Tilleda is a village and a former municipality in the

Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established by merging the former districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land as part of the reform of 2007. In the German parliament, the Bun ...

district, in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

. Since 1 July 2009, it has been part of the town

Kelbra Kelbra () is a town the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated north of the Kyffhäuser mountains, approx. 20 km west of Sangerhausen, and 20 km east of Nordhausen. Kelbra is part of the ''Verbandsgemeind ...

. Tilleda is located at the northern rim of the

Kyffhäuser The Kyffhäuser (,''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a hill range in Central Germany, shared by Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, southeast of the Harz mou ...

mountain range with the

Kyffhäuser Monument The Kyffhäuser (,''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a hill range in Central Germany, shared by Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, southeast of the Harz mou ...

, located in neighbouring

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. The population is about 900. Tilleda is notable mainly for having been the site of a medieval Royal palace or ''

Pfalz Pfalz, Pfälzer, or Pfälzisch are German words referring to Palatinate. They may refer to: Places *Pfalz, the Palatinate (region) of Germany **Nordpfalz, the North Palatinate **Vorderpfalz, the Anterior Palatinate **Südpfalz, the South P ...

'' which has been partially excavated and reconstructed.

History

In around 700 a small settlement was founded on the ''Pfingstberg''. The settlement was first mentioned in the early 9th century as ''Dullide'', an estate of

Hersfeld Abbey Hersfeld Abbey was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse-Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda. The ruins are now a medieval festival venue. History H ...

. The 972 marriage certificate of

Emperor Otto II An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

denotes a ''

Kaiserpfalz The term ''Kaiserpfalz'' (, "imperial palace") or ''Königspfalz'' (, "royal palace", from Middle High German ''phal ne'' to Old High German ''phalanza'' from Middle Latin ''palatia'' luralto Latin ''palatium'' "palace") refers to a number of ...

'' (imperial palace) at Tilleda. Otto gave the ''Pfalz'' as a gift to his bride,

Theophanu Theophanu (; also ''Theophania'', ''Theophana'', or ''Theophano''; Medieval Greek ; AD 955 15 June 991) was empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Otto II, and regent of the Empire during the minority of their son, Emperor Ott ...

. Between that year and 1042, the palace was used on and off by the German kings and emperors. However, the period between 1042 and 1174, during which Emperor Frederick I "Barbarossa" stayed there, it is not mentioned in documents at all. In 1194, his son, Henry VI made peace with his former enemy ''

Heinrich der Löwe Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and duke of Bavaria, Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most po ...

'' (Henry the Lion) at Tilleda. This is the last time a king is documented to have been there. By the first half of the 13th century, Tilleda is now assumed not to have served as a ''Pfalz''any more. The area was then ruled by the Counts of the , and a knight from their retinue, called "Bart von Tilleda", lived at Tilleda, holding it as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

from the Emperor. In 1420, the was awarded the fief. Around 30 years later, the property was referred to as a common fief held by the

House of Stolberg The House of Stolberg is the name of an old and large German dynasty of the former Holy Roman Empire's high aristocracy ('' Hoher Adel''). Members of the family held the title of ''Fürst'' and ''Graf''. They played a significant role in feudal ...

and the

House of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie An ...

. With the castle gradually falling into ruin, it was forgotten until the 19th century, when it was "discovered" by local historian Karl Meyer. Excavations were conducted in 1935–39 and 1958–79. From 1983 the area was made accessible to the public as an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

, which reopened in its current form in 2001. Some parts of the castle have been reconstructed.

Sights of Interest

* Tilleda Palace, an Ottonian royal settlement, where archeological excavations by Paul Grimm revealed several settlements with an outer bailey occupied by craftsmen. Some of the excavated buildings have been reconstructed for the open-air museum. * Church of the Saviour (

Evangelical church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

), Romanesque-Gothic village church with partly Baroque features and Renaissance-epitaphs. There is a group of small houses forming a circle around the church which enclose a church garden. *

, above Tilleda in the Thuringian part of the Kyffhäuser mountains. Tilleda Kirche 1.JPG, Church of the Saviour in Tilleda Tilleda Kirche 2.JPG, Church of the Saviour in Tilleda Tilleda Häuser um Kirche.JPG, Houses near the church in Tilleda Tilleda Kriegerdenkmal.JPG, War Memorial in Tilleda Tilleda is a stop on the

tourist route A scenic route, tourist road, tourist route, tourist drive, holiday route, theme route, or scenic byway is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoint ...

Romanesque Road The Romanesque Road (german: Straße der Romanik) is a scenic route in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt in central-east Germany. It is part of the Transromanica network, a major European Cultural Route since 2006. Route The route takes the ...

References

External links

''Strasse der Romanik'' (German, some English)
{{Authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Mansfeld-Südharz Museums in Saxony-Anhalt Romanesque Road