Archaeological border complex Haithabu and Danewerk (World Heritage)
The archaeological site of Haithabu (Old Norse Haiðaby “settlement on the heath”) consists of the remains of a trading town with streets, buildings, cemeteries and a harbor. The early medieval, Viking Age settlement was on the west bank of a Schleibucht bay, near the present-day city of Schleswig, and was founded in the 8th century as a merchant settlement. In the 9th century Haithabu was the hub of long-distance trade between the North and Baltic Sea countries and Scandinavia as well as the Franconian-German area as defined on cheeroutdoor. After the place was initially under Danish rule, it was occupied by Swedish Vikings around 900 and Danish again in 983/84. From 1000 onwards Haithabu became economically deserted, was destroyed by fire around 1050 and replaced by Schleswig as a trading place.
Archaeologists have been digging around Haithabu since around 1900, but to date only around five percent of the settlement and port have been exposed. The “Viking Museum Haithabu” presents the valuable finds, for example gold jewelry from a woman’s grave. Various settlement houses have also been reconstructed so that visitors can see how the Vikings lived and worked.
In the vicinity of Haithabus, the Danish kings built the Danewerk from the 9th to the end of the 12th, a mighty, approximately 30-kilometer-long defense system between the Baltic and North Sea, which was supposed to prevent the advance of southern enemies into Jutland. It consisted of ramparts of various types, walls and ditches as well as a barrage in the Schleibucht. In 1066 the border fortifications were destroyed by Slav troops. The rebuilt Danewerk played a strategic role in the wars of the 19th century.
Archaeological border complex Haithabu and Danewerk: facts Show table
| Official title: | Archaeological border complex Haithabu and Danewerk |
| Cultural monument: | Excavations that provide important information on the economic, cultural and political history of the Viking Age |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Germany |
| Location: | near today’s city of Schleswig |
| Appointment: | 2018 |
| Meaning: | Haithabu was the most important trading center in Northern Europe. This is evidenced by the archaeological remains of various handicraft businesses, rich import finds, a mint and the protected harbor in which three ships were found. The Danewerk is a testimony to the Danish royal power to secure their empire against the attacks of Slavs, Saxons, Franks and later against the expansion of the Ottonians and that of the Counts of Holstein. The excavations at Haithabu and Danewerk are among the most important archaeological sites in Northern Europe. |
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (World Heritage)
In the style of an English landscape garden, a baroque mountain park was created at the end of the 17th century on an area of 2.4 km², which was expanded with romantic elements in the 18th and 19th centuries. Starting from an 8.50 m high statue of Hercules, the water flows down the mountain in a 350 m long cascade and branches into water features, grottos, lakes, waterfalls and fountains. The parkland is the largest of its kind in Europe and is a testament to European absolutism.
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe: facts
| Official title: | Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe |
| Cultural monument: | In the Hessian Kassel in the style of an English landscape garden created since the end of the 17th century baroque mountain park on an area of 2.4 km²; largest plant of its kind in Europe; 8.30 m high statue of Hercules (1713-1717) as the starting point of a 350 m long cascade with branched water features, grottos, lakes, waterfalls and fountains, e.g. B. the 50 m high Great Fountain |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Germany |
| Location: | Kassel, Hesse |
| Appointment: | 2013 |
| Meaning: | Unique evidence of a park landscape to symbolize European absolutism; extraordinary sites with the impressive display of the aesthetics of the baroque and romantic periods |
