Roman traces in Frenz
Where the church, the fire brigade and the old school are located today in the middle of the village, the original castle of the noble lords of Frenz was located until the late Middle Ages.
900 years have passed since the village was first mentioned in a document. But the traces of Frenz’s history reach much further into the past.
As early as 1811, the gable frieze of a Roman tomb was found in the Inde River between Frenz and Lamersdorf. A cast of the mythological representation is in the local history museum in Lucherberg
- The fragment of a votive stone of Dea Sunuxal, the tribal goddess of the Sunuk people (Sunuci) who settled in the Inde region, was found in 1904 when the old Frenz chapel was demolished. The stone was walled in behind the main altar of the new church. A copy is also in the museum in Lucherberg.
- In 1921, two burial chambers of a monumental tomb were investigated in the Feldgasse. Of archaeological importance are the bronze fittings of a Roman chariot, which were laid down as grave goods. In 1974, the Frenz shooting fraternity carried out a reconstruction attempt (of the chariot).
- In the area „Am Kirchweg“ on the plateau of the old course of the river Inde lay a magnificent settlement site. The villa rustica received its drinking water via a water pipe, the course of which was proven to have come from the northwest.
- Two other Roman estates existed in the valley of the River Indus to the east and south-east of the site. The fragment of a so-called shed column was found, which belonged to a Jupiter column and testifies to the worship of the supreme Roman god.
- On the green area in front of the church portal is the fragment of a Roman column made of red sandstone.
All these finds are to be interpreted as evidence of Roman settlement between the 1st and 4th centuries.
This replica of a Roman well was made from original stones from the archaeological excavations in Inden and Altdorf. It was built in 2008 by the IG Frenzer Ortsvereine with material, technical and financial support from Garten- und Landschaftsbau Jakob Breuer, Gemeinde Inden, Geschichtsverein der Gemeinde Inden e. V., LVR, Rheinische Denkmalpflege, Außenstelle Titz, Ortsvorsteher Werner Breuer, Rhein-Ruhr AG.