Memleben acquired considerable importance under the Ottonian Dynasty. Henry I of Germany (whose ancestral estates lay in this area, where he therefore spent much time) was born in Memleben and later greatly enlarged the Kaiserpfalz (villa regia or palace), which became his favourite residence next only to Quedlinburg. He died here of a stroke while hunting in 936. His son Otto I also often stayed in Memleben and issued a number of documents from here.