Just a few days after the coffin was opened, the researchers announced that the bones suggested that the man was around 60 years old. He was also unusually tall for the Middle Ages.
On the north wall of Meissen Cathedral are sculptures of Emperor Otto I and his wife Adelheid, created around 1260 by the Naumburg Master, an important but anonymous sculptor and master builder of the 13th century.
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However, Otto the Great (912-973) was buried in Magdeburg Cathedral. "It is also a perfect genetic match," said Harald Meller, Director of the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology (LDA), in Magdeburg at the presentation of the latest research results.
DNA samples from the bones from Magdeburg were compared with samples of bones from Bamberg Cathedral, which are attributed to the Ottonian King Henry II. A method developed by the participating archaeogeneticist Harald Ringbauer from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology was used to precisely determine degrees of kinship.
The analysis revealed a third-degree relationship. This can be explained both by a complete sibling relationship and by common ancestors in the paternal line. The result thus corresponds exactly to the historical relationship between Otto I and Henry II.
The mortal remains were uncovered in 2025 as part of the necessary restoration of the stone sarcophagus in Magdeburg. Just a few days after the coffin was opened in June, the researchers announced that the bones indicated that the man was around 60 years old. At around 1.80 metres tall, he was also taller than average for the Middle Ages.
During his lifetime, Otto I was already known as "the Great" and "Father of the Fatherland". He consolidated the previously unstable East Franconian-German kingdom and reconnected it with the Roman imperial tradition by uniting it with the Kingdom of Italy. This later developed into the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation", which existed until 1806.
Through marriage alliances, the founding of bishoprics and military successes, the Ottonian dynasty rose to become one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe during its reign.
Otto I was initially married to Edith of England, a daughter of King Edward the Elder of England. After her death, he married Adelheid of Burgundy, who became empress after his coronation as emperor in 962 and played a significant political role in the empire.
The emperor had particularly close ties to Magdeburg, which became a central political and religious centre under his rule. The city served as his preferred imperial residence in the east of his empire and developed into an important centre of power.
In 968, Otto I founded the Archbishopric of Magdeburg there, which was primarily intended to serve the Christianisation of the Slavic regions east of the Elbe and considerably strengthened the city's ecclesiastical importance.
