Goslar is a World Heritage Site in Germany.
Neolithic/Megalithic settlements in and around the Harz The earliest archeological finds near Goslar date back to 100,000-50,000 B.C.. In Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, stone tools thought to stem from Mousterian Culture have been discovered.
By 4,500 B.C. the region was probably settled by farmers originating from the Danube region. One of their settlements was found in 1956 in Eitzum near Wolfenbüttel.
The most densely populated area during this period was probably the area between the Harz, the Thuringian Forest and the river Elbe. Near Nebra, some 93 miles South-East from Goslar across the Harz Highlands, archeologists have found the Nebra sky disc, which may have originated in the Carpathian Mountains. This hints at the fact that the Harz Highlands, too, and in particular the region around Goslar, were inhabited by people belonging to the Únětice culture during this time. In addition, in the vicinity of the projected site of discovery, near Goseck, a Neolithic structure—the so-called Goseck Circle—was unearthed, yielding some insight into the culture and habits of the people that probably were also living at the foot of the Harz Highlands during this period. A further Neolithic structure that is not that well preserved was found in Quenstedt near Aschersleben.
Several objects of high-quality dating back to the megalithic period were also found near Bernburg.
Roman and Saxon times
From Roman times, the Harz mountains were an important area for ore mining. For example, settlements appeared here and at the edge of the Harz where ore was processed and refined into metals. Archaeological finds from England show that many Anglo-Saxon grave goods, like the sword found in London, were made of metal from ore extracted in the Harz.
The town of Goslar emerged from one of these settlements on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains, founded in AD 922 in the reign of Henry I of East Francia (Henry the Fowler), according to Saxon tradition. The first written record, for Otto II, does not appear until 979. In 934, it is likely that a royal castle was built on the hill of the Georgenberg and, from 968, the mining industry at Rammelsberg was developed. The mineworkers needed for this industry lived in Bergedorf around the church of St. John. The embossed silver Otto Adelheid pennies made of Goslar silver are the first tangible evidence of the mining industry. The onset of metallurgy around 990 required professional tradesmen who were distinguished from the native Saxons as "Franks" and settled on the so-called Frankenberg.
Goslar's imperial period (1009–1253) 1009 was the beginning of an important era for Goslar as a central Kaiserpfalz (imperial palace) of the Holy Roman Empire. That year the first imperial synod was held here under Henry II. The palace was probably located in the hill of Georgenberg. Henry II held further imperial councils and synods in Goslar in 1015, 1017 and 1019, and he stayed in Goslar seven times in all. The palace at Goslar gradually superseded the one at Werla, which was given up by the foreign emperors due to its importance for the nobility of Saxony. The development of Goslar as a central location for the Empire reached its zenith under the Salians.
Even on his royal tour (Königsumritt) in 1024 Conrad II was supposed to have celebrated Christmas in Goslar and, in 1025, to have laid the foundation stone for the Imperial Palace of Goslar. Conrad also confirmed the rights of Goslar's long-distance trade merchants. Conrad made a total of six visits to Goslar.
Henry III developed Goslar into his favorite palace at the centre of his empire: during the 17 years of his reign rule he held court in Goslar 18 times, often for several months. In 1042 Henry III received Peter of Hungary and a mission from Yaroslav of Kiev. In the years that followed he appointed many bishops and dukes at Goslar. In 1045 Queen Agnes founded the St. Peter's Abbey (Peterstift). In 1050 the Church of St. Simon and St. Jude was consecrated by Archbishop Hermann of Cologne and it subsequently developed into a major training centre for the imperial bishops (Reichsepiskopat). At the same time the palace was extended with the hall of representatives known as the Aula Regis. On 11 November 1050 Henry IV was born in Goslar. In September 1056 Pope Victor II attended Henry III and reconsecrated the abbey church in Goslar. This meeting was the last time that there was the union between emperor and pope in the sense of a civitas dei ("City of God"). After his death a few weeks later, the heart of Henry III was buried in Goslar's Church of St. Simon and St. Jude.
Under Henry IV the importance of Goslar to the Salians remained unbroken. A total of 30 visits by the emperor are recorded. In 1063 a dispute over precedence arose in the Collegiate Church of St. Simon and St. Jude between Abbot Wideradus of Fulda and Bishop Hezilo of Hildesheim, which ended in a massacre in the church (known as Bloody Pentecost) under the eyes of the helpless Henry IV.
Henry IV installed Goslar's first imperial vogt as his representative in the administration of the royal estate. When the long stays of the king in Goslar, which were expensive for the state, and his imperial policy brought the Saxon nobility into conflict with the king, the situation escalated at the gathering of the princes in Goslar in 1073 into a rebellion of the Saxons. Goslar aligned itself during the chaos that ensued with the opposing party. As a result, in 1077 a princes' meeting took place in Goslar under the "antiking", Rudolf of Rheinfelden. In 1081 Hermann of Salm was anointed as (anti-)king in Goslar. In 1105 Henry V called a council against his father in Goslar.
