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The water wheel is working again

On the way up the Jägersteig there are always fantastic views of the Alps, the Auerbergland and the Pfaffenwinkel.

The Roman geographer Strabo already mentioned the settlement of Damasia on the Auerberg as "like an acropolis." The settlement is probably the oldest Roman civilian settlement in Bavaria. The approximately 1,055-meter-high Auerberg (sometimes referred to today as the "Swabian Rigi") offers a good panoramic view of the Allgäu Alpine foothills and lies directly on the Via Claudia Augusta. Therefore, it was settled by the Romans as early as 13 AD, but abandoned again in 40 AD because the climatic conditions up there were probably too harsh. In good weather, you can see as far as the Zugspitze and the Bregenz Forest – the best view is from the tower of the St. George Chapel. Source: https://www.roemer-tour.de/roemerspuren/deutschland/bayern/alpenrand-in-roemerhand/roemersiedlung-auerberg-damasia/

The ascent from Bernbeuren to the Auerberg through the Feuerstein Gorge and the adjoining Jägersteig trail is a popular hike in the western Pfaffenwinkel region. The wildly romantic lower section of the trail mostly follows the stream, while further up it frequently crosses small footbridges from one side of the stream to the other.

The mountain was occupied by Roman settlers – both civilian and military – in the second decade of AD (from approximately 13/14 AD) and abandoned again after 40 AD. With its fortified settlement, located at an extremely high elevation by Roman standards and exposed to the elements, its unusually short period of occupation of only one generation, its complex building structures, and an incredibly rich, high-quality find material, some of which was imported from far away, the mountain is of utmost importance for the archaeology and history of not only the southern German Alpine foothills in the early 1st century AD.

The trail leads through the wild and romantic Feuerstein Gorge along a babbling stream, which at one point turns into a waterfall. The paths lead over countless roots, steps, footbridges, and stairs.

The oldest Roman town-like settlement in Bavaria was located on the Auerberg at an altitude of 1,000 meters – "like an acropolis," as the Greco-Roman geographer and historian Strabo once described it. He mentions Damasia – most likely the name of this place – in the same breath as the important Roman sites of Brigantium (Bregenz) and Cambodunum (Kempten). In the military and artisan settlement on the Auerberg – not far from the route of the Via Claudia Augusta – there were numerous wooden structures (so-called "strip houses") up to 20 meters long, as well as a large workshop (fabrica) where catapults for arrows were manufactured. The extensive mountain settlement was fortified by a three-kilometer-long circular wall, much of which can still be seen today. Source: https://www.alpenrand-in-roemerhand.de/roemerstaetten-in-unserer-region/bernbeuren.html

Small waterfall in the Feuerstein Gorge