Central Germany is home to a prehistoric landmark often overlooked because of its British equivalent.
Stonehenge is known worldwide, but the wooden edifices at Pömmelte are far from a major attraction in Germany, despite this circular settlement being at least as old as the standing stones in England.
Local tourism officials hope to change that with a new clay visitor center built using Early Bronze Age methods, making the so-called Ringheiligtum (“ring shrine”) of Pömmelte more welcoming to visitors.
The new visitor center gives information about the site and the region’s history, although the most impressive part is the structure itself – built with 130 tons of clay, tamped down by hand, layer by layer.
The ring-shaped ritual site, south of Magdeburg in former Communist East Germany, is believed to have been used thousands of years ago for astronomical purposes. However, it was only discovered from the air in 1991 and wholly excavated between 2005 and 2008.
It is seen by some archaeologists as “Germany’s Stonehenge” because of its structure, diameter and age. However, unlike its famous counterpart from England, it did not consist of large stones but thousands of wooden stakes.
A reconstruction of the original has been open to visitors since 2016 and is free to access all year round. The new clay building, meanwhile, stands on the spot where a prehistoric longhouse once stood.
The use of Pömmelte as a site of rituals is believed to have begun in the late Neolithic period, about 4,800 years ago and ended 3,900 years ago in the Early Bronze Age.
“The new building corresponds to archaeological findings,” archaeologist Harald Meller said about the new visitor center.
“This house conveys an impression of the Early Bronze Age buildings that we have documented hundreds of times here, in what was then the largest settlement in Central Europe.”
