Roman stone architecture is a unique treasure of cultural heritage that bears witness to early forms of urban life in Germany. In many places, Roman cities and buildings shaped the landscape as ruins until the High Middle Ages and were therefore more firmly anchored in the consciousness of the population than other ancient legacies. The buildings were continuously repurposed or used as quarries for new construction projects, such as the building of new city walls. The modern demolition of those high medieval city walls, in turn, led to a rediscovery of the ancient architectural elements. These and other remnants constitute the majority of Roman stone architecture in Germany, most of which has yet to be documented and evaluated. 

The project aims to make around 25,000 architectural elements and 5,000 architectural findings accessible in a dynamic and interconnected digital edition: the data will be modelled, recorded and made freely accessible, linkable and reusable in close collaboration with NFDI4Objects and NFDI4Culture, for instance via iDAI.world and Propylaeum‑VITAE. In this way, they provide low-threshold access to stone architecture and urban structures in Roman Germany, subjects of great relevance to contemporary ideas of urbanity. The source material will be digitally assembled and made available for architectural and social history, building and urban research, for provenance and network research, fully in the spirit of the project’s title Disiecta Membra.