Iron ore mining has been common in the Harz region since
Roman times; the earliest known evidence for quarrying and smelting is from the 3rd century AD. Ancient burial objects made of Harz ore have even been discovered during excavations in England. The settlement on the Gose creek was first mentioned in a 979 deed issued by Emperor
Otto II; it was located in the
Saxon homelands of the
Ottonian dynasty and probably a
royal palace () already existed at the site. It became even more important when extensive
silver deposits were discovered at the nearby
Rammelsberg, today a mining museum. The name's
toponymy probably comes shortened from "Goselager", of the stream "Gose" on the northern edge of the
Harz Mountains, and
Lager. When Otto's descendant
Henry II began to convene Imperial
synods at the Goslar palace in 1009, Goslar gradually replaced the
Royal palace of Werla as a central place of assembly in the Saxon lands, a development that was again enforced by the
Salian (
Franconian) emperors.
Conrad II, once elected
King of the Romans, celebrated Christmas 1024 in Goslar and had the foundations laid for the new
Imperial Palace () the next year. Goslar became the favourite residence of Conrad's son
Henry III, who stayed at the palace about twenty times. Here he received King
Peter of Hungary as well as the emissaries of Prince
Yaroslav of Kiev and here he appointed bishops and dukes. His son and successor
Henry IV was born here on 11 November 1050. Henry also had
Goslar Cathedral erected and consecrated by Archbishop
Herman of Cologne in 1051. Shortly before his death in 1056 Emperor Henry III met
Pope Victor II in the church, emphasizing the union of secular and ecclesiastical power. His heart was buried in Goslar, his body in the Salian family vault in
Speyer Cathedral. Of the cathedral only the northern porch survived; the main building was torn down in the early 19th century. Under Henry IV Goslar remained a centre of Imperial rule. However conflicts intensified such as in the violent
Precedence Dispute at Pentecost 1063. While Henry aimed at securing the enormous wealth deriving from the Rammlesberg silver mines as a royal
demesne, the dissatisfaction of local nobles escalated with the
Saxon revolt 1073–1075. In the subsequent
Saxon revolt of 1077–1088 the Goslar citizens sided with anti-king
Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who held a princely assembly here in 1077, and with
Hermann of Salm, who was crowned king in Goslar by Archbishop
Siegfried of Mainz on 26 December 1081, giving Goslar the status of an
Imperial City. In Spring 1105
Henry V convened the Saxon estates at Goslar to gain support for the deposition of his father, Henry IV. Elected king in the following year, he held six
Imperial Diets at the Goslar Palace during his rule. The tradition was adopted by his successor
Lothair II and even by the
Hohenstaufen rulers
Conrad III and
Frederick Barbarossa. After his election in 1152, King Frederick appointed the
Welf duke
Henry the Lion Imperial
Vogt (bailiff) of the Goslar mines; nevertheless, the dissatisfied duke besieged the town and at an 1173 meeting in
Chiavenna demanded his enfeoffment with the estates in turn for his support on Barbarossa's
Italian campaigns. When Henry the Lion was finally declared deposed in 1180, he had the Rammelsberg mines devastated. Goslar's importance as an Imperial residence began to decline under the rule of Barbarossa's descendants. During the
German throne dispute the Welf king
Otto IV laid siege to the town in 1198 but had to yield to the forces of his Hohenstaufen rival
Philip of Swabia. Goslar was again stormed and plundered by Otto's troops in 1206.
Frederick II held the last Imperial Diet here; with the Great
Interregnum upon his death in 1250, Goslar's Imperial era ended. While the Emperors withdraw from Northern Germany, civil liberties in Goslar were strengthened.
