Tuesday 29th September – Seebruck, Chiemsee, Germany

Within walking distance of the campsite is a small reconstructed Celtic farmstead and, given my involvement with Avalon Archaeology, I was keen to visit it. Surprisingly, the site is unmanned and open 24 hours a day. Admittedly, the site is out in the countryside but I can’t imagine that a site like that in England would escape vandalization. The reconstruction consisted of four buildings – a two-roomed house, stables, barn/storage and workshop – all surrounded by a wattle fence. The reconstructions are based on archaeological evidence, although little evidence was found at the nearby settlement site. Many Celtic buildings in this area were of wooden construction and laid directly on the ground, leaving little or no trace after two millennia.
The buildings were well built and gave a very good idea of the architecture and construction methods. Apart from internal walls, the buildings were empty but this was understandable given that any artefacts would surely disappear over time. There were, however, a large number of comprehensive information boards. These were all in German but Google Translate gave excellent translations.
We continued our walk into Seebruck town on the banks of the River Alz, the outflow from the Chiemsee lake. We knew that the museum was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays but there were a couple of minor Roman sites in the town that we were able to visit. These were a hypocaust and workshop/residential building. The latter was only foundations outlined in a car park but the former did have small upstanding walls and evidence of the room heating system. In England, a small building and hypocaust would be fully excavated, recorded and then covered over again or even sacrificed for new construction. Here, not only were the remains preserved but a building was constructed over them and good information boards provided explaining the retro-fitted heating system but more about life in the Roman town of Bedaium (Seebruck).
We had lunch at a restaurant by the harbour/marina and had an interesting chat with the owner. He explained that they had serious problems recruiting staff. They have very few applications for jobs and those who apply are either unsuitable or have serious drink problems. They used to have twelve waiting staff but now only have four and for the last six years they have used a robotic server that delivers food from the kitchen. They have six Vietnamese staff in the kitchen who they have put through catering school.
We had hoped to take a boat trip on the Chiemsee lake over to the Fraueninsel (Women’s Island) and Herreninsel (Men’s Island) but the very helpful Tourist Information Office told us that the water level in the lake was so low that the boats were unable to dock. They have, like England, had a very dry Summer and have had serious fires in the mountains, a very rare occurrence.
We walked back to the campsite along the side of the lake and past a major Roman cemetery site where more information boards explained the site, the finds and Roman burial customs.
Photos: Overview of the Celtic farmstead; The Celtic House outside and inside; A Roman warrior sculpture in Seebruck; The lake and part of the marina; Incredibly lifelike sculptures outside a house on the way back to the campsite.