What’s the story behind the sawed-open goat skulls that frequently turn up in the ground beneath Berlin? It’s often small things that reveal something about times gone by, said Eberhard Völker, archaeologist at the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments. He and his colleagues suspect that goat brain was a popular snack in medieval times.
Völker leads excavations at the Molkenmarkt in the historic center of Berlin, digging down into the past with a shovel, trowel and brush. At a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), researchers reach the Middle Ages. Atop fire debris and rubble, Berlin’s ground level has risen precisely 4 meters in 800 years. “This is where Berlin began,” he said, pointing to the mounds of earth behind him.
Toilet treasures
The Molkenmarkt is one of Germany’s largest inner city excavations — a gigantic hole covering over 22,000 square meters. Once the asphalt and concrete have been removed, archaeologists can begin meticulously combing through the earth below. They’ve been working here since 2019, coaxing the earth’s secrets out of the ground. Researchers have already turned up 750,000 individual items.
The archaeological site in the heart of BerlinImage: Jürgen Heinrich/IMAGO
Eberhard Völker holds a thick wooden plate in his hand, a rare find. It’s well-preserved but smells awful. That’s no surprise when you consider it’s spent centuries in a latrine, a medieval cesspit. Even after 800 years, the smell of feces still clings to it. When deprived of oxygen, organic materials such as wood, textiles and leather resist decay. That’s why archaeologists often find their greatest treasures in old toilets or dried-up wells, which also served as trash cans for medieval towns.
Völker’s favorite find is a small clay figurine of Saint Catherine, who, according to legend, was tortured and beheaded for her Christian faith. It probably adorned a house altar to protect the family from misfortune.
One object of particular value is a rare gold ring with a garnet. Perhaps it slipped off someone’s finger as they were fetching water and it fell into the well? And an inconspicuous brown scrap of silk is proof of trade with China in the early years of Berlin’s existence. Also among the finds is a bone flute from the 14th century.
In addition to Saint Catherine, archaeologists also discovered figures of other saintsImage: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
PETRI: A home for Berlin’s treasures
The Molkenmarkt is thought to be Berlin’s oldest market. Völker and his colleagues are bringing a hidden archive of Berlin’s history to light. The archaeologist regularly conducts guided tours of the site. Interest is huge and they’re always fully booked.
Archaeologists are being allowed to comb through the soil for about another two years, before the gigantic excavation site is filled in and built upon. Everything Völker finds is subjected to thorough scientific documentation, analysis and interpretation, creating a huge data repository of Berlin’s past.
But where to put them all? Turns out, the items won’t have to travel far. Just a few hundred meters, in fact, to the PETRI, a new museum that opened in the summer of 2025. It was built on the walls of the medieval St. Peter’s Church, heavily damaged during World War II and later demolished, and a Latin school, whose foundations are on display in the basement.
The PETRI is already popular with both school groups and foreign tourists. It’s a chance for Berlin to show it has other stories to tell apart from the usual ones about the Golden Twenties, the Nazi era and the building of the Berlin Wall. Berlin’s history is also medieval. An unknown side of the city that’s worth delving into.
Centuries old and very well preserved: a leather child’s shoeImage: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
Like other museums, the PETRI also exhibits items in glass cases — for example, a child’s shoe from the Middle Ages. But it goes a step further. Through large windows, visitors can observe restorers as they go about their tasks in open workshops. As well as breathing life into a forgotten chapter of the city’s history, the museum also aims to spark interest in archaeology.
A new resting place for the dead
Down in the basement, the museum has a surprise up its sleeve: a fresh bouquet of flowers is placed in front of a wall, and above it are the words: “May angels guide you to paradise.” The St. Peter’s Church complex once comprised an ancient cemetery. The remains of hundreds of people were exhumed during the excavations and have now been ceremoniously reburied in an ossuary: Here, the skeletal remains of some of Berlin’s first inhabitants are stored in drawers. And they tell life stories, albeit anonymous ones. A book of the dead records their fates: tooth decay, a complicated fracture, another who died far too young.
In 2024, human remains from medieval times were ceremoniously transferred to the ossuaryImage: Annette Riedl/dpa/picture alliance
When is Berlin’s birthday?
Scientific bone analysis has shown that Berlin is much older than previously thought. The city’s 800th birthday is due to be celebrated in 2037, but it is quite obvious that this milestone birthday actually took place several decades ago.
From the PETRI roof terrace, there’s a view of roaring traffic and Berlin’s built-up city center. Just a few meters below lie the medieval roots of a city ravaged by history. With the Molkenmarkt excavations and the PETRI museum, archaeologists like Eberhard Völker are painstakingly bringing one of the city’s untold stories to light, piece by piece.
This article was originally written in German.
