Rundling

Place to visit in the Wendland & Elbtalaue region

Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

A Rundling (German pronunciation: [ˈʁʊntlɪŋ]) is a form of circular village, typical of settlements in the Germanic-Slav contact zone in the Early Medieval period.

The Rundling was a relatively common village form created by German law, but housing Slav farmers. It usually comprises a central, circular village green owned in common with individually owned farmsteads radiating out around it like the spokes of a wheel. The best examples are now only in a small area of Lower Saxony in Germany near to the town of Lüchow. Nineteen of these villages were put forward as an ensemble for consideration as a possible World Heritage Site, but the decision in December 2023 [[Elbe-Jeetzel Zeitung 4.12.2023 See published article https://rundlingsverein.de/]] was negative and there are no plans for resubmitting.

At the City Hall in Oslo on 11 June 2015 the Rundlingsverein was awarded the Grand Prix for the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award 2015. This was in recognition of 46 years of voluntary work in preserving these ancient settlements.

Such villages were originally found across a strip of central Germany from Kiel to Bohemia (where they are occasionally referred to...