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Statistics to the Medieval 'Hell-Road' SystemJoannes Richter
Once upon a time somebody had to try and use Google-Maps for a statistical archaeological study. Ihad tried this tool a few years earlier, but those days the restrictions were too cumbersome. Now
howeer the deelopers had done their homewor! and improed the storage system. "ata are beingstored in my own Google account which is a #uite sophisticated approach.
$he %&ell-Road%-system had been based on loess, which - formed by the accumulation of wind- blown dust - coers around '() of the *arth%s surface. Loess belongs to the most fertile categoriesof agricultural soils and we must assume that the early settlers searched for these materials andarranged wars and ast migrations in search for better agricultural #uality.
$he %&ell-Roads% seemed to hae played a mayor role in the Meroingian empire of +lois I, who prepared the *uropean ran!ish empire for +harlemagne. lthough his name is Germanic +lois isimportant in the historiography of rance as the first !ing of what would become rance. "utch,the most closely related modern language to ran!ish, re-borrowed the name as Lodewijk from
German in the '/th century. In rench this name resulted in Louis.$he Meroingian !ing +lois I and the +arolingian emperor +harlemagne used the %&ell-Roads% asa communication bac!bone, but in fact the roads had e0isted before as a tool to connect the loess-deposits.
rom this insight I started reconstructing the %&ell-Road% by searching street-names in Google-Mapand documenting the 1&ell-Road as a 2oess-"eposit-Mar!er 3. $his map documents the mediealeconomy as a series of 1hot spots3 in agricultural actiity.
$he &ell-Road had been restricted by the use of loess, which is abundant in some areas, but thelimitations did not really allow a ast territory to be used for agricultural usage. In fact the *uropean
loess deposits seemed to be aailable as two narrow bands, which I defined as a northern and asouthern band. $hese bands seemed to hae proided the agricultural 1hot spots3, which may beidentified by the street names &ell-Road.
1: Northern and southern %&ell-Road%-reconstructions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagnehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankish_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodewijkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodewijkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_(given_name)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagnehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagnehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankish_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodewijkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_(given_name)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagnehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loesshttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loess
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4p to today my statistics in the search of the &ell-Road are not really complete, because I onlyincluded fre#uent names and e0cluded lots of garbled and deteriorated information. did set aminimum of at least around 5 names in a category to be registered.
&aing identified the couple of both 6the northern and southern7 loess-bands in the German map thestatistics also contain distinct categories for the northern names for the &ell-Road 6in German89&ellweg17 and the southern names 6such as 9&oell1 and 9&oellweg17.
remar!able abundance 6:;7 of rench street-names e0ceeds the northern German %&ell-Road%-numbers 6:(7, but if we add up the northern 6:(7 and southern 6';7 German names the oerallnumbers 6
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Overall statistics
$he basic !eywords for the &ell-Road system are8
Name German
(North)
Belgium NL German
(South)
ustria S!iss "rance
&ellweg 6=57 =5
&elstraat 6':7 '( :
&All 6'/7
&elle 6:7 '
&ellestraat 6:7 '
&Allweg 6:7 :
&ellerstrae 67
lter &ellweg 657 5&ellstrae 657 5
&elweg 657 ; /
&ellegat 6:7 5 /
&ellegatstraat 67 : /
Rue d'Enfer (3! ' ;5
Rue de l'Enfer (33! < /5
"rou d'Enfer (#! (5
Les Enfers (#! ' (=
Rue des Enfers (3! ' (/
Enfer (3! ' (/
#otals $% & & * $&
"a$le 1: %&erall statistics for the northern and southern % Hell-Road %-reconstructions
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zC0T97darHxw.k9TSrKZF-q-E&usp=sharing
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Contents
Oerall statistics...............................................................................................................................;&ellweg 6/5
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Hellweg (258)
• $he most fre#uent street-name is 9 Hellweg at a rate of =5. lso 9 Hellerstrae 607is #uitefre#uent.
