German archaeologists have discovered the probable place of death of the founder of the Holy Roman Empire

Scientists hope that they have found traces of the burial of Otto the Great

Archaeologists may have discovered the site where Otto the Great (936-973), founder of the Holy Roman Empire, died.

Historians consider Otto the Great to be the first Holy Roman Emperor. He earned a reputation as a defender of Christendom as a result of his victory over pagan Hungarian invaders in 955 AD. He used his self-proclaimed divine right as ruler and his relationships with the bishops to tighten control over his kingdom and begin aggressive expansion into Italy. His son Otto II would succeed him upon his death in 973 AD.

As noted Arkeonewsarchaeologists from the State Office for Monument Protection and Archeology of Saxony-Anhalt have been excavating the former imperial palace and rich Benedictine monastery in Memleben (Germany) since 2017.

Research conducted this year has led to new findings of extreme importance. For the first time, reliable archaeological evidence of the as-yet unidentified place of death of Emperor Otto the Great and his father Henry I has been discovered in the form of a stone predecessor to the monastery church of Otto II. A mysterious foundation in the cloister of a monumental monastery church could possibly be linked to a mention of the subsequent burial of Otto the Great’s entrails.

Recent research has focused on three areas immediately adjacent to the monumental church of Otto II: the area around the north-east side apse, which is partly used as a cemetery, the area of ​​the monastery in the north aisle, and the connection of the side aisle with the monastery in the west transept.

The former monastery of Memleben is one of the most important places on the Romanesque Road. The ruins of a 13th-century monastery church with a surviving crypt are considered an outstanding building, indicating the transition from late Romanesque to early Gothic style. This reflects the historical significance of the site: the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Otto I, known as the Great, died in Memleben in 973, as did his father Henry I in 936.

Otto the Great’s son and successor, Otto II, and his wife Theophanes founded a richly furnished Benedictine monastery in honor of the emperor at the site of his death. It was first mentioned in 979 and was one of the most important monasteries in the Ottonian Empire.

In 2022, the remains of the foundations of a stone structure that existed before the church was built were found immediately adjacent to the north side apse of the monumental church of Otto II. Since it was the first evidence of architecture that predated the construction of the monumental basilica and thus dates back to the times of Henry I and Otto the Great, its study was of particular importance during this year’s excavations.

The previously unknown building could be traced on a larger scale and was found to be oriented roughly east to west. The interior is approximately 9.20 meters wide. The extent to the east has not yet been recorded, since the end part of the building adjoins today’s monastery garden. In addition to clearly defined foundation pits with traces of quarry stone brickwork, there is an opening over five meters wide on the western side. Remains of masonry in the middle of the opening suggest that it originally had two portals.

The destroyed remains of the building are cut through by the much deeper foundations of the northeastern apse of the monumental church. Therefore, it must be a pre-church building, built in the 10th and 11th centuries. The inside of the building was laid with a massive crushed stone covering, which served as the basis for a lime plaster floor, which survives only in small parts. The exceptional quality of the 10th-century building suggests that it is either an older sacred structure or an important, representative structure. Regardless of the clarification of this issue, for the first time it was possible to find archaeological evidence of the true place of residence and death of the rulers Henry I. and Otto I.

In the northern aisle of the monumental church, under the remains of late medieval reconstruction, one could find the foundation pit for the original, much larger monastery of the 10th-11th centuries. The alignment of the building is interrupted in the center of the monastery by a large pit created for the removal of building materials.

Based on current knowledge, it remains unclear what the building at the center of the monastery represents. Currently it is incomparable to anything. However, traces of the mysterious building evoke associations with a written source from the 16th century, according to which the reburial of the heart of Otto the Great took place on the territory of the monastery. According to the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg from the early 11th century, the ruler’s entrails were buried the night after his death in St. Mary’s Church (the predecessor of Otto II’s monumental church), and his embalmed body was transported to Magdeburg. The interpretation of the recently discovered building in the monumental church cloister as a sanctuary for the temporary storage and veneration of the “relic” containing the entrails of Otto the Great is quite possible. It can also be interpreted as the remains of the tomb of a high-ranking person.