Goseck

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Goseck
Municipality
Location of Goseck within Burgenlandkreis district
Goseck Show map of Germany Goseck Show map of Saxony-Anhalt
Coordinates: 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 (2022–29)	Hilmar Panse[1]
Area
• Total	14.57 km2 (5.63 sq mi)
Elevation	152 m (499 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	1,016
• Density	70/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	06667
Dialling codes	03443
Vehicle registration	BLK

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

Goseck is located on the north bank of the Saale, 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 the 11th-century monastery St. Mary and St. Michael. Originally an early medieval castle, first mentioned as Gozzesburg in the Hersfeld Tithe Register of 881, the Saxon palatial county seat of government was located here.

The only road access to Goseck is from Markröhlitz, from which local roads lead to Naumburg, Weißenfels and Pettstädt.

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