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61-508: Born in Detmold , the son of a prison officer, he began to write plays in the age of sixteen, while attending the Gymnasium . A scholarship awarded by Princess Pauline enabled him to study law at the universities of Leipzig and Berlin , where he became acquainted with Heinrich Heine. After graduating in 1823, he unsuccessfully applied as a theatre director. Grabbe returned to Detmold, he passed

122-771: A Roman military education ; thus allowing him to deceive the Romans methodically and anticipate their tactical responses. Teutoburg Forest is considered one of the most important defeats in Roman history, bringing the triumphant period of expansion under Augustus to an abrupt end. It dissuaded the Romans from pursuing the conquest of Germania , and so can be considered one of the most important events in European history . The provinces of Germania Superior and Germania Inferior , sometimes collectively referred to as Roman Germania , were established in northeast Roman Gaul , while territories beyond

183-549: A Roman auxiliary. Ancient battles were constrained by the seasons and weather. Typically, the campaigning season began in March, and ended by October, at which point armies would return to winter camps. Over the winter of 8 to 9 AD, Varus planned a simple campaign for the coming year. The disparate elements of the army would meet at Vetera (modern day Xanten , Germany), cross the Rhine, march to Cherusci territory while resupplying garrisons on

244-467: A key lesson: "the Romans could be defeated, but only in a situation where their tactical flexibility and discipline could not be brought to bear." The size of Arminius's forces is a guessing game at best since no written records of the Germanic peoples survive. Estimates thus vary widely based on the starting assumptions. Historian Adrian Murdoch suggests a force of 25,000. Historian Peter Wells suggests that

305-418: A larger plan was afoot. Arminius's carefully laid plans nearly unraveled when his father-in-law, Segestes , informed Varus of Arminius's treachery. But Varus disbelieved this report, perhaps because Segestes had not approved of the marriage of his daughter and thus bore a grudge against Arminius. As late summer arrived, escalating unrest became the chief concern. Other counselors to Varus advised that there

366-460: A municipal charter. Its population was reported in 1305 as 305. Market rights granted in 1265 led to rapid economic development. Its defenses were greatly strengthened after severe damage had been inflicted on the town during the conflict with Soest in 1447. A major fire in 1547 destroyed more than 70 houses. In 1550, Detmold became the permanent residence of Count Simon III of Lippe . The counts were elevated to princes in 1789, and Detmold remained

427-552: A place in the Emperor's inner circle. Varus likely remained with the Emperor in Rome until his appointment to the command in Germania in 7 AD. Historian McNally assesses that Varus was not assigned to Germania for his military abilities, but for his political acumen; this was likely sought by the Emperor to deal with the factionalism among Germanic tribes. Varus's name and deeds were known beyond

488-535: A prehistoric circular rampart and the Hermann monument (German: Hermannsdenkmal ). The monument commemorates the so-called Battle of the Teutoburg Forest , a battle in 9 AD which may or may not have been fought close to the present location of Detmold. In this encounter, Germanic tribes led by Hermann (Latin: Arminius ) defeated Roman legions under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus . Detmold

549-426: A total in the 20,000 to 30,000 range. Delbrück notes that these troops were not just mere farmers, they were experienced soldiers in their own right, even if not outfitted by the state as the Romans were. But the Germanic army was generally worse outfitted than the Romans. Most had no armor and would have been limited to a simple shield and a hunting spear or axe. There was a gradation in equipment quality according to

610-537: Is twinned with: Notable people born in Detmold include: Long-time residents of Detmold include: Others: Amongst the honorary citizens of Detmold, besides politicians are scientists and artists who have served in Detmold. The best-known are the builder of the Hermannsdenkmal , Ernst von Bandel (1871), Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1895), and Reich President Paul von Hindenburg (1917). Battle of

671-422: Is doubtful that Arminius imagined he would strike a total victory against the Romans, and thus he had to build a coalition of tribes together in order to wage what could have been a protracted war. The Roman army moved out of winter camps sometime in March, and followed Varus's plan. Logistical challenges beset the army, and security was lax. The location of the summer camp is unknown, but probably near or at what

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732-524: Is now Minden , Germany. Historical sources suggest that Varus waged little to no military action that summer, and instead focused on holding court and dealing with the Germanic tribes in a political and legal sense. Historian McNally finds the accounts to be unreliable on some points, noting that the only contemporary chronicler who describes the summer was Paterculus, and that Paterculus had reason to dislike Varus. Other accounts in turn relied on Paterculus's account, and thus had Paterculus's bias. At any rate,

