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Vindobona (; from Gaulish windo- "white" and bona "base/bottom") was a Castra (or castra) in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof (the Old Berghof). The Older Berghof in Vienna (German). Today, the site is more commonly associated with Hoher Markt and Wiener Neustädter Hof, a building in today's Sterngasse 3. Berghof was the name of the mansion, which had evolved from the initial settlement with the walls of the Roman baths. It was originally the only building in Vienna to be built by a certain pagan, presumably an Avaricum dignitary, eventually becoming a fortified town. The place is mentioned in Jans Enikel's "Fürstenbuch" (around 1270) (vide: Jeff Bernhard / Dieter Bietak: The Wiener Neustädter Hof alias Berghof - a probe into the Year Zero, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Bern 1997, p. 247).
Around 1 AD, the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire. Henceforth, the Danube marked the border of the empire, and the Romans built fortifications and settlements on the banks of the Danube, including Vindobona with an estimated population of 15,000 to 20,000.
It is possible that Vindobona as a Castra was built around the year 100, since the oldest excavated building inscriptions date from 103.
Vindobona was part of the Roman province of Pannonia, whose regional administrative centre was Carnuntum. Vindobona was a military camp contiguous to the civilian city of Canabae. The military complex covered some 20 hectares, housing about 6000 men, where Vienna's first district now stands. The Danube marked the border of the Roman Empire, and Vindobona was part of a defensive network including the camps of Carnuntum, Brigetio and Aquincum. By the time of Emperor Commodus, four legions (X Gemina, XIV Gemina Martia Victrix, I Adiutrix and II Adiutrix) were stationed in Pannonia.
Vindobona was provisioned by the surrounding Roman country estates (Villa rustica). A centre of trade with a developed infrastructure as well as agriculture and forestry developed around the town. Communities developed outside the fortifications ( canabae legionis), as well another community independent of the military authorities in today's third district. A Germanic marketplace settlement faced Vindobona on the far side of the Danube from the second century onwards.
The uncharacteristically asymmetrical layout of the military camp is still recognisable in Vienna's street plan: Graben, Naglergasse, Tiefer Graben, Salzgries, Rabensteig, Rotenturmstraße. The oblique camp border along today's Salzgries Street was probably caused by a great flood of the Danube during the 3rd century which erosion a considerable part of the camp. Reconstruction of the ancient relief of downtown Vienna The name “Graben” (ditch) is believed to recall the defensive ditches of the military camp. (It is thought that at least parts of the walls still stood in the Middle Ages, when these streets were laid out, and thus determined their routes.) The Berghof was later erected in one corner of the camp.
Rebuilt after Germanic invasions in the second century, the town remained a seat of Roman government through the third and fourth centuries. The population fled after the Huns invaded Pannonia in the 430s and the settlement was abandoned for several centuries.
Part of a Roman canal system is underneath the fire station am Hof. Wien Museum | Römische Baureste Am Hof, Vienna Museum
Directly under the Hoher Markt are the remains of two buildings unearthed during the canalisation works of 1948/49 and made accessible to the public. After further excavation, a showroom was opened in 1961. For this purpose some of the original walls had to be removed; white marks on the floor show the spots where. The buildings, which are separated from one another by a road, housed an officer and his family. In 2008 this Roman ruins exhibit was expanded into the Museum of the Romans. "Die Römer kommen nach Wien" , ORF 10 May 2008 Only a small portion can today be seen, for the majority of the remains are still located underneath the square and south of it.
The remains of the walls date from different phases from the 1st to the 5th century AD. The houses were typical Roman villas, with living quarters and space for working set around a middle courtyard with columned halls. Wien Museum | Römische Ruinen Hoher Markt
During drillings for the U5 underground line, new brick kiln and metal smelting sites were discovered that revealed further reaching suburbs of the ancient Roman settlement.
About 6,000 soldiers were stationed in the Roman camp. Many of them were free from active duty during peaceful times and had other jobs. These so-called immunes were needed for the supply of goods and for the production and maintenance of weapons and commodities. They also extracted stone from quarries and wood from forests, produced bricks, and maintained the streets, bridges and the water system. Administrating the camp and ensuring its security required additional manpower.
Archaeological excavations done over the last 100 years have discovered the following Roman water supply fragment locations:
Waste from the Roman camp was transported through an elaborate subterranean sewerage system that was planned from the beginning. The sewers were lined with brick walls and plates and ran beneath the main roads. were used in such a way that the waste water descended through the canals into the River Danube. Since the canals were up to two meters deep, they could be cleaned out regularly. Large waste was probably deposed at the slope of the river. In the civilian settlement, waste was deposed in former and dumps.
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