page_title: Royal palace of Werla
section_title: Decay & ruin
hierarchical_section_title: Royal palace of Werla / History / Decay & ruin
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Sichtbar gewordene Bodenreste der Pfalz Werla durch Ausgrabungen. Foto aufgenommen von Benutzer Benutzer:AxelHH,
context_page_description: The Royal Palace of Werla is located near Werlaburgdorf 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.
context_section_description: In 1240 the Bishop of Hildesheim gave the tithe of Werla to Heiningen Abbey. 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.
caption: Remains of palace foundations (2006), in the background Schladen with its sugar factory
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