In the late Iron Age, much of Germany had adopted Celtic models with the same types of find occurring across the entire region. When Roman troops arrived, over the border in Gaul and then through incursions and raids into Germania, this changed; individual leaders emerged with their own distinct tribal groups that had to negotiate amongst themselves to face the Roman threat. According to Volling, this heralded that ‘Germania was at the threshold to historical awareness and thus overcoming prehistoric thought’. This study focuses on the 1st centuries BC and AD, searching for signs of cultural change in the archaeological record, particularly brooch types, the introduction of Roman finds, religious items and settlement types. Thomas Volling also compares evidence from across Germania and makes use of written sources. German text, English summary.