• s a second name 9 Helstraat 1 is found '(0 in Delgium and : 0 in the Netherlands. lso
9 Hellestraat and 9&elle1 may be found 6each at a rate of :07. In Delgium we also identify9 Hallestraat 1 607.
• $he third main category includes '/ 0 9 H)ll 1 in Daaria 607 and ustria 607. In Daariaalso the name 9 H)llweg is found :0 #uite fre#uently.
$hese statistics illustrate the scattering of 9&ellweg1-names in the dense Ruhr-district of Germany,in Delgium, Daaria and ustria. In Daaria and ustria the 9 H)ll 1-names seem to hae been
preferred. $he northern areas prefer the cores 9&ell1 and 9&oll18
D B NL F Switzerland Austria Postal Code in Germany
' Hell!eg + =5 '5/;= - 55'=
/ Helstraat $ '( :
; H,ll ..%* / *& (Bavaria)
= Helle %$ ' ;/
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lter &ellweg lter &ellweg, ==;: "ortmund, Germany ' "
lter &ellweg lter &ellweg, 5
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&ellberg &ellberg, ;/alletal, Germany
&ellbergblic! &ellbergblic!, ;':al!ar, Germany
&ellendornstrae &ellendornstrae, =:5:= Goch, Germany
&ellen!amp &ellen!amp, ;(5; &annoer, Germany
&ellenstrae &ellenstrae, ='
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&ellerweg &ellerweg, ;:'5= Northeim, Germany / "
&ellerweg &ellerweg, 5;/ @t. Goar, Germany ; "
&ellerweg &ellerweg, =/5 Leimar, Germany = "
&elles Memorial &elles Memorial - ':(( *ceabatHana!!ale
&ellestraat &ellestraat- '( &ellestraat, Delgium
&ellestraat &ellestraat, /5(( 2ier, Delgium ' D
&ellestraat &ellestraat, /5;( Doechout, Delgium / D
&ellestraat &ellestraat, ;
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&ellweg &ellweg, =(orschenbroich, Germany // "
&ellweg &ellweg, ==5;/ 2nen, Germany /; "
&ellweg &ellweg, ==:
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&elstraat &elstraat, aiserslautern, Germany = "
&oellenweg &Allenweg, 5; Geisenheim, Germany ' "
&oellenwegstrae &Allenwegstrae, 55/
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&ollenstrae &ollenstrae, /leine &eleri! >leine &eleri!, ;:(( $ongeren, Delgium
>leiner &ellweg >leiner &ellweg, ;;'5= @al?!otten, Germany
2ipper &ellweg 2ipper &ellweg, Dielefeld, Germany Northeim &ellewege Northeim &ellewege
Oberer &ellweg Oberer &ellweg, ;/5
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Hellegat (Hell-Gates) (32)
• $he name 9Hellegat1 is found : 0 650 in Delgium and / 0 in the Netherlands7.• $he name 9Hellegatstraat1 is found 0 6:0 in Delgium and / 0 in the Netherlands7.
• $he name 9#rou d'1n2er1 is found 50 in rance.• $he name Rue du #rou d'1n2er is found ' 0.
m &ollenloch m &ollenloch, 5:=; ttendorn, Germany "
ort du $rou d%*nfer ort du $rou d%*nfer 6a bastion7
Groot &ellegat Groot &ellegat, Roermond N2
&ell &ole Lood &ell &ole Lood, Ripon, North Sor!shire &G=, 4nited >ingdom *
&ell 2ane &ell 2n, Dridport, "orset "$, 4nited >ingdom *
&ell 2ane &ell 2n, La!efield L=, 4nited >ingdom *
&ellegat =
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Polish Elements (10)
• Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
• Fie!Wo V 9&ell1 - 14nderground3
&eller @trae, Dreslau Na Ostatnim Gros?u /=, 5=-/(:LrocWaw, Foland
Jasna Jasna, Pabr?e, Folen Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
Jasna Jasna, >atowice, Folen Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
Jasna Jasna, >ra!Xw, Folen Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
Jasna Jasna, >rosno, Folen Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
Jasna Jasna, @ano!, Folen Jasna V 9hell1 - 9bright1
Fie!Wo Fie!Wo, Folen Fie!Wo V 9&ell1 - 14nderground3Fie!Wo "olne Fie!Wo "olne, Folen Fie!Wo V 9&ell1 - 14nderground3
Fie!Wo GXrne Fie!Wo GXrne, Folen Fie!Wo V 9&ell1 - 14nderground3
Fie!Wo Fie!Wo, O?or!Xw, Folen Fie!Wo V 9&ell1 - 14nderground3
"a$le #: olish Ele2ents
In a web-lin! lte @traennamen, Breslau 6LrocWaw7, Folen I find a Heller trae, mostcomfortably including a translation to Folish ul. Na Ostatnim Groszu and a lin! to Google Maps.