793-625: The Clades Lolliana in 16 BC. The Lollian disaster prompted a reorganization of the legions in Gaul, which was completed by 12 BC, when Augustus sought finally to tame the Germanic tribes. He began by making his stepson Drusus I governor of Gaul. Drusus campaigned against the Germans from 11–9 BC, earning a series of victories, despite considerable obstacle, before his untimely death in a riding accident in 9 BC. His elder brother and future emperor Tiberius

854-481: The Sturm und Drang movement, his plays were very ambitious, with crowd scenes and rapid scene changes that challenged the technical capacity of the theaters of the time. He resolved the strict forms of the classical drama in a loose series of scenes that were a precursor of the realist drama. His plays Napoleon oder Die hundert Tage or Hannibal reveal a realistic, heterogeneous concept of history. After his death, he

915-629: The romanitas and the Empire were the ones that invaded Rome in the fourth and fifth centuries. The Roman Republic expanded rapidly in the first century BC, most notably under Julius Caesar , who conquered most of western Europe and parts of the British Isles in the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC). These mostly were against the Gauls , but also included battles with various Germanic tribes . Caesar twice crossed

976-457: The Altes Theater with Karl Leberecht Immermann . Grabbe returned to Detmold in 1836 as a broken man, his wife filed for divorce. He died from general paresis in the same year. With Georg Büchner , Grabbe was one of the principal German dramatists of his time. His debut Herzog Theodor von Gothland overtaxed contemporary critics by its all-pervasive nihilism . Influenced by Shakespeare and

1037-648: The Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of the district of Lippe and of the Regierungsbezirk Detmold . The Church of Lippe has its central administration located in Detmold. The Reformed Redeemer Church is the preaching venue of the state superintendent of the Lippe church. About 5 kilometres (3 mi) to the southwest of Detmold is the Grotenburg  [ de ] hill with

1098-672: The Rhine remained independent. Retaliatory campaigns were commanded by Tiberius and Germanicus and enjoyed success, but the Rhine became the border between the Roman Empire and the rest of Germania. Rome then made no major incursion into Germania until Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) during the Marcomannic Wars . Some of the descendants of the vassal kingdoms , like the Suebi (by suzerainty ), that Augustus tried to create in Germania to expand

1159-510: The Balkans (254) Gothic invasion of the Balkans (267–268) Roman–Alemannic Wars Gothic War (367–369) Gothic War (376–382) Visigothic Wars Vandalic Wars Anglo-Saxon Wars Vandalic War (533–534) Gothic War (535–554) The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest , also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster ( Latin : Clades Variana ) by Roman historians,

1220-707: The Christian-Dietrich-Grabbe Prize for new dramatic literature since 1994 in association with the Grabbe-Gesellschaft literary society and the Landesverband Lippe municipal association. Detmold Detmold ( German pronunciation: [ˈdɛtmɔlt] ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany, with a population of 74,835. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of

1281-555: The Eastern Empire and its border nations. Varus acted to resolve the succession crisis at the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC, but his performance as governor is disputed by contemporary sources. Josephus (writing some decades after the fact) has a positive view of Varus, whereas Velleius Paterculus implicitly accuses him of corruption. Regardless, Varus married the Emperor's great-niece after his term as governor ended, which ensured him

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1342-462: The Germanic lands remains unclear. Two main theories exist. The first is that Augustus simply sought to cement the Rhine as the Northern border of the Empire; the second that the border was far more fluid, and that the troops were focused on maintaining order in the Empire more than on preventing Germanic intrusion. The Germans operated with apparent impunity anyway, as exemplified by the crushing defeat in

1403-530: The Rhine river, but the engagements were inconclusive. His conquests ended as Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) drew near. Continental Europe was mostly neglected by Rome for the next two decades, as power struggles wracked the Republic. Troops previously garrisoned in Gaul were pulled out in 31 BC for the showdown between Octavian and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium . The Gauls promptly rebelled, and Roman control

1464-409: The Roman army along its length in the late morning. The line of march was now stretched out perilously long—between 15 and 20 kilometres (9.3 and 12.4 mi). It was in this state when it came under attack by Germanic warriors armed with swords, large lances and narrow-bladed short spears called fremae . The attackers surrounded the entire Roman army and rained down javelins on the intruders. It

1525-472: The Roman commander. Varus was a promising leader; Emperor Augustus appointed him quaestor in 22 BC as a young man, even though the office usually required the holder to be at least 30. He went on to command the XIX legion in 15 BC, and was elected junior consul . He was appointed governor of Africa in 8 BC and of Syria in 7 BC. The Syrian posting was prestigious, and a very difficult job due to political struggles in

