Nebra Ark

Two treasure hunters using a metal detector illegally dug a bronze disc and other objects from the Mittelberg in 1999 and sold them on; the disc passed through several hands before Swiss police recovered it in a sting operation in Basel in 2002, and the finders were convicted. The Nebra Sky Disc, about thirty-two centimetres across with gold inlays showing the sun or full moon, a crescent, stars including a group read as the Pleiades, and later-added horizon arcs, dates to around 1600 BC and is generally described as the oldest known concrete depiction of the sky. The original is in Halle; the Ark on the find site explains it with a planetarium.

What you actually see

• The find site - the hilltop where the disc was illegally dug in 1999.
• The visitor centre - a planetarium and displays explaining the disc.
• The recovery story - a sting operation in Basel and a criminal conviction.
• The horizon alignments - sightlines from the hill to the Brocken and Kyffhäuser.

When to go

April to October; the centre closes Mondays in winter. The original disc is in the state museum in Halle, about seventy kilometres away.

Honest expectations

The original disc is not here; the centre shows a replica. The hilltop itself is unremarkable. Dating and interpretation of the disc are still debated.

Nearby

The Saale-Unstrut vineyards lie east; Halle is northeast.