The Teutoburg Forest

In September of the year 9 CE, a coalition of Germanic tribes led by Arminius annihilated three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest, a defeat so severe it halted Roman expansion east of the Rhine for good.

From the source

Duitsland, waar in het jaar 9 na Chr. Germaanse stammen onder Arminius drie Romeinse legioenen vernietigden.

Editorial reading

The destruction of Publius Quinctilius Varus and his legions ranks among the most consequential defeats in Roman history: contemporary accounts describe the emperor Augustus as devastated by the loss. The battle site itself was long debated, until archaeological finds at Kalkriese, near Osnabruck, uncovered weapons, coins and the remains of a Roman marching column consistent with an ambush on this scale. Since 2002 the site has been home to Museum und Park Kalkriese, an archaeological museum and open-air park built around the excavation, honoured with the Europa Nostra Award in 2004 for its work interpreting and preserving the landscape.

Recommendation

Kalkriese lets visitors walk the actual ground where the battle is now believed to have unfolded, following outdoor trails past excavation sites while the museum explains how archaeologists pieced together what happened here two thousand years ago.

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