Market rights date back to 1025 and a municipal council () was first mentioned in 1219. The citizens strove for control of the Rammelsberg silver mines and in 1267 joined the
Hanseatic League. Besides
mining in the Upper Harz, commerce and trade in
Gose beer, later also slate and vitriol, became important. By 1290 the council had obtained rights, confirming Goslar's status as a
free imperial city. In 1340 its citizens were vested with rights by Emperor
Louis the Bavarian. The Goslar
town law set an example for numerous other municipalities, like the Goslar
mining law codified in 1359. Early modern times saw both a mining boom and rising conflicts with the Welf
Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, mainly with Prince
Henry V of Wolfenbüttel who seized the Rammelsberg mines and extended Harz forests in 1527. Though a complaint was successfully lodged with the by the Goslar citizens, a subsequent gruelling feud with the duke lasted for decades. Goslar was temporarily placed under
Imperial ban, while the
Protestant Reformation was introduced in the city by theologian
Nicolaus von Amsdorf who issued a first church constitution in 1531. To assert independence, the citizens in 1536 joined the
Schmalkaldic League against the Catholic policies of the
Habsburg emperor
Charles V. The Schmalkaldic forces indeed occupied the Wolfenbüttel lands of Henry V, however, when they were defeated by Imperial forces at the 1547
Battle of Mühlberg, the Welf duke continued his reprisals. In 1577 the Goslar citizens signed the Lutheran
Formula of Concord. After years of continued skirmishes, they finally had to grant Duke Henry and his son
Julius extensive mining rights which ultimately edged out the city council. Nevertheless, several attempts by the Brunswick dukes to incorporate the Imperial city were rejected. Goslar and its economy was hit hard by the
Thirty Years' War, mainly by the financial crisis in the 1620s which led to several revolts and pogroms. Facing renewed aggressions by Duke
Christian the Younger of Brunswick, the citizens sought support from the Imperial military leaders
Tilly and . The city was occupied by the
Swedish forces of King
Gustavus Adolphus from 1632 to 1635; in 1642 a peace agreement was reached between Emperor
Ferdinand III and the Brunswick duke
Augustus the Younger. The hopes of the Goslar citizens to regain the Rammelsberg mines were not fulfilled. Goslar remained loyal to the Imperial authority, solemnly celebrating each accession of a Holy Roman Emperor. While strongly referring to its great medieval traditions, the city continuously decreased in importance and got into rising indebtedness. When stayed at Goslar in 1777, he called it "an Imperial city rotted in and with its privileges". In the winter of 1798, the coldest of the century, the young English poet
William Wordsworth stayed in the city. To dispel homesickness he started to write a few verses about his childhood, which would eventually evolve into the masterpiece that was published in 13 volumes after his death as
The Prelude. First administrative reforms were enacted by councillors of the
Siemens family. Nevertheless, the status of
Imperial immediacy was finally lost, when Goslar was annexed by
Prussian forces during the Napoleonic Wars in 1802, confirmed by the
German Mediatisation the next year. Under Prussian rule, further reforms were pushed ahead by councillor
Christian Wilhelm von Dohm. Temporarily part of the
Kingdom of Westphalia upon the Prussian defeat at the 1806
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Goslar finally was assigned to the newly established
Kingdom of Hanover by resolution of the
Vienna Congress. The cathedral was sold and torn down from 1820 to 1822, bitterly mourned by
Heinrich Heine in his travelogue. Again under Prussian rule after the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Goslar became a popular retirement residence (
Pensionopolis) and a
garrison town of the
Prussian Army. The
Hohenzollern kings and emperors had the Imperial Palace restored, including the mural paintings by
Hermann Wislicenus. After the
Nazi seizure of power in 1933 Reichsminister
Richard Walther Darré made Goslar the seat of the agricultural corporation. In 1936 the city obtained the
title of . In the course of
German rearmament a airbase was built north of the town and several war supplier companies located in the vicinity, including subcamps of the
Buchenwald and
Neuengamme concentration camps. Nevertheless the historic town escaped
strategic bombing during World War II. Part of the
British occupation zone from 1945, Goslar was the site of a
displaced persons’ camp. During the
Cold War era the city near the
inner German border was a major garrison town for the
West German army and the
border police. After the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989 the barracks were vacated and a major economic factor was lost. The Rammelberg mines were finally closed in 1988 after more than a thousand years. In the summer of 2018 a bottled typewritten message dated 26 March 1930 was discovered in the roof of
Goslar Cathedral, signed by four roofers, who bemoaned the economic state of the country.
Demographics As of 31 December 2020 there were 50,184 inhabitants in Goslar (including Vienenburg). (count: 31 December of each year) ==Politics==