Glauberg Celtic Oppidum
Glauburg · Glauberg Prince's Grave
Early Iron Age (Hallstatt La Tène A)·Early Celtic (Hallstatt/Latenian) — Glauberg horizon·🇩🇪 Hesse, Wetteraukreis, Germany
About
About Glauberg Celtic Oppidum
Early Iron Age Celtic princely centre (Fürstensitz) on Glauberg hill with fortified oppidum, Hallstatt/La Tène processional avenue 350 m with statue menhirs of Glauberg warrior (sandstone statue with leaf-crown helmet) and large tumulus 1 (princely burial mound 50 m diameter) covering gold-torqued warrior grave c.450 BCE. Earthen ramparts, ditches and fortifications plus monumental sculpture — unique Celtic representation of Iron Age princely ideology bridging megalithic and La Tène.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Who was Glauberg Prince — local or imported elite?
Theories
- 01Leaf-crowned statue represents deified ancestor of Celtic origin myth
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 550–400 BCE (processional way c.450 BCE)
- Period
- Early Iron Age (Hallstatt La Tène A)
- Culture
- Early Celtic (Hallstatt/Latenian) — Glauberg horizon
- Purpose
- Celtic oppidum and princely burial with ancestral sculpture
- Abandoned
- c.400 BCE (migrations)
- Rediscovered
- Tumulus accidental 1906; sculpture found 1996 excavation Herrmann
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 550–400 BCE (processional way c.450 BCE)
Initial construction
c. 1274 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
50.3066° N · 9.0050° E · 270 m · 2 mapped features
Tumulus 1 (Princely Grave)
tumulus50 m tumulus with gold-torqued Celtic warrior inhumation
50.3066° N · 9.0050° EGlauberg Warrior Statue
statue1.86 m sandstone statue in Keltenwelt museum (found in processional way)
50.3065° N · 9.0045° E
Gallery