$oday the &eller @treet at Dreslau loo!s impressie, but in '=' this road had been located at the
border of the city Fharus-Flan Dreslau Mittlere usgabe '8'=.((( 6Y '='7 close to the left of themap/.
/ Old Fharus maps are found in8 "ie Grosse @ammlung Kon ':' Fharus-Flne Kon Germany Z *uropa 6'(;-'=(7
http://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttps://maps.google.de/maps?q=ul.%20Na%20Ostatnim%20Groszu,%20Breslau%20(Wroc%C5%82aw),%20Polen&oe=UTF-8&gl=de&t=m&z=12http://www.landkartenarchiv.de/pharus.php?q=pharus_breslau_mittlereausgabe_1941http://www.landkartenarchiv.de/deutschland_stadtplaene_pharus.phphttp://www.landkartenarchiv.de/deutschland_stadtplaene_pharus.phphttp://www.landkartenarchiv.de/pharus.php?q=pharus_breslau_mittlereausgabe_1941http://www.landkartenarchiv.de/deutschland_stadtplaene_pharus.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttp://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.phphttps://maps.google.de/maps?q=ul.%20Na%20Ostatnim%20Groszu,%20Breslau%20(Wroc%C5%82aw),%20Polen&oe=UTF-8&gl=de&t=m&z=12http://www.polish-online.com/polen/staedte/breslau-alte-strassennamen.php
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Re !e l"En#er - an! the $wiss Pilgrim Rotes (11%)
• $he street-names 9Rue d'1n2er3 hae been found ; 0, most 6;57 of which is found in rance, andonly ' 0 in Delgium.
• $he street-names 9Rue de l'1n2er3 hae been found ;; 0, most 6/57 in rance, of which is
found in rance, and only < 0 in Delgium.• 9Rue des 1n2ers1 is found ; 0.
• 91n2er1 is found ; 0.
• 9Les 1n2ers1 is found = 0.
llTe des *nfers llTe des *nfers, ;;( Neuilly-Flaisance, rance
u0 *nfers u0 *nfers, 55;(( +hauoncourt, rance
enue de l%*nfer enue de l%*nfer, ::=(( Fomponne, rance
enue "enfert-Rochereau enue "enfert-Rochereau, :5('= Faris, rance+haussTe de &al +haussTe de &al, Nielles, Delgium
+hemin du &el +hemin du &el, 55( +omines, rance
*insiedeln &ellwegstation fr Lallfahrer
*nfer :
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Flace de l%*nfer Flace de l%*nfer, /'(( "ouarnene?, rance
Flace "enfert-Rochereau
DarriEre d%*nfer 6Gate of &ell7 - Flace "enfert-Rochereau, :5('= Faris,rance
Forte d%*nfer Forte d%*nfer, 55'( 2oudenielle, rance %
Forte d%*nfer Forte d%*nfer, :=5( 2e Reposoir, rance
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, (/''( Dohain-en-Kermandois, rance '
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, ;5(( Redon, rance /
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, 5:((( Met?, rance ;
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, /'/(( Deaune, rance =
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, '=5: Lalhain, Delgium 5 B
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, ==((( Nantes, rance
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, ''(( +orbeil-*ssonnes, rance :
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer, ;((( +lermont-errand, rance <
Rue d%*nfer Rue d%*nfer,
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Rue de l%*nfer Rue de l%*nfer, :'/( *stinnes, Delgium 5 B
