Roman Road in Osburger Hochwald

A Roman roadBetween Farschweiler and Reinsfeld, the Osburger Hochwald rises 100 to 200m above the surrounding plateau of the Hunsrück. Because the subsoil consists of nutrient-poor quartzite, this ridge has remained forested at all times. In the forest there are numerous indications of an old Roman road that crosses the Osburger Hochwald on the way from Trier to Hermeskeil and in the direction of Birkenfeld. At one point the typical image of an old Roman road is confirmed. Two trenches border a straight, dam-like piece of terrain, which swings in a clear bend to the southeast. What looks like a road embankment with accompanying road ditches, however, turns out to be two parallel ravine lanes. A little further to the west and east, they reunite to form a single track. The course of these rutted channels also speaks for a Roman road. As a rule, these are always marked out in a straight line. The two stretches of road only form the northern edge of an approximately 200m wide bundle of such lanes. It is the typical legacy of an old Roman road before the renewed construction of artificial roads from around 1800. From the Middle Ages on, carts crossed here again and again on the way from Trier to the Hochwald and in the opposite direction the height. You stayed in the track of the predecessor until it was too extended, and if necessary looked for a new track next to it. 300m south, a little deeper in the slope, there is an approximately 160m wide bundle of comparable lanes, as it were as an alternative route to the road over the highest knoll. This southern route was defined as the Trier - Hermeskeil road at the time of Napoleon. It was fortified and later expanded to become Bundesstraße 52. Next to the B52 and in the embankment, the traces of the old Roman road can be seen again and again. Source: Text information board - Heimat und Verkehrsverein Farschweiler e.V.

The old Roman roads can be found in the Osburger Hochwald on the way from Trier to Hermeskeil and in the direction of Birkenfeld.