1586-500: The Romans would have to make a longer trek back to their winter headquarters. Then, while on the long march back, the Romans could be ambushed in terrain favorable to Arminius. It is unknown and probably unknowable as to when Arminius decided to turn against Rome; perhaps it occurred during his time as a hostage, or even as late as his service in Germania under Varus. Regardless, his mind was made up by early 9 AD when he began deceiving Varus and recruiting Germanic chieftains to his cause. It

1647-574: The Romans, and instead would have represented the equipment and fighting styles of their homelands, which put them much on par with the Germanic troops. The Germanic coalition was led by Arminius , of the Cherusci tribe. Arminius was in a strong position to understand Roman tactics and strategy: though he was born in Germania, he was taken hostage by the Romans after Drusus defeated the tribe in combat in 8 BC, when Arminius would have been about 10 years old. He received an aristocratic education in Rome, as he

1708-410: The Romans. Then, he counseled Varus to split off a detachment of troops to go put down unrest. Varus acceded, thereby splitting his own forces. Arminius further arranged for his own Cherusci auxiliaries to find Roman work parties, approach them as if nothing was unusual, and then betray the Romans while in their midst. Historian McNally chastises Varus for not improving security or otherwise realizing that

1769-517: The Romans: an ambush in 11 BC led by the Cherusci against Drusus, and Drusus' victory over the Cherusci in 8 BC. In the ambush in 11 BC, the Cherusci had trapped Drusus' army in unfavorable terrain, and the Romans escaped only with great difficulty. Drusus' victory in 8 BC would have been unforgettable to Arminius, who had been made a hostage because of it. From these events, McNally argues that Arminius surmised

1830-477: The Teutoburg Forest Allied Germanic peoples , possibly including: 18,000‍–‍30,000: Gallic Wars (58 BC – 57 BC) Clades Lolliana (16 BC) Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16) Marcomannic Wars (166–180) ( participating Roman units ) Roman campaigns in Germania during the 230s Gothic invasion of the Balkans (250–251) Gothic invasion of

1891-449: The army may have pulled from a large area, and gives a range of estimates between 17,000 and 100,000, but suggests that 18,000 were likely involved at the final stage of the battle when the Romans were routed. Historian McNally finds fault with Well's demographic calculation style, finding his upper estimate of 100,000 to be very unlikely. Historian Hans Delbrück suggested that each tribe involved probably had 6,000 to 8,000 fighting men, for

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1952-495: The army's path, they could achieve both goals if they went on campaign against the Angrivarii . By going through Angrivarii territory, the route back would be shorter, and the Romans would also be able to put down the revolt. The otherwise boring summer may have increased Varus's willingness to engage in action, and he chose to follow Arminius's plan. On the morning of September 7, 9 AD, the Roman army mustered to move out. The muster

2013-441: The battle (~15,000 men), supported by nine small auxiliary units (~4,500 men). Winter attrition due to casualties, illness, and other causes would have sapped the legions' strength. The Roman historian Cassius Dio assumed that a large number of civilians were part of the camp following. But historian McNally finds this unlikely. Recent reforms had required that legionaries be unmarried, which meant that families were no longer part of

2074-399: The camp following. McNally puts the likely number of civilians at a few hundred, mostly merchants who followed the army. McNally, assuming 10% winter attrition, and an auxiliary force of about 4,000 after attrition, comes up 17,000 combatants, supported by roughly 3,800 servant non-combatants. Combined with the civilians, the army would have numbered about 21,000 at the start of campaigning, but

2135-542: The capital of the small Principality of Lippe until the end of the World War I in 1918, when all princely states in Germany were abolished. Today, Stephan, Prince of Lippe is the owner of Detmold Castle. Street lighting was introduced in 1809, with oil-fired lanterns. By 1835, the town had become the most populous in Lippe, with over 4,000 residents. It grew to 12,000 in 1900 and over 30,000 in 1950. From 1919 to 1947, Detmold

2196-513: The empire because of his ruthlessness, including crucifixion of insurgents. While he was feared by the people, he was highly respected by the Roman Senate . On the Rhine, he was in command of the XVII , XVIII , and XIX legions. These had previously been led by General Gaius Sentius Saturninus, who had been sent back to Rome after being awarded the ornamenta triumphalia . The other two legions in

2257-577: The final Staatsexamen and tried to find an employment as a legal officer, though also to no avail. Finally in 1826 he was appointed to act as a military legal advisor, initially without remuneration. From 1831 he increasingly suffered from alcoholism. After his fiancée turned away from him, he married his beloved Louise Christina Clostermeier in 1833, but the marriage quickly turned out to be unhappy. The next year Grabbe quit and left Detmold for Frankfurt , where he also fell out with his publisher. He proceeded to Düsseldorf , where he temporarily worked at