Rue de l%*nfer Rue de l%*nfer, :;:( "our, Delgium B
Rue de l%*nfer Rue de l%*nfer, :;/' Dernissart, Delgium : B
Rue de l%*nfer Rue de l%*nfer, ==/( @aint-Nicolas, Delgium < B
Rue de l%*nfer Rue de l%*nfer, =/
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&'erian an! &talian Hellweg sections
rroyo del Infierno rroyo del Infierno, 5'((= +euta, @pain
+alle de *l Infierno +alle de *l Infierno, '=('( +Xrdoba, +Xrdoba, @pain
+alle Infierno +alle Infierno, =5/// Doro0, $oledo, @pain
*strada de isterra '5'/ *strada de isterra, +oru^a, @pain*strada de isterra *strada de isterra, '5'5( Pas, +oru^a, @pain
inistEre inistEre, rance
isterra isterra, +oru^a, @pain
isterra isterra, Froin? +oru^a, @pain
Fra?a Fo?o do inferno Fra?a Fo?o do inferno, ;/((/ Ourense, Ourense, @pain
R_a do +ami^o de isterra R_a do +ami^o de isterra, '5
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isco'rg locations (20)
$he $uisco-related names hae been included in search for the religion-based centers.
"eut? "eut?, >Aln, Germany
"iesburg "iesburg,
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arolingian Palaces (38)
Palace
sselt Falace
Dad Limpfen FalaceDasel Falace
Durg $rifels Falace
"ahlum Falace
"ortmund Falace
"uisburg Falace
*ger Falace
orchheim Falace
ran!furt am Main Falace
Gelnhausen FalaceGoslar >aiserpfal? Falace
Gronau Falace
GrAna Falace
&agenau Falace
&erstal Falace
Ingelheim am Rhein Falace
>aiserslautern Falace
>aiserswerth Falace
>Aln FalaceMagdeburg Falace
Main? Falace
Memleben Falace
Merseburg Falace
Nimwegen Falace
Nrnberg Falace
Faderborn Falace
FAhlde Falace
\uedlinburg Falace@peyer 6@piers7 Falace
$illeda 6>yffhuser7 Falace
$rebur Falace
4trecht Falace
Lerlaburgdorf Falace
Lorms Falace
Putphen Falace
Prich Falace
"a$le : 6arolingian alaces
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ra!ing Rotes (13)
Main trading route &ellweg from ntwerpes by Faderborn-&A0ter-Magdeburg towards 2eip?ig-
"resden-GArlit?. In Delgium the labels &ellestraat andHor &elstraat are connection points@plit-up Bunction section for the &ellweg
&ellweg Magdeburg-&alle-2eip?ig-"resden-GArlit?
@ythener &ellweg between "lmen and &altern am @ee
@mall &ellweg 6&ilinciweg7
&ellweg or dem @antforde
&ellwege in Foland
Imaginary &ellweg-2ine
rminiusweg 6 and8 &ellweg under the Mountains7
@enner &ellweg$he ancient Kia Delgica from Doulogne-sur-Mer towards +ologne
Rue de l%*nfer ' 6&ellweg '7
Rue de l%*nfer / 6&ellweg /7
@outhern &ellweg section 6Froence-Daaria-ustria7
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*ontains (21)
2oess cannot be deposited at altitudes aboe ;((-=((m. $he following mountains hae beenincluded as restricted areas8
Le?ergebirge 6==(m7
&aarstranggebirge"as *gge Gebirge
$eutobrger Lald
&ohe Kenn Gebirge 6=m7
Droc!en 6''=/m7
Korgebirgte bis ?um Rand des *r?gebirges
rdennen 6ma0. 5(m7
@udetengebirge, Des!iden, Lald!arpaten
&oenderberg 6m7
>leerberg 6'(m7Keluwe 6'(m7
@tompert-Firamide-merongse Derg 6m7
uergne - ca. '=((-/(((m.
Dourgogne
Koge?en
"auphine GebirgeZ lpen
Maine Gebirge
Dretagne
&unsrc!