this already happened in 1869. From the perspective of local researchers but were made in the immediate area of ​​the locality to date, no further probing, it is a just north of the locality situated hill grave that the Vergrabungsort marked in ancient times, in their view, until now unnoticed remained. They plead for a further search for the second half of the Hildesheim silver discovery by means of a rescue excavation, since the discovered over 100 years ago, pieces had already suffered much in the aggressive soil. Other experts point out that there extensive excavations and cultivations were made in connection to the then find later, so that further archaeological investigations in this area, therefore, are no longer useful. Those who argue for further archaeological investigations, however, argue that the site is not excavated, but was leveled and the immediate area of ​​the locality today is undeveloped. They also fear looters and refer to a 1875 there buried foundations with documents from the time, which you could find in such an excavation.

The finds

The Hildesheim Silver Fund is now in the antique collection of the Berlin State Museums.

Similar to the Hildesheim Silver Fund is the treasure of Boscoreale, which is now preserved as a result of foundation by the Baron de Rothschild in Paris' Louvre.

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