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October 2005
The Battle of Varusschlacht (also known as the Battle of Teutoburg Forest)
was made famous by the Ridley Scott film "Gladiator" - The opening battle where Russel Crowe fights in Germany (Germanicus),
the site is near the town of Kalkriese in Germany and according to the website blub is "Recognised as one of the most important
archaeological sites in Europe - BIG claim, so the NMBS went to find out.
Now, I am trying my hardest to make the NMBS website as professional as I can.
However trying to find something positive to say about the Varusschlacht site is hard. Varusschlacht
does not know what it wants to be. Its a museum, a country park, a kiddie play area, an observation tower, a scrap metal
site, a wacky place. One thing it is not - is any good.
I am sorry the owners of Varusschlacht I am sure you had great ideas,
but if you claim to be so important give the punters what they want - THINGS TO SEE ! I only took a few pictures of
the content of Varusschlacht Museum, as frankly there was not much in there. Coins, Sling-shot pellets, few bits
and bobs. Frankly, the Bolton Library Museum has more Roman artifacts on display that Varus. And Bolton does not
charge 7 Euros to get in. I am not big fan of museums having mannaquins dressed as Nero or Hitler, Churchill
or Cladius but at least you get to see costume and a sense of what the period was like. Varusschlacht was crying
out for a guy in a toga or a Horse pulling some chariot. Or even a film show with headsets for non German speakers -
there was nothing. Even the smallest and most hard to find battlefield the NMBS has visited - Killiecrankie, the National
Trust for Scotland has a visitors centre, albeit small, so people can understand what went on.
The history lesson written on boards around the Varusschlacht museum
is enough to drive the non German visitor mad - the start of the tour these information boards are in English and
German by the end they are in German alone ! Why stop ?!? To make matters worse the information on these boards
was in red lettering on a black background. This made it hard to read. Okay this may sound like an Englishman abroad
gripe - it isn't, for one reason only Varus was discovered by an English Archaeologist.
At the side of the museum was a tall observation tower (see pic below) so you could
see the battlefield. As we walked around this battlefield there was huge metal slabs with (In German) writing telling
you what happened on this spot. We had no idea and the metal just looked like a scrap site.
Well - I will let the NMBS web-visitor decide with the pictures below. Anyone
who has visited Varus and liked it, please, I would be interested, let me know.
| Trinkets |
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| What you find in me Mum's sideboard. |
Okay, Just in case anyone really wants to know about Varusschlacht.
In 9 AD, during the reign of Augustus, an event took place that literally changed the course of Roman and European
history. It happened in Germany at a place known as the Teutoburger Wald (Forest).
The event was a battle involving the newly appointed
Roman governor of Germany, a Roman army of approximately 16,500 men, 3 German tribes and a man who later came
to be seen as the savoir of ancient Germany. By the time the battle was over, the governor was dead by his
own hand and 3 Roman legions, along with 3 cavalry and possibly ten thousand camp followers, were utterly decimated. When
the news reached Rome, the shock to the emperor and the Roman people was profound and long lasting.
The battle is known also
The Varus Disaster, named after the governor of Germany and commander of the legions. That the battle took
place was known through historical records, both Roman and German, but exactly where it happened was not known. It is only
within the last few decades that archaeologists have been able to identify the general area and within the last 10 years,
possibly pinpoint the various locations of the battle.
This was a period where Rome was aggressively expanding and pushing the borders
of the empire into northern Europe.
The Rhine River was not considered a border; rather
it was a stepping stone to further conquests to the north. At this time, both Drusus and Tiberius led extensive campaigns
to conquer the territory and bring it into the sphere of the empire.
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