Royal palace of Werla

About

The Royal Palace of Werla (German: Königspfalz Werla) is located near Werlaburgdorf (municipality: Schladen-Werla) in Lower Saxony. The grounds of the royal palace cover about 20 hectares rising atop Kreuzberg hill, a 17 m high natural plateau overlooking the Oker river. In the Early Middle Ages the palace was an important place in the Holy Roman Empire, serving as an important base for the Ottonians in the 10th century in particular. Although it subsequently lost its political significance to the newly established Imperial Palace of Goslar at Rammelsberg, it developed into an independent settlement with a busy industrial quarter. In the 14th century it fell into ruin and was completely unknown until its rediscovery in the 18th century. The core fortress in particular was thoroughly excavated in the 20th century. Excavations carried out since 2007 have brought new understanding to the hitherto largely unexplored outworks. Since 2010 the palace complex with foundation and enceinte, as well as earthworks, has been partially reconstructed and is now open to the public as the Archäologie- und Landschaftspark Kaiserpfalz Werla (Archaeological and Wilderness Park of the Imperial Palace of...

The palace is one of the five most important Ottonian and Salian palaces in modern Lower Saxony (The other four are Goslar, Dahlum, Grona, Pöhlde ).

The palace complex is located about 15 km south of Wolfenbüttel and northeast of Goslar. It is located in the free lands between Schladen und Werlaburgdorf. There is no direct access for vehicles. However, there is a carpark on the road between the two places, on the right hand side as one travels from Schladen, from which the complex can be reached on foot in a few minutes. Alternatively, one can follow a trail along the Wedde and then left along the banks of the Oker. The heritage house Alte Mühle (Old Mill) in Schladen is a convenient starting point. After two kilometres one is confronted with a 17m high plateau on which the palace is located.

The nearby town of Werlaburgdorf first acquired its name in 1958. Before that it was simply called Burgdorf.

The main fortress was a cross-shaped complex with a diameter of about 150 m. It sat on the Kreuzberg hill with two sides directly abutting on steep 17-metre-high (56 ft) banks of the river Oker. This fortified area was surrounded by a metre thick enceinte and a 9-metre-wide and 4-metre-deep moat. The curtain walls linked two or more gates and several towers. Three baileys were connected to the (older) donjon: the 1st and 2nd inner baileys and the outer bailey. Altogether, an area of around 20 hectares was enclosed within the fortifications. The baileys had similarly deep ditches, but with earthworks (probably equipped with palisades ) instead of a wall. There were further buildings within the main fortress:

- Palas I (22 m long with heating system)

- Underground "Escape route" (35 m long)

- So-called "watch houses" ( Wachhäuser ), so-called "kitchen buildings" ( Küchenhäuser ) and cellar. A reconstructed model of Werla Palace is on display in the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum. It shows the complex in its 10th-century incarnation, with individual stone buildings and a stone ring wall. The model represents the state of research on Werla as of 1985. Subsequent excavations have altered the picture somewhat.

Site of the early Königspfalz of Werla in a natural outcrop above the Oker with the area of the distinct, individual buildings in the centre

The raised area above the Oker was probably settled in prehistoric times as indicated by numerous finds from that period, mainly ceramic, but also stone and bone tools. In autumn 2010 a grave richly supplied with ceramic grave goods from the late Baalberg Culture was discovered. It contained the skeleton of an older woman and a small child.

The etymology of Werla is not entirely clear. In 1935 the etymologist Edward Schröder proposed the theory that Werla meant Männerwald (Forest of Man). In his view, the name derived from the Latin or Germanic words for "man" ( vir and wer respectively) and the rest of the name would be the suffix -la(h), an alternative word for "forest". Schröder then suggested that the name referred to a "holy forest area" in the region of the later palace in which Gau officers met to discuss matters. Another view, advanced by W. Flechsig.

The most recent excavations revealed indications of a gap in habitation between the Roman Imperial period (1st-3rd centuries AD) and the Early Middle Ages (8th/9th centuries). The number of pottery finds from this time period proved very low and none of the buildings that were uncovered can be dated to this period.

Evidence for habitation on the surface is first apparent in the 9th century. A sort of fortified farmstead existed at this time. A ring wall encompassed several wooden buildings in the area of the later donjon.

