The grounds of the royal palace cover about 20 hectares rising atop Kreuzberg hill, a 17 m high natural plateau overlooking the Oker river.

Although it subsequently lost its political significance to the newly established Imperial Palace of Goslar at Rammelsberg, it developed into an independent settlement with a busy industrial quarter.

However, there is a carpark on the road between the two places, on the right hand side as one travels from Schladen, from which the complex can be reached on foot in a few minutes.

The main fortress was a cross-shaped complex with a diameter of about 150 m. It sat on the Kreuzberg hill with two sides directly abutting on steep 17-metre-high (56 ft) banks of the river Oker.

The raised area above the Oker was probably settled in prehistoric times as indicated by numerous finds from that period, mainly ceramic, but also stone and bone tools.

Schröder then suggested that the name referred to a "holy forest area" in the region of the later palace in which Gau officers met to discuss matters.

[8] Under the Ottonians Werla experienced its first golden age,[9] as shown by documents recording fourteen royal visits between 924 and 1013.

Thus, during the succession crisis in 1002, the Bavarian duke Henry IV was accepted at Werla as successor to Otto III, who had died without children.

The chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg reports he had provoked an uproar when he wasted the time reserved for an audience with visiting Abbesses.

Already under Henry II Werla had begun to lose its political importance on account of the newly established palace at Goslar, which controlled the rich vein of silver at Rammelsberg.

On the contrary, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the first bailey was massively expanded to the west and strengthen with a new, secondary donjon.

Frederick Barbarossa ended his conflict with his enemy Henry the Lion here, close to Braunschweig, and issued an ultimatum to his followers calling for them to surrender.

That Barbaroosa returned to the old palace after such a long period of time shows that it had retained an important symbolic role in the collective consciousness of the Saxons.

[12] This led to a one-day test excavation under the leadership of the architectural historian Uvo Hölscher of the Technical University of Hannover.

As a result of increased scholarly interest Goslar District bought part of the land in the area of the donjon in 1929 in order to protect it from further ploughing damage.

But in 1937, for unclear reasons the Werla commission decided to put Hermann Schroller in charge of the whole excavation, even though he specialised solely in prehistory.

Scholars, party officials and classes of school children were shown around the site and the latest discoveries were published in the press.

Through his numerous political contacts, Scholler who was an NSDAP member, was able to secure the support of the Reichsarbeitsdienst and even the Army Aviation School of Hildesheim for the excavation.

[13] Also new and innovative was the use of modern chemical analysis[14] and the interdisciplinary interaction between architectural historians, archaeologists and geologists in identifying the building remains.

The poor-quality and hasty interpretation of discoveries cannot be fully explained by Schroller's lack of professional training – an important factor was the strong ideological influence of Nazism.

Accordingly, attempts were made to date the finds to the Ottonian period as much as possible, and preferably to the reign of the so-called "Reich-founder" Henry I.

Furthermore, traces of earlier structures were documented in detail for the first time and the significance of the renovations during the High Middle Ages to the development of the palace came to be recognised.

[17] Evidence for short visits by high-ranking individuals was lacking and the early royal presence was reflected only in the construction work at the complex.

With respect to Burgdorf, the 9th/10th century graveyard is important, since it was likely the burial ground of a village (Dorf) whose inhabitants probably worked in the palace's demesne.

West of the north tower, a wall was discovered, which later excavations dated to the 10th or 11th century by means of ceramic finds.

In the palatial period, then, the bailey was considerablyu smaller than it was later and was first expanded to the west and fortified with an additional ditch in the High Middle Ages.

New aerial photographs and a systematic survey of the area helped to more closely determine the layout and arrangement of various workshops within the bailey.

Through wide-scale excavations paved streets, pit-houses, waste pits and traces of a hay barrack were brought to light.

[24] In October 2010 the Braunschweig district archaeologists discovered three female skeletons dated to around 3700 BC in the course of a field school excavation with students.

[26][27] Work was carried out with the advice of the Ostfalen Open-air and Experiential Museum and the Harz – Brunswick Land – Eastphalia National Geopark, beginning in autumn 2010.