Royal residence on the Oberleiserberg in Late Antiquity

The distinctive and well-protected Oberleiserberg hill has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic period. It is predominantly known as the site of a fortified Germanic royal residence in Late Antiquity.

The plateau of the Oberleiserberg near Ernstbrunn has an area of 6.5 ha and is protected on three sides by steep slopes. The hill was used as a camp or dwelling site from the Neolithic period onwards; the oldest fortification dates back to the Bronze Age.
In the Migration Period in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, it is likely that the seat of power of a Suebian king was located here. The Germanic Suebi were the descendants of the Marcomanni and the Quadi.

Roman influence on everyday life
The manor house was located at the centre of the royal enclosure. It stood for around 100 years and experienced four phases of expansion. With Roman underfloor heating, stone foundations, half-timbered walls, a magnificent facade and Roman roof tiles, the buildings were used for living and business purposes and for official functions. The design of the manor house facade, in particular, was modelled on the palaces of Late Antiquity. Craftsmen who had trained in the Roman Empire were probably among those used for the construction work.
But people did not just aspire to Roman living spaces; the Romans’ sophisticated eating habits and way of life were also imitated here. Glass vessels, window glass, tiles and pottery were luxury goods imported from Rome that demonstrate the high social status and Romanization of the inhabitants of the Oberleiserberg. This was evidently a place of special political importance; the king residing here would almost certainly have signed a contract with the Romans and would have been expected to secure the area in front of the imperial border.

An abrupt end
The complex was probably destroyed in the second half of the fifth century. This may have been the event described by Jordanes, a late antique sixth-century scholar, in his history of the Goths: Theodemir, king of the Ostrogoths and father of Theoderic the Great, defeated the Suebian king Hunimund in a “highly protected place”.