For centuries one has been looking for the ‘teutoburgiensis saltus’ (Teutonic Woods), which – referring to the writings of the Roman author Tacitus – was the scene of the Germanic victory over the Roman troops of Publius Quintus Varus in 9.A.D. The catastrophic defeat set an end to the Roman expansion to the eastern territories of river Rhein. By comprehensive excavacations it is now proven, that the site is the historic place of the battlefield.
The museum park has a measure of 20 hectares and is located in the center of the about 27 km wide spread battleground. The collin of Kalkriese in the south, secured with a rampard built by the Teutons, and the moorland in the north formed a natural narrow landscape, in which the several km long spread line of Roman soldiers could be attacked by surprise. The design of the park focuses on the fact that the historic landscape is the actual exhibit of the museum.
By establishing afforestations in the southern parts and cutting the wood on the former open parts of the site, the park is set back to the landscape situation at the point of the battle. The route of the Roman legions is marked with iron plates while iron poles show the former hight of the wall built by the Teutons.
A small sunken ‘reconstruction’ shows in detail the authentic site at 9.A.D. The different levels of time include the past and present time, meaning that today’s agricultural use of the land with it′s pathways is included as part of the park. Referring to today’s didactics of presenting history, the park is not a simple reconstruction of historic artefacts but an abstract presentation of what happend and under which circumstances.
Location: Osnabrück, Germany
Client: Kalkriese Archeological Museum Park, Osnabrück, Germany
Competition: 1998, 1st Prize
Realisation: 1999–2000
Landscape: Studio Vulkan (previously Zulauf Seippel Schweingruber Landschaftsarchitektur)
Architecture: Annette Gigon/Mike Guyer Architekten, Zurich
Photography: Hannes Henz, Zurich; Stefan Leppert, Munster
Awards: Weser Ems Prize 2001, Bundesland Rheinland-Westfalen
