Sixty-third century. Silver coins found in Berlin’s Morkenmarkt – The

Ongoing excavations at Berlin’s oldest square, the Molkenmarkt, have uncovered a rare collection of six 13th-century silver coins. These coins were minted by the co-ruling Margraves Otto IV and Otto V of Brandenburg-Salzwedel (1260/65-1293)

Five of the coins are intact coins; the sixth is a 1/2 niel cut down the middle. The obverse depicts the Marquis standing between two domed towers supported by double arches. On the reverse is a crowned eagle.

Dr. Christoph Rauhut, State Administrator and Director of the State Office for the Protection of Historic Monuments in Berlin, said: “These discovered coins are important evidence of the consolidation of medieval Berlin in the 13th century. They were first documented in Berlin’s Morkenmarkt.”

The Molkenmarkt excavations are Germany’s largest urban excavations and have so far uncovered more than 700,000 artifacts, including a 14th-century relic statue and a 17th-century Japanese short sword. This year’s excavations also uncovered medieval footwear in pristine condition – leather boots, leather shoes, woolen socks.

The average depth of the archaeological intervention at Molkenmarkt was 4 meters and required the excavation of more than 88,000 cubic meters of “historic” subsoil. The effort was worthwhile: thanks to the complete sealing of the surface in the mid-20th century, the archaeological material has been almost entirely preserved, with features and finds ranging from the medieval founding of the city to the 20th century. In addition to the “underground” town of the 18th to 20th centuries, it also includes a plank road 50 meters long and 7 meters wide (c. 1230), several defensive ditches from the 13th century, hundreds of wells and latrines (13th to 18th centuries) with their corresponding finds, the remains of medieval cellars and wooden houses, and clay domed ovens and forges. In addition, several prehistoric areas, particularly those of the Stone Age, were identified.