TIMERIDEBlog

A division of Germany before the Cold War

However, the Limes did not divide Germany into East and Westas the Wall did after the Second World War did, but into north and south. It led from Bad Hönningen in Rhineland-Palatinate to Neustadt an der Donau in Bavaria. The Upper German-Raetian Limes marked the northernmost point of the Border of the Roman Empire. The Romans steadily expanded it over 5 centuries. They wanted a visible Boundary linewhich did not initially consist of a wall. When the Romans crossed the Limes for the first time in the 1st century. the first, it consisted only of a lane that could be used for a Deforestation of the Germanic forests. About a hundred years later, they still didn’t build a wall, but 10-meter-high wooden guard posts that stood within sight of each other. They also piled up mounds of earth. But over time armed the Romans continued to up. From the aisle to a simple fence to a stone wall. At the same time, the wooden towers became stone towers. This three-meter-high wall had many similarities to the wall that East and West Germany shared. It was also intended to enemies and keep them away.

The ancient migration policy

However, the Limes was not a solution to ancient migration policy, as the Roman Empire was constantly expanding its empire and conquering new territories. After the conquest, these new territories were usually integrated into the Roman Empire and “Romanized”. This means that the culture, politics and the laws of the Roman Empire. This mixing of the different cultures within the Roman Empire led to a multicultural societybut also for a lot of friction. As the Romans already had enough to do within their own borders, they used the Limes to ensure that no more extra-political conflicts came.