Aachen Royal Palatinate

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Hypothetical, graphic attempt at reconstruction of the Carolingian Aachen royal palace based on a reconstruction by Albert Huyskens and Joseph Buchkremer from 1924/25, expanded to include a representation of the thermal baths district from the 1960s. In the background the Palatine Chapel, in front the Aula regia with the Granus Tower.

The royal palace in Aachen was the most important early and high medieval ruling seat of the Franconian and later the East Franconian-German kingdom . It owes its importance primarily to the fact that it was Charlemagne's favorite palace . Unusual because of its sheer size, it was built in the extreme east of the core landscape of the early Carolingians , whose center was around Liège and Herstal . Of the Carolingian complex, the palatine chapel (octagon and westwork) of the Aachen cathedral and the later added granus tower of the Aachen town hall , which stands on the foundation walls of the Aula regia, still stand.

Over a period of 600 years, more than 30 Roman-German kings , who saw themselves as the direct successor of Charlemagne, were crowned in the palace chapel of the complex, today's Aachen Cathedral .

history

Palatine model after Leo Hugot, 1981
Animation of the Aachen Royal Palace
