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Goseck is a municipality lying on the Saale River, in the Weißenfels district of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Geographic location Goseck is located on the north bank of the Saale River about halfway between Naumburg and Weißenfels. Environs Included within the municipal boundary, besides Goseck, is included a portion of Markröhlitz. Early period 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 75m. 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. Modern times 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. Traffic Goseck can be reached by an access road from the area of Markröhlitz, from the Naumburg Highway, running nearby, from Pettstädt onto Bundesstraße 176. | ||||||||
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