Rundling

A Rundling is a primitive form of circular village, mainly in Germany, typical of settlements in the Germanic-Slav contact zone in the Early Medieval period.The Rundling was a relatively common village form used by the Slavs. 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. 15 of these villages have been put forward as an ensemble for consideration as possible World Heritage Sites, and a decision is expected in the next few years.At the City Hall Oslo on June 11th 2015 the Rundlingsverein were 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 variously referred to as a Rundling, Runddorf, Rundlingsdorf, Rundplatzdorf or Platzdorf), often indicated by village names ending in -itz, -ow and -thin. Nowadays the word ""Rundling"" should only be used for those villages with a specific settlement structure described by Professor Meibeyer. Virtually all such Rundlinge are now only to be found in the small area of Wendland.