In the 12th century, the town's extent was roughly the same as today's old town (Altstadt) and comprised seven churches, including the Church of the Cross, a town wall and the ensemble of a Residenz with its collegiate church and imperial palace or Kaiserpfalz, that has been labelled by historians as the "Rome of the North". In 1075 Goslar is referred to as a civitas (town) for the first time.
Henry V held six imperial diets (Reichstage) in Goslar over ten visits. Under Lothar III of Süpplingenburg, too, Conrad III and especially under Frederick I, Goslar was a preferred Kaiserpfalz. In 1136 a fire destroyed a third of the town. In 1150 the Rathstiefsten Gallery, a drainage adit for the Rammelsberg mine, was completed.
In 1152 Frederick I enfeoffed Henry the Lion with the Goslar Reichsvogtei. In 1158 the emperor gave the citizens of the Goslar the Kaiserforst or "Imperial Forest". In 1167 Goslar was besieged unsuccessfully by Henry the Lion. In 1173 in Goslar Frederick I rejected a request by Henry the Lion for the lordship of the town in return for his allegiance in the Italian campaign. Goslar and Rammelsberg remained a pawn in the conflict between the cousins until Henry the Lion was proscribed. In the ensuing war Goslar was shocked in 1180 from the siege by Henry the Lion from the emperor. Henry had the smelting works and mines destroyed, so the mining came to a standstill until 1209.
With the ascendance of Henry VI the role of Goslar as an imperial palace declined. King Otto IV besieged Goslar in 1198/99, but had to retreat before Philip of Swabia. In 1206 Goslar was stormed and looted, allegedly aided by the treachery of the domina of the monastery of Neuwerk, Gunzelin of Wolfenbüttel, a follower of Otto IV.
During the reign of Frederick II the last imperial diet (Reichstag) was held in Goslar, where a compromise was found between the Hohenstaufens and the Welfs. Goslar's role as an imperial palace ended with the visits of Count Wilhelm of Holland in 1252 and 1253.
Medieval town (1219–1523)
The withdrawal of the emperors from the northern part of the empire saw the beginnings of the rise of urban independence. Upon the conferral of Goslar's town rights that was based on the rights of long-distance merchants in 1025, the town council, first mentioned in 1219, sought a permanent recognition of rights and the expansion of municipal authority. The merchants, who set up the council with the lesser nobility (ministeriales), became increasingly self-confident. The focus of their effort was the acquisition of mining rights and advocacy (Vogtei rights).
In 1235 a crisis arose due to a lack of drainage in the Rammelsberg mines that led to the situation where only the spoil tips were being mined. The copper trade continued, however profits were down compared with the preceding period. This weakness in the mining industry was used by the Worth guilds to strengthen their political power within the council.
From 1267 to 1566 Goslar belonged to the municipal and merchant union of the Hanseatic League. However Goslar took advantage of the Hanseatic League, using it more as a political tool to assert itself against its neighbours, than to attract long-range trading profits. In particular, the maintenance of internal order and town council constitution were issues for Goslar's Hanseatic policy. When Goslar believed it was not sufficiently well protected it withdrew in favour of regional alliances. Copper and silver trading was important for Goslar, as were beer exports after the 13th century. From 1323 there is documentary evidence of slate quarrying and, from 1468, vitriol production. Trade with towns in the local region, with Saxony, Thuringia and Cologne was especially important, which is why Hanseatic trade was never the highest priority for Goslar.
In 1290 the council managed to get to the most important advocacy rights conferred on the town. Goslar was now a free town. Council and guilds also agreed in a compromise to a composition of the council composed of members of the merchants', minters', shopkeepers', bakers', cobblers' and butchers' guilds. In addition, the coal and silver miners together with the mining village became part of the town. Institutions such as the six men (Sechsmannen) of the coal and silver miners gradually joined the council. There were major constitutional struggles again in 1460, because the small guilds and communities also wanted a slice of political power. In the mill and hall dispute (1290–1293), the council was able to stand against the monasteries and abbeys and reduce the influence of the church in the town.
The award of the Army ban right in 1340 by Louis IV expanded Goslar's rights under the passive feudal law. In 1348 and 1413, the last advocacy rights were awarded to the town. From 1366 the advocate or bailiff (Vogt) was only municipal official. Around 1340 Goslar town law was codified in 5 volumes. Goslar law extended far beyond the town boundary and was adopted by other towns. In legal disputes Goslar became a prestigious magistrate's court.
Plague epidemics raged in 1348, 1376 and 1377. However, there were no Jewish pogroms or riots unlike other places.