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| Via Claudia Augusta – Zugspitz Arena on the antique ‘Autobahn’ |
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 Over 2,000 years ago there was a lively volume of traffic in what is today the Zugspitz Arena. On the Roman road Via Claudia Augusta, which leads from the Danube to the Adriatic coast, both people and goods were constantly on the move. In contrast to life on the roads today, this antique autobahn seems like a traffic-calm Sunday. But let’s turn back the clock a couple of thousand years … Emporer Claudius levels off (for wine and cheese) the path over the Alps In the year 15 B.C. the Roman Empire stretched up to the Danube. While the soldiers were keeping watch to the north, the first culinary trade with the highly coveted Rhaetian wine and cheese was flourishing. The well-situated patricians did not obviously shy from the costs and effort in entertaining their guests. Because imports of foodstuffs from the province of Rhaetia (covering parts of Switzerland, Austria, including the greater part of Tyrol, and Italy) were increasingly growing, it became necessary to build a winter-hardy connection between the Adria and the Danube. Between the years 41 and 54 A.D., Emporer Claudius turned the connection across the Alps which his father had previously set up into a Roman ‘highway’. So the implementation of the Via Claudia Augusta can be seen as the first working long-distance traffic concept in history. This antique autobahn goes from Altinum near Venice, via Feltre to the traffic hub at Trient and further on across the Reschenpass and Fernpass to Lechtal. The road ends at Donauwörth.  Antique Service Stations and Infrastructural development Along the Via Claudia Augusta, the first service stations and road maintenance depots started to appear. Every two hours guesthouses provided refreshments and a change of horses. Milestones showed travellers the way. It was possible to cover up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per day on the Via Claudia Augusta. Couriers (messengers) managed to cover up to 200 kilometres a day. Transalpine traffic grew at a tremendous pace, not least because the Via Claudia Augusta was the only road connecting Italy and Tyrol that was capable of accommodating horse and cart. Since it was built, this arterial road has been used continuously, more or less maintained and has been a driving force in developing the valleys. Archaelogists dig into the past Today, more than 2,000 years later archaeologists from the University of Innsbruck are bringing to light testiment to the old Via Claudia Augusta. In 1993, at a dig near the Lermoos marsh scientist came across a Roman ‘Prügelweg’, a passion path. In 1999, the Innsbruck archaeologists discovered the first traces of a roadside station in Biberwier. In the meantime, the large number of findings along the road give us a good impression of life on the Via Claudia Augusta. But the research is far from complete. Every summer the archaeological team from the University of Innsbruck is stationed in Biberwier.
Registration forms and information of tours can be obtained from the tourist information office for the Zugspitz Arena. Check the event calendar for dates. |
If you fancy trying out your hobby archaeologist skills, you can dig side-by-side with the professional archaeologists and perhaps make the odd discovery or two of your own. The findings are documented in a photographic exhibition in the school and cultural centre in Lermoos. Eighty panels describe the route from Venice to Donauwörth. Some of the original findings from the Ausserfern region are also on display.