Германы Саксони-Анхальт мужийн Хелфта дахь хааны ордонд хийсэн малтлагаар эртний чулуун байгууламж болон түүхэн олдворууд олджээ.
Германы Саксони-Анхальт мужийн Хелфта дахь Клайне Клаус толгод дээр археологчид 10-р зууны үед хамаарах чулуун барилгын суурийг илрүүлснээ 2026 оны аравдугаар сарын 12-нд зарлав. 9х5 метрийн хэмжээтэй энэхүү барилга нь хааны өргөөний дэргэд байрлах бөгөөд сайн хадгалагдсан шат бүхий зоорийн давхартай ажээ. Судлаач Феликс Биерманнаар удирдуулсан баг наймдугаар сарын 31-нээс эхлэн уг талбайд малтлага хийж байгаа бөгөөд олдворуудын дунд бараг бүрэн бүтэн ажиллагаатай ясны лимбэ олсон нь онцлог юм.
Энэхүү байгууламж хэний зориулалттай байсан нь тодорхойгүй байгаа ч хааны дагалдан яваа язгууртнуудын байр эсвэл хааныг эзгүйд ордныг хариуцагч түшмэлийн сууц байсан байж магадгүй гэсэн таамаг дэвшүүлжээ. Түүнчлэн малтлагын явцад хааны ордон болон сүмийн хооронд олон нийтийн цуглаан хийхэд зориулагдсан байж болох чулуун тавцан илэрсэн байна. 2022 онд олж илрүүлсэн хааны ордны үндсэн барилга нь агаар халаах системтэй байсан нь тухайн үеийн дэвшилтэт технологийн нотолгоо болдог.
Ордны гаднах бүсэд хийсэн малтлагаар гар урчууд болон ажилчдын сууц байсан байж болох шавар, модны үлдэгдэлтэй жижиг барилгуудыг илрүүлжээ. Эдгээр сууцанд нэхмэлийн багаж хэрэгсэл, металл боловсруулах зуух зэрэг олдворууд олдсон нь тухайн цогцолборын үйл ажиллагааг хангах үйлдвэрлэлийн бүс байсныг гэрчилж байна. Мөн 2021 онд олдож, түүхэн сурвалжид тэмдэглэгдсэн Гэгээн Радегунд сүм нь хааны захиалгаар баригдсан өвөрмөц бүтэцтэй болох нь тогтоогдсон юм.
Хожим 12-р зуунд уг толгод дээр фон Хакерборны гэр бүлийн цайз баригдсан бөгөөд археологчид 2023 оноос хойш тус цайзын цамхаг болон хашааны үлдэгдлийг судалж байна. Эдгээр олдворууд нь дундад зууны үеийн хаадын аялал, ордны амьдралын хэв маягийг судлахад чухал ач холбогдолтой юм. Судалгааны ажил үргэлжилж байгаа бөгөөд тус цогцолборын архитектур болон оршин суугчдын талаарх нарийвчилсан мэдээлэл цуглуулсаар байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
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Archaeologists working at a hilltop palace once visited by Otto the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor, have uncovered another stone building dating to the 10th century. It stands beside the royal residence. Among the smaller discoveries this season is a bone flute that the excavation team says is still almost functional.
The dig is taking place at Helfta, on a hill known as Kleine Klaus near Eisleben in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Nothing of the medieval complex remains visible above ground. Beneath the soil, though, several seasons of excavation have gradually brought to light a royal palace, a church and the settlement that supported them.
Otto I became German king in 936. He was crowned emperor in Rome in 962. Medieval rulers had no permanent capital, and Otto traveled from one royal palace to another with his court, staying at Helfta on some of those journeys. His son, Otto II, also visited the site.
A Cellar, a Staircase and an Unknown Resident
The State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt announced the discovery on October 12, 2026. Measuring around 9 by 5 meters, or roughly 30 by 16 feet, the newly uncovered building contains a cellar reached by a remarkably well-preserved entrance staircase.
Objects found in association with the structure place it in the 10th century, alongside the palace itself. Archaeologist Felix Biermann has led the current excavation since work began on August 31.
Who occupied the building remains uncertain. Standing among the stone structures at the heart of the complex, immediately beside the royal residence, it may have accommodated nobles traveling with the king. Another possibility is that it housed the burgrave, the official responsible for managing the palace whenever the ruler was absent.
A little farther east, archaeologists have exposed a stone-reinforced terrace. Raised above the courtyard between the palace and the church, the platform may have been used for outdoor assemblies.
The King Had Warm-Air Heating; The Workers Had Hearths
Excavators identified the palace itself in 2022. It measured 21.5 by 7 meters, approximately 71 by 23 feet, with mortared and plastered sandstone walls. The building had an upper floor and, unusually, a system that circulated warm air to heat its rooms, according to an account of earlier excavations published by the state archaeology office in February 2026.
Outside the main fortifications, living conditions were considerably more modest. In the southeastern outer enclosure, this season’s work has uncovered additional sunken houses, rectangular buildings whose floors sat below the surrounding ground, generally measuring between 3 and 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) along each side.
Their walls were made from wattle and daub, branches woven together and coated with clay. Timber or thatch covered the roofs. For warmth, each dwelling relied on a stone-lined hearth.
These were workplaces as well as homes. Clay loom weights, casting crucibles and a lime kiln provide evidence of weaving, metalworking and lime production for plaster and mortar. Previous excavations had already revealed a densely occupied settlement in the palace’s outer enclosures, where craftspeople and laborers carried out the work needed to keep the royal residence functioning.
A Church Built for an Emperor
Back in 2021, the first major structure to emerge from the excavations was St. Radegund’s Church. Repeatedly modified over the centuries, it eventually took the form of a cross-shaped basilica stretching more than 30 meters, about 98 feet, in length. For a palace church, that was an exceptionally large building.
When the discovery was first announced, Biermann told the German Press Agency: “Here Otto had a cathedral built in miniature.”
The church was not entirely unknown before archaeologists found its remains. Writing between 1012 and 1018, the chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg recorded that Otto had founded the church and attended its consecration. Excavators were able to connect his account with physical evidence, including surviving foundations and marks left where sections of wall had subsequently been removed.
After the Reformation, the church’s walls were dismantled. Among the objects recovered from its furnishings are a fragment of a bell and an enameled bronze crucifix made in Limoges, France, during the 13th century. Both belong to a much later period than the royal visits that made Helfta important in the first place.
A Noble Family’s Castle Came Next
By the 12th century, the hill had become home to a smaller castle owned by the von Hackeborn family. The family would later become known through two of its daughters, the medieval mystics Gertrude and Mechthild of Hackeborn, who lived at the nearby Helfta convent.
The castle was protected by a ditch surrounding its oval main enclosure, which measured approximately 50 meters, or 164 feet, across.
In 2023, archaeologists uncovered the rectangular main tower. Their latest excavations have exposed more of the enclosing walls, along with cellars and traces of timber-framed buildings.
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