2318-1043: The king of the Marcomanni , who were a tribe of the Suebi . However, Tiberius was then forced to turn his attention to the Bellum Batonianum , also known as the Great Illyrian Revolt, which broke out in the Balkan province of Illyricum . Led by Bato the Daesitiate , Bato the Breucian , Pinnes of Pannonia , and elements of the Marcomanni, it lasted nearly four years. Tiberius had to stop his campaign against Maroboduus and recognise him as king so that he could then send eight legions ( VIII Augusta , XV Apollinaris , XX Valeria Victrix , XXI Rapax , XIII Gemina , XIV Gemina , XVI Gallica and an unknown unit) to crush

2379-452: The rebellion in the Balkans . After his return from Rome to Gaul, Arminius became a trusted advisor to Varus , the governor of the newly created Roman province of Germania , even as he secretly constructed an alliance of Germanic peoples that had traditionally been enemies. These probably included the Cherusci, Marsi , Chatti, and Bructeri. These were some of the fifty Germanic tribes at

2440-543: The summer was probably typical for the troops, whose time would have been spent drilling or engaging in civil engineering projects such as strengthening local roads and fortifications. The summer proved to be crucial for Arminius, who along with his auxiliaries, was attached to the main Roman army. He bided his time during the early part of the summer, but the clock was running out, and he still needed to orchestrate an ambush. Thus in July, he ordered some of his allies to start raiding

2501-421: The time. Using the collective outrage over Varus' tyranny, insolence and cruelty to the conquered, Arminius was able to unite the disorganized groups who had submitted to Rome, and maintain the alliance until the most opportune moment to strike. Following Rome's transfer of forces to the Balkans, only three legions faced the Germanic tribesmen. This was the opportunity for Arminius to defeat Varus. While Varus

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2562-462: The troops of the Angrivarii and Bructeri . On the morning of September 8, the Roman army decamped and continued snaking its way through the area's thick forest, which slowed movement and strung the army out at an increasing distance. Arminius now only had to ensure that the Romans worked their way towards Kalkriese , where the Angrivarii lay in ambush. To that end, his Bructerii allies attacked

2623-444: The turn of the century approached, the Romans felt secure about Germany, reassured by thriving cross border trade and relative peace. In early AD 6, Legatus Gaius Sentius Saturninus and Consul Legatus Marcus Aemilius Lepidus led a massive army of 13 legions and their entourage, totaling around 100,000 men (65,000 heavy infantry legionaries , 10,000–20,000 cavalrymen , archers , and 10,000–20,000 civilians) against Maroboduus ,

2684-401: The way, and then set up a summer camp in nominally pacified Cherusci lands from which to base summer operations. But unbeknownst to Varus, he had already been betrayed. The idea of setting up a summer camp in Cherusci lands was a ploy by Arminius, who was still Varus's trusted confidant. By being in the homeland of Arminius, the Cherusci could carefully observe the Romans during the summer, and

2745-413: The wealth and status of the fighter. Those fighters who would have held command roles, or been part of a chief's guard would have carried a heavy spear and a number of javelins, along with various other secondary weapons. Those fighters would also have had high quality shields. Still, armor was very rare and would had to have been acquired as spoils of war from defeated Romans, or perhaps from time serving as

2806-406: The winter-quarters of the army at castrum Moguntiacum were led by Varus' nephew, Lucius Nonius Asprenas , and perhaps Lucius Arruntius. Varus initially commanded five legions plus auxiliaries in Germania. In the early imperial period each legion at full strength had 4,800 men supported by 120 light escort/scouting cavalry. Combined usually with a group of engineers and officers, a legion

2867-500: Was a brief skirmish, aimed at tiring out the Roman troops and causing maximum damage to their supplies. The Bructerii withdrew quickly, likely taking the Cheruscii spies embedded in the Roman army with them. The Romans' luck went from bad to worse as a torrential downpour began. Unable to advance, Varus ordered the army to make camp. A sturdy camp was erected, and Varus called a war council. Casualty reports indicated only light losses, but

2928-412: Was a major battle between Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire that took place somewhere near modern Kalkriese from September 8–11, 9 AD, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus and their auxiliaries. The alliance was led by Arminius , a Germanic chieftain and officer of Varus's auxilia. Arminius had received Roman citizenship and

2989-599: Was at first forgotten, but his work was rediscovered by the Naturalist and Expressionist dramatists. He was honored by the Nazis as a great national poet, based on occasional antisemitic statements (particularly in Aschenbrödel ), and on his nationalistic portrayal of German history, like Die Hermannsschlacht on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . In the 1930s, numerous streets were named after him. The city of Detmold awards

