Gertrud the Elder from Braunschweig

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Arm reliquary commissioned by Gertrud.

Gertrud the Elder of Braunschweig († July 21, 1077 , buried in Braunschweig Cathedral ) together with her husband Liudolf von Braunschweig founded the collegiate church of St. Blasius in Braunschweig and founded the later so-called Welfenschatz .

Life

Gertrude's place and year of birth are unknown. She was married to the Brunonen Liudolf von Braunschweig , count in Derlingau and in Gundigau , only son of Bruns I. von Braunschweig and his wife Gisela von Schwaben . Gertrud outlived her husband by almost 40 years. The children Brun (o), Ekbert I. and Ida (Irmingart) emerged from the marriage.

Gertrud was considered educated. After she came to Braunschweig, she initially had the Dankwarderode Castle improved structurally. In 1030 she and her husband donated the collegiate church of St. Blasius on a plot of land next to the castle, the predecessor of the Brunswick Cathedral built from 1173 under Heinrich the Lion . The monastery was dedicated to the Virgin Mary , John the Baptist and Saints Peter and Paul . The building was designed as a burial place for the Brunons .

In addition, Gertrud donated some altar items , which, as relics of the later cathedral, formed the basis of the Welf Treasure for centuries to come. De Winter names four pieces that Gertrud probably commissioned: two large crosses (the so-called "Gertrudiskreuz" and "Liudolfkreuz", both made shortly after 1038), a portable altar and the arm reliquary of St. Blaise . Only the arm reliquary can still be found in Braunschweig in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum , to which it was moved in 1829. The object known as “Gertrudistrag Altar”, however, has been in the USA since it was sold in 1930 , in the Cleveland Museum of Art . The two presentation crosses are also located there .

Henry the Lion's Crypt . Left: Henry the Lion's sarcophagus , right that of his second wife Mathilde Plantagenet . In the background the sarcophagus, in which the remains of Margravine Gertrud the Elder are located. Ä., Margrave Ekberts II of Meißen , and Gertrude the Younger of Braunschweig .

Liudolf died in 1038 and was the first to be buried in the new tomb. From then on, Gertrud took care of the upbringing of their underage sons and tried to maintain and strengthen the Brunonian family traditions. 39 years later, Gertrud was laid to rest at her husband's side. When her grave was opened in 1668, fragments of a small lead tablet (7.5 × 10.5 cm), which was probably part of an epitaph with the inscription:

“Hic requiescit Gertrudis devota Christi famula. XII cal. Augusti "

- Hermann Dürre: History of the city of Braunschweig in the Middle Ages. P. 51.

"Here rests Gertrude, devoted servant of Christ."

The plaque is now also in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.

In 1173, Heinrich the Lion began to rebuild the cathedral, probably at the same place where Gertrude's collegiate church and its tomb had been up until then. 1935 it came under the Nazis to an exhumation of the lion and his second wife of the remains Gertrude, Henry Mathilde . Gertrud was then in a new crypt in a common stone coffin together with the remains of Margrave Ekbert II of Meißen and her granddaughter Gertrud the Elder. J. von Braunschweig is buried.

The Braunschweig "Gertrudenstraße" is named after her granddaughter Gertrud the Younger of Braunschweig, who died in 1117.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Claudia Märtl : East Saxony at the time of the Salians (1024-1125) , In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Gerhard Schildt (ed.): The Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia . 2nd Edition. Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2001, ISBN 3-930292-28-9 , pp. 167 .
  2. ^ Drought: History of the City of Braunschweig in the Middle Ages, Braunschweig , Braunschweig 1861, p. 51
  3. ↑ Gudrun Pischke: Gisela, Duchess of Swabia. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 264 .
  4. ^ Peter Aufgebauer: Liudolf, Count of Braunschweig, Count in Derlingau and in Gundigau. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 449 f .
  5. ↑ a b c Patrick M. de Winter: The Welfenschatz. Testimony to sacred art of the German Middle Ages. Hanover 1986, ISBN 3-924415-07-2 , p. 29.
  6. ^ Döll: The collegiate monasteries St. Blasius and St. Cyriacus in Braunschweig. P. 21.
  7. ↑ Gisela Bungarten, Jochen Luckhardt (ed.): Welfenschätze. Collected, sold, preserved by museums. Exhibition catalog Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Michael Imhof Verlag, Braunschweig 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-262-8 , p. 44.
  8. ^ Dietrich Kötzsche : The Welfenschatz. In: Jochen Luckhardt, Franz Niehoff (Hrsg.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Catalog of the exhibition Braunschweig 1995, Volume 2, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-6900-9 , p. 513.
  9. ↑ http://www.inschriften.net/braunschweig-bis-1528/inschrift/nr/di035-0001.html#content and http://www.inschriften.net/braunschweig-bis-1528/inschrift/nr/di035 -0002.html # content Web pages on the inscriptions of the cross
  10. ↑ Patrick M. de Winter: The Welfenschatz. Testimony to sacred art of the German Middle Ages. Hanover 1986, ISBN 3-924415-07-2 , p. 32.
  11. ↑ Marth: Gertrud (the elder). P. 259.
  12. ↑ Joachim Ehlers : Heinrich the lion. Biography. Siedler, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-787-1 , p. 254.
  13. ↑ Jürgen Hodemacher: Braunschweigs streets - their names and their stories, Volume 2: Okergraben and Stadtring. Cremlingen 1996, ISBN 3-927060-12-7 , pp. 192f.
personal data
SURNAME Gertrud the Elder from Braunschweig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gertrude I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 1077