The origins of Memleben can be traced back to the 8th century when it is first mentioned under the name of "Mimelebo".
In the 10th century, Memleben acquired national importance as the Ottonian kings and emperors frequently stayed in Memleben and as Otto II later founded a Benedictine monastery at the location. The presence of this monastery has shaped the history of the village and the region over centuries.
The monastery was dissolved in the 16th century after having been plundered by peasant rebels and having suffered the effects brought on by Martin Luther’s reformation. Its revenues were appropriated by the Saxon Prince-Elector who then awarded them to the newly founded Pforta School which held them until the end of the Second World War.
Starting in 1945, the monastery’s land was used to set up a nationally owned farm which continued to exist until 1991. The “people’s farm” worked at its peak an acreage of more than 3,300 hectare and comprised more than 1,200 farmers, all living in the Unstrut valley.
Today, Memleben has a population of 500. The municipality to which it belongs used the last territorial reform to change its name into “Kaiserpfalz” (“Imperial Palace”) and comprises the communities of Memleben, Bucha, Wohlmirstedt and Zeisdorf, Allerstedt, and Wendelstein.