3050-441: Was breaking off to finish the muster of the Cheruscii auxiliaries, but would return with the main army in two or three days. It was the men's final meeting. Arminius left behind a small number of Cheruscii, nominally to act as guides, but their true purpose was to act as spies. The loss of Arminius cut the size of the Roman army by a quarter and deeply curtailed its scouting abilities. Arminius himself hurriedly rode northward to gather

3111-451: Was combined with the third payday of the year, which resulted in large numbers of coins being distributed to the army. The high density of coins would, some two thousand years later, serve as an archeological marker of the battle site. The morale of the troops was boosted by word that high command authorized looting on the Angrivarii campaign, given that the army would be operating beyond supply lines. That evening, Arminius told Varus that he

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3172-573: Was first mentioned as Theotmalli in 783, the year of a battle between the Saxons and Charlemagne 's forces nearby. This was an event in the Saxon Wars . In 1005 a Tietmelli or Theotmalli region ( Gau ) is referred to in documents. In 1263, Bernard III of Lippe fortified the settlement at the crossing of the trade route from Paderborn to Lemgo over the Werre River with stone walls and granted it

3233-535: Was given command of Germany in 8 BC. Tiberius continued his brother's campaign against the Sugambri , extending de facto , if not de jure Roman rule, but he fell out of political favor and chose exile in 6 BC. He was, in turn, succeeded by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , who had been consul in 16 BC. Ahenobarbus suppressed a number of local uprisings and then crossed the Elbe river, the first and last Roman general to do so. As

3294-496: Was incorporated into the new German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the town became the seat of the Lippe district, and since 1972 it has been the seat of the district administration of Lippe. With the administrative reform of 1970, 25 nearby villages were incorporated into the city. The former Hobart Barracks is nearby. The town supports the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie for regular symphony concerts. Detmold

3355-406: Was not enough time left in the season to put down unrest and also make it back to winter camp. An early Roman retreat back to camp would have foiled Arminius's plans, as the Romans would not only leave before the Germanic troops could be marshalled, but the Romans would also retreat along the same well guarded path they had come in on. In a desperate gamble, Arminius suggested that instead of retracing

3416-416: Was not regained until 28 BC. 27 BC saw drastic change for both Gaul and Rome as a whole. The Roman Republic reorganized into the Roman Empire , with Octavian the first emperor. Octavian, now styled Augustus, aimed to solidify control of Gaul by dividing the region into three smaller provinces that emphasized the strategic importance of the Rhine valley. Troops were kept near the Rhine, though policy towards

3477-580: Was on his way from his summer camp west of the River Weser to winter quarters near the Rhine , he heard reports of a local rebellion; these had been fabricated by Arminius. Edward Shepherd Creasy writes that "This was represented to Varus as an occasion which required his prompt attendance on the spot; but he was kept in studied ignorance of its being part of a concerted national rising; and he still looked on Arminius as his submissive vassal". The Varian disaster takes its name from Publius Quinctilius Varus ,

3538-460: Was probably smaller by the time of the battle, as further attrition combined with the need to detach garrisons along the way would have sapped the army's strength. The main Roman army was highly professional and outfitted by the state. They were given standardized weapons and armor, consisting of a gladius (shortsword), a large shield, a pilum (javelin), a helmet, a mail shirt, and some segmented armor. The auxiliary units were not outfitted by

3599-458: Was roughly 5,000 fighting men. This did not include the 1,200 non-combatant servants that were integrated into the legion. Varus's initial command of about 25,000 (not counting auxiliaries) represented some 20% of the Roman frontline army. But it is unclear how many men were truly under his command at the battle of the Teutoburg Forest; estimates generally range from 20,000 to 30,000. Of his five starting legions, only three were under his command at

3660-562: Was the capital of the Free State of Lippe . The Lippische Landes-Zeitung  [ de ] started in 1878 and, in co-operation with other reginal papers, is still published today. The competing Lippische Tageszeitung  [ de ] was published in Detmold from 1896 until 1938. During the Nazi years (1933–1945), the Lippische Staatszeitung  [ de ] was the official party and government publication. When Lippe

3721-495: Was the son of a nobleman, even if he was a hostage. When he came of age, he joined the ordo equester (the Roman cavalry), which would later lead to his appointment as a commander of Roman auxiliaries. By 4 AD he was serving in Pannonia (in the northwestern Balkan states). Soon after, he returned to his homeland in Germania, still nominally loyal to Rome. Historian McNally suggests that two important events shaped Arminius's view of

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