Castra of Salisberg

Kastell Salisberg stands on a low ridge above the Salisbach stream, the Kinzig river and a small pond just north-east of Hanau-Kesselstadt. The site rises three or four metres above the surrounding waterways, giving it a natural defensive position. Archaeologists have shown that the Romans first built a line of forts from Nidderau-Heldenbergen to the Main at Hanau, and Salisberg replaced an earlier fort at Kesselstadt. The area was later built over by a brewery and modern buildings, but a stretch of the outer ditch and part of the south gate can still be traced. The fort is worth visiting because it reveals how the Romans secured this stretch of the Wetterau frontier. More than 250 stamped bricks from the bath-house bear the marks of the 14th, 21st and 22nd legions, linking the site to Mainz and the early 2nd century. A coin hoard of 485 silver denarii and the ‘Quittung vom Salisberg’—Germany’s oldest precisely dated written record—show that a civilian settlement grew up beside the fort. These finds are now displayed in Hanau-Steinheim’s Museum Schloss Steinheim. What remains today is a quiet green space crossed by the Salisweg. South-west of the fort site the Kaiserteiche ponds mark the former brewery’s ice-cutting ponds. On the Kesselstadt cemetery wall the outline of the younger bath-house is preserved and open to view. A short walk south leads to the scatter of Roman buildings once occupied by traders and craftsmen. The whole area offers a modest but tangible glimpse of a small Roman frontier post.