Goseck

Goseck
Goseck
Location of Goseck within Burgenlandkreis district
Coordinates: 51°11′41″N 11°52′18″E / 51.19472°N 11.87167°E / 51.19472; 11.87167Coordinates: 51°11′41″N 11°52′18″E / 51.19472°N 11.87167°E / 51.19472; 11.87167
Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Burgenlandkreis
Municipal assoc.	Unstruttal
Government
• Mayor	Hilmar Panse
Area
• Total	14.57 km2 (5.63 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	1,018
• Density	70/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	06667
Dialling codes	03443
Vehicle registration	BLK

Goseck is a municipality lying on the Saale River, in the Burgenlandkreis district of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Goseck is located on the north bank of the Saale River about halfway between Naumburg and Weißenfels.

The municipality consists of the settlements Goseck and Markröhlitz.

The first evidence of human settlement is from the Neolithic period, the Goseck circle, dating to approximately the 5th millennium BC, discovered by aerial photographs from the 1990s and, since 2003, regarded as the oldest observatory in Europe. It consists of a circular Henge-construction with a diameter of 75 m. It marks the beginning of a millennia-old astronomical tradition known also from the Nebra skydisk, discovered in 1999, only 25 km distant therefrom. By means of a visor mechanism, the operators were able to, e.g., accurately determine the times of the summer and winter solstice. The reconstructed observatory was opened on the winter solstice, 21 December 2005, with great pageantry, including a spectacular fireworks display.

Goseck grew in the fields surrounding a 14th-century monastery. Originally an early medieval castle, the Saxon palatial county seat of government was located here. The first mention of the castle is in the Hersfelder Zehnteverzeichnis in 881.

Goseck can be reached by an access road from the area of Markröhlitz, from the Naumburg Highway, running nearby, from Pettstädt onto Bundesstraße 176.