page_title: Imperial Palace of Goslar
section_title: The Kaiserhaus
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Palace of Goslar / Individual buildings in the palace district / The Kaiserhaus
caption_attribution_description: Kaisersaal in Kaiserpfalz, Goslar
context_page_description: The Imperial Palace of Goslar is a historical building complex at the foot of the Rammelsberg hill in the south of the town of Goslar north of the Harz mountains, central Germany. It covers an area of about 340 by 180 metres. The palace grounds originally included the Kaiserhaus, the old collegiate church of St. Simon and St. Jude, the palace chapel of St. Ulrich and the Church of Our Lady. The Kaiserhaus, which has been extensively restored in the late 19th century, was a favourite imperial residence, especially for the Salian emperors. As early as the 11th century, the buildings of the imperial palace had already so impressed the chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld that he described it as the "most famous residence in the empire". Since 1992, the palace site, together with the Goslar's Old Town and the Rammelsberg has been a UNESCO world heritage site.
context_section_description: The Kaiserhaus is 54 metres long and 18 metres wide and is the largest secular building of its time. The centre of the building is its two-storey hall. This contains two rooms on each floor of 47 metres long and 15 metres wide. Both had a beam ceiling, which was supported in the middle by a row of columns. The upper of the two rooms was reserved for the emperor and his immediate entourage, the lower room for courtiers of lesser rank.
  The imperial throne was set in the seven-metre high upper storey in the middle of the closed, rear, west wall. The east wall was pierced by a row of windows and gave a view of almost the entire palace district and the cathedral opposite. The central window of the upper floor also led to a columned balcony, either side of which were three arched windows. Incidentally, none of the window was glazed, as they were on the generally leeward side of the building.
  To the north, the hall building was adjoined by another, two-storey residential building. Again, the upper floor was probably reserved for the imperial family. There was direct access from the upper room to the neighbouring Church of Our Lady. The church was  probably accessible through a gallery as well.
  Under Henry V more structural changes were made to the Kaiserhaus at the beginning of the 12th century. He added the older, almost identical, second living quarters at the southern end of the building. In 1132 the hall collapsed, but was immediately rebuilt. At the same time a cross-section (Quertrakt) was added centrally over the entire height of building, and a porch was built in front of the centre door on the ground floor that served as the first floor balcony. A gable now protruded from the hitherto slate-covered, steeply pitched roof. In addition, some windows were made closable and made a type of floor heating was installed. The window arches of the basement were replaced with rectangular windows.
  At the foot of the southern staircase, there are the remains of foundations, that probably belong to the first imperial mansion (Pfalzbau) built by Henry II.
caption: The imperial hall (Kaisersaal)
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