At the beginning of the 10th century, the construction of the fortified palace complex occurred. The first documentary attestations also belong to this period. In his Saxon Chronicle the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey records a stay by King Henry the Fowler which depending on the interpretation of the evidence occurred in either 924 or 926. The king took shelter there with his untrained army in the face of an attack by the Hungarians. At the same time a Hungarian leader was captured as well. This was probably Zoltán, son of the Hungarian Grand Prince Árpád. In exchange for freeing him, Henry was later able to organise a nine-year truce, which enabled him to strengthen the defenses of the Empire.

Under the Ottonians Werla experienced its first golden age, as shown by documents recording fourteen royal visits between 924 and 1013. All Ottonians visited the palace at least once; Otto the Great is recorded at Werla on five separate occasions. The visit of the Salian Conrad II in 1035 during a meeting of the Imperial Diet is doubtful, however. At least twice the royal succession was decided at the Palace. Thus, during the succession crisis in 1002, the Bavarian duke Henry IV was accepted at Werla as successor to Otto III, who had died without children. The chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg reports he had provoked an uproar when he wasted the time reserved for an audience with visiting Abbesses. Even before the election of Conrad II in 1024, the Saxons had held discussions at Werla. In total, four meetings of Saxon nobles are known; this is not evidence for a regularly occurring Landtag, however. During the palatial period, the ring walls and the most important public buildings within the main fortress were built. To the north an original bailey developed, which at first covered only three hectares, however.

Already under Henry II Werla had begun to lose its political importance on account of the newly established palace at Goslar, which controlled the rich vein of silver at Rammelsberg. However, Werla's palace status was not abolished as the Sachsenspiegel would later claim. In 1086 Henry IV leased around 400 Hufen of the palace's estate to Udo von Gleichen-Reinhausen, Bishop of Hildesheim, probably a gift to secure the bishop's support in the Investiture Controversy. The loss of political significance did not cause the complex to fall into decay. On the contrary, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the first bailey was massively expanded to the west and strengthen with a new, secondary donjon. Later a second outer bailey was added as well. The palace complex thus grew to cover an area of almost 20 hectares. In addition, the fortifications were strengthened by new ditches and towers and major additions were made to the central buildings of the donjon. Numerous new finds in the baileys show that a permanent settlement developed at Werla. Metal and textile workshops seem to have developed in the pit-houses of the baileys during this time. In 1180 the palace was visited by an Emperor for the last time. Frederick Barbarossa ended his conflict with his enemy Henry the Lion here, close to Braunschweig, and issued an ultimatum to his followers calling for them to surrender. That Barbaroosa returned to the old palace after such a long period of time shows that it had retained an important symbolic role in the collective consciousness of the Saxons.

In 1240 the Bishop of Hildesheim gave the tithe of Werla to Heiningen Abbey [ de ]. The church of the old palace was taken over by the abbey as well, having been under the administration of Dorstadt Abbey for a little while. In the 13th century there is evidence of renewed building activity. Inside the donjon, graves and cellar buildings were built, whose purpose is not entirely clear. Into the 14th century it is still possible to detect signs of habitation, but Werla and its parish church seem to have fallen into ruin by 1550 at the latest. Some of the residents probably moved to Burgdorf to the east, which is now called Werlaburgdorf. The villagers and in some cases Heiningen Abbey made use of the building material as a cheap building material. In the following centuries, the name was used several times in reference to the fields on the hilltop in documents. Until 1817 a chapel still stood on the site, its origin no longer known to the locals. With the disappearance of the last visible walls, knowledge of the royal palace disappeared from the memory of man.

However, around 50 textual references to the palace's existence from the 10th to the 13th century remained, including royal documents and chronicles.

The raised area above the Oker was probably settled in prehistoric times as indicated by numerous finds from that period, mainly ceramic, but also stone and bone tools. In autumn 2010 a grave richly supplied with ceramic grave goods from the late Baalberg Culture was discovered. It contained the skeleton of an older woman and a small child.

The etymology of Werla is not entirely clear. In 1935 the etymologist Edward Schröder proposed the theory that Werla meant Männerwald (Forest of Man). In his view, the name derived from the Latin or Germanic words for "man" ( vir and wer respectively) and the rest of the name would be the suffix -la(h), an alternative word for "forest". Schröder then suggested that the name referred to a "holy forest area" in the region of the later palace in which Gau officers met to discuss matters. Another view, advanced by W. Flechsig.