Royal residence on the Oberleiserberg in Late Antiquity

The prominent, well-protected elevation of the Oberleiserberg has been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic period. The site is best known for a fortified Germanic royal residence from late antiquity.

The Oberleiserberg plateau near Ernstbrunn covers an area of 6.5 hectares and is protected on three sides by steep slopes. The hill has been used as a camp or residential site since the Neolithic period, and the oldest fortification dates back to the Bronze Age. During the Migration Period in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, this was probably the seat of a Suebian king. The Germanic Suebi were the descendants of the Marcomanni and Quads.

Living like the Romans
At the center of the princely complex was the manor house. It existed for around 100 years and underwent four phases of expansion. With Roman underfloor heating, stone foundations, half-timbered walls, a magnificent façade and Roman roof tiles, the buildings were used as living quarters, for economic purposes and for representation. The design of the façade of the manor house in particular is reminiscent of late antique palaces. Trained craftsmen from the Roman Empire were probably also used in the construction work.
However, it was not only the living culture of the Romans that was imitated here, but also their sophisticated table culture and lifestyle. Glass vessels, window glass, bricks and ceramics are luxury goods imported from Rome, which attest to the high social status and Romanization of the inhabitants of Oberleiserberg. It was evidently a place of particular political importance; the king who resided here was certainly a contractual partner of the Romans and was supposed to secure the frontier of the empire.

The abrupt end
The complex was probably destroyed in the 2nd half of the 5th century. It cannot be ruled out that this was the event described by Jordanes, a late antique scholar of the 6th century, in his History of the Goths: The Ostrogothic king Thiudimir, father of Theodoric the Great, defeats the Suebi king Hunimund in a "highly protected place".