The Kyffhäuser (,
[''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, ] sometimes also referred to as ''Kyffhäusergebirge'', is a
hill range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in
Central Germany, shared by
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 lar ...
and
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 th ...
, southeast of the
Harz
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
mountains. It reaches its highest point at the
Kulpenberg
The Kulpenberg is a high mountain in the Kyffhäuser mountains, Thuringia, Germany. On it is the Kulpenberg TV tower, a telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, ra ...
with an elevation of . The range is the site of medieval
Kyffhausen Castle
The Imperial Castle of Kyffhausen (german: Reichsburg Kyffhausen) is a medieval castle ruin, situated in the Kyffhäuser hills in the German state of Thuringia, close to its border with Saxony-Anhalt. Probably founded about 1000, it superseded th ...
(''Reichsburg Kyffhausen'') and the 19th century
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 mo ...
; it has significance in German traditional mythology as the legendary resting place of Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa.
Etymology
The origin of the name has not been conclusively established. ''Kyffhäuser'' (formerly also ''Kiffhäuser'') probably stems from the
Low German word ''cuf'', meaning "head" or "peak", and ''huse'', "house". Other explanations refer to ''kiff'', "quarrel" and the historic castles at the site.
Geography
![Karte Kyffhäuser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Karte_Kyffh%C3%A4user.jpg)
The Kyffhäuser is a small ''
Mittelgebirge
A ''Mittelgebirge'' (German: ''Mittel'', "middle/medium"; ''Gebirge'', "mountain range") is a type of relatively low mountain range or highland area typical of the geography of central Europe, especially central and southern Germany; it refers to ...
'' located in the
Kyffhäuserkreis
The Kyffhäuserkreis is a district in the northern part of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Mansfeld-Südharz, Saalekreis und Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, and the districts Sömmerda, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis and Ei ...
district of Thuringia and 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 of Saxony-Anhalt, not far from the larger Harz range to the northwest. The range has a length of , from west to east, and a width of .
The highest point at the Kulpenberg, with the
Kulpenburg TV tower, is located near the village of
Steinthaleben in Thuringia. The range borders on the
Hainleite
The Hainleite is a Muschelkalk ridge of hills up to in northern Thuringia, Germany.
Geography
This heavily wooded landscape lies between Bleicherode in Nordhausen district, Sondershausen in Kyffhäuser district, Bad Frankenhausen, Dingelst� ...
hill chain and the fertile
Goldene Aue The Goldene Aue (German: "golden lowland", also " ... bottom" or " ... meadow" / " ... pasture", with "Au referring to a low-lying area, often a wetland) is a valley in eastern Germany, in the states Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated betw ...
basin in the south. Large portions are protected as a
nature park.
Some parts of the range on the western and southern slopes are
karstified and bare of trees, covered by
calcareous grassland
Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover. ...
.
The area shaped by numerous
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
quarries today is the site of a
geopark
A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences.
In 2 ...
, comprising the Kyffhäuser Monument, the
Barbarossa Cave
The Barbarossa Cave (german: Barbarossahöhle) is an anhydrite cave (gypsum cave) in the Kyffhäuser Hills near Rottleben in the east German state of Thuringia. It is a cave with large caverns, grottos and lakes. The anhydrite has formed gypsum ...
near
Rottleben
Rottleben is a village and a former municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in ...
, the ''
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 ...
'' at
Tilleda
Tilleda is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it has been part of the town Kelbra. Tilleda is located at the northern rim of the Kyffhäuser mountain rang ...
, and the
Bilzingsleben Paleolithic site. The Schlachtberg hill on the southeastern rim near
Bad Frankenhausen
Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser) is a spa town in the German state of Thuringia. It is located at the southern slope of the Kyffhäuser mountain range, on an artificial arm of the Wipper river, a tributary of the Uns ...
was the site of the decisive
Battle of Frankenhausen during the
German Peasants' War in 1525, commemorated in the monumental ''
Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany
''Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany'' (), also known as the ''Peasants' War Panorama'' (''Bauernkriegspanorama''), is a monumental painting by the East German painter Werner Tübke, executed from 1976 to 1987. It spans by is the main attract ...
'' by
Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke (30 July 1929 in Schönebeck, Germany – 27 May 2004 in Leipzig, Germany) was a German painter, best known for his monumental '' Peasants' War Panorama'' located in Bad Frankenhausen
Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhaus ...
.
History
The settlement of Tilleda, located below the northern rim of the range, was already mentioned as ''Dullide'' in the early 9th century in the ''Breviarium Sancti Lulli'' register 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
...
. A ''Kaiserpfalz'' at the site is attested by the 972
Marriage Charter of Empress Theophanu
The Marriage Charter of Empress Theophanu (State Archives of Wolfenbüttel, 6 Urk 11) is the dower document for the Byzantine princess Theophanu. Written in Latin, the document was created after the marriage of Theophanu to Emperor Otto II in 9 ...
.
Numerous stays of her husband
Otto II
Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ita ...
, as well as by his successors
Otto III,
Conrad II
Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...
, and
Henry III are documented by deeds they issued here.
During the 11th century, Tilleda was superseded by a castle on the hill above the settlement that may have been erected by Emperor
Henry IV during the
Saxon Rebellion
The Saxon Rebellion or Rebellion of the Saxons (german: Sachsenkrieg), also commonly called the Saxon Uprising (not to be confused with the Saxon Wars, also called the Saxon Uprising), refers to the struggle between the Salian dynasty ruling the H ...
. His son
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
inherited the quarrels and the castle was finally slighted by the Saxon Duke (and later Emperor)
Lothair of Supplinburg in 1119. Lothair himself started the reconstruction in his later years and the Imperial Castle of Kyffhausen, one of the largest castle complexes in Germany, was completed under the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
emperor
Frederick Barbarossa. Tilleda was last mentioned as an Imperial castle in 1194, when Frederick's son
Henry VI reconciled here with the insurgent
Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to:
*Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious
*Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau
*Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...
duke
Henry the Lion
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 Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
.
In 1698 Count
Albert Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt had a
Baroque hunting lodge erected at the hamlet of Rathsfeld in the centre of the Kyffhäuser range. Last used as a residence by Prince
Günther Victor of Schwarzburg after his abdication in 1918, it was turned into a recreation home of the ''
Kyffhäuserbund
The Kyffhäuserbund ( en, link=yes, Kyffhäuser League) is an umbrella organization for war veterans' and reservists' associations in Germany based in Rüdesheim am Rhein. It owes its name to the Kyffhäuser Monument (german: Kyffhäuserdenkmal ...
'' veterans' association in 1925. After World War II the remote site became a
Young Pioneer camp
Young Pioneer camp (russian: Пионерский лагерь) was the name for the vacation or summer camp of Young Pioneers. In the 20th century these camps existed in many socialist countries, particularly in the Soviet Union.
The You ...
and a training camp of the East German ''
Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik
The Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik (GST), lit. “Sport and Technology Association”, was one of the East German “Mass Organizations”. Officially, it was established to structure the free time of young people interested in sport ...
''; since
German reunification, the empty premises have decayed.
Kyffhäuser legend
![Barbarossas Erwachen (Wislicenus)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Barbarossas_Erwachen_%28Wislicenus%29.jpg)
According to a
king asleep in mountain
The king asleep in mountain (D 1960.2 in Stith Thompson's motif index system) is a prominent folklore trope found in many folktales and legends. Thompson termed it as the Kyffhäuser type. Some other designations are: king in the mountain, king ...
legend, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who actually drowned on 10 June 1190 in the
Calycadnus River near
Seleukeia in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
during the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
, is not in fact dead, but sleeps in a hidden chamber underneath the Kyffhäuser hills. He sits motionless at a stone table and his beard has supposedly grown so long over the centuries that it grew through the table. As in the similar legend of
King Arthur, Barbarossa supposedly awaits Germany's hour of greatest need, when he will emerge once again from under the hill. The presence of
ravens circling the Kyffhäuser summit is said to be a sign of Barbarossa's continuing presence. Similar
rapture legends refer to Emperor
Frederick II or to
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
sleeping in the
Untersberg
The Untersberg is the northernmost massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps, a prominent spur straddling the border between Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The highest peak of the table-top mountain is the Berchtesgaden Hochthron at .
...
near
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
.
The Barbarossa myth was first documented in the late 17th century and later popularized by the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
and a poem written in 1817 by
Friedrich Rückert
Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Biography
Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasium'' ...
. Frequently taken up by
Romantic authors, and satirized in ''
Germany. A Winter's Tale'' by
Heinrich Heine, it became the expression of the desire for the
Old Empire's re-emergence as a German
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...
. When the Kyffhäuser Monument was built at the ruins of the Imperial Castle in 1890–1896, with a statue of Frederick Barbarossa and an
Emperor William monument, the German Emperor
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
was thought to have "laid to rest" Barbarossa by the 1871
unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...
.
The true background of the Kyffhäuser legend might be found in a cave on that mountain, in whic
important human remains were found Some 130 persons seem to have been sacrificed to a female goddess in Bronze to Iron age times. Traces of cannibalism were found. This sacrifice to the goddess in the mountain (as well as in lakes and swamps) might be connected to the veneration of goddess Freia, Hulda or Dame Holle in the region. It could also be connected to the Venusberg of Wagner's Tannhäuser, set in the same area. The cave can be seen on the hill side, but is not accessible, due to a grate protecting it.
Today
Today, the hills are a popular tourist site, featuring the restored medieval ''Reichsburg Kyffhausen'' complex, including a small museum and the castle well, at depth said to be "the deepest
castle well
A castle well was a water well built to supply drinking water to a castle. It was often the most costly and time-consuming element in the building of a castle, and its construction time could span decades.
The well – as well as any available cis ...
in the world".
The downhill ''Pfalz'' of Tilleda is an archaeological
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� ...
and a stop on the scenic
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 th ...
.
The range is also the site of an annual
touring car
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof).
"Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Th ...
hillclimbing and of the ''Kyffhäuser-Berglauf'' cross country running competition. The range is a popular destination for hikers; the
Kaiser Way leads across the Kyffhäuser northwards to the Harz mountains.
See also
*
List of mountains and hills of Thuringia
This list of the mountains and hills of Thuringia contains a selection of the mountains and hills to be found in the German federal state of Thuringia. They are arranged alphabetically with their height given in metres (m) above sea leve ...
*
Sebastianism
Sebastianism () is a Portuguese messianic myth, based on the belief that King Sebastian of Portugal, who disappeared in the battle of Alcácer Quibir, would reappear and return to Portugal at some, critical, point in the future. The belief gain ...
References
* Sven Frotscher: ''Der Kyffhäuser – Natur, Geschichte, Architektur, Denkmale Europas''. Artern 1996,
External links
Kyffhäuser Monument at the official Thuringia tourism website* The true background of the Kyffhäuser legen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyffhauser
Kyffhäuser,
Landforms of Thuringia
Hill ranges of Germany
Kyffhäuserkreis
Forests and woodlands of Thuringia