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Fig. 5.
Xanten, RömerMuseum:
entrance (photo by
Wolfgang Günzel).
perience starts already in front of the museum where several Roman
ashlars, blocks weighing several tons, give a first idea of the masses of
stones the Roman transported to the Lower Rhine. In the entrance
hall, a 30 square metres large glass-covered floor area shows antique
imprints of feet, paws and carts (fig. 5). They set the tone for what
the Roman Museum is all about: people and their traces in history.
The first part of the tour shows the conditions prevailing when the
Roman army first arrived in the Rhine region. It centres on the presentation
of a “Wohnstallhaus” building combining living quarters
and stables. In addition, an attractive panoramic image provides a
view of the Lower Rhine area’s landscape at that time.
Visitors reach the back part of the ground floor through a cabinet
showing the invasion of the legions. A column formed of legionnaire’s
helmets stands for the ten thousand soldiers whose deployment
was a major turning point in Xanten’s history. The exhibition
shows where the soldiers came from, how their camps were set up
and what it meant to be a “Roman” on the edge of the empire.
The ramp rising from the back of the ground floor illustrates the
events after the suicide of Emperor Nero, which resulted in the destruction
of the legion’s camp and the civilian settlement. At the
same time, the ramp takes visitors through the most important collection
of weapons and equipment of the Roman army, including
the best-preserved piece of antique artillery.
What follows is the actual heart of the exhibition: The history of the
Roman city. Here, visitors learn about the important promotion to
Colonia status and the tremendous achievements in the construction
of the city’s major buildings. Visitors gain insight into the adjacent
ancient baths. In addition to an eight metres long and four
metre high mural painting, the tour features also numerous finds
from the Colonia, which could never before be shown in Xanten.
They illustrate the daily life of the Romans, their crafts and trades as
well as the economic importance of the city. Another archaeological
highlight is a Roman ship that floats in the air between two levels.
Then, the exhibition dives even deeper into the life of the Romans.
A forum full of tombstones and votive stones from many European
countries provides a modern portrayal of individual lives. They
visualise the cultural roots, family background, military careers,
civilian professions and religions in Colonia Ulpia Traiana.
The last big exhibition platform explains what happened after the
Romans had left Xanten. It centres on the Frankish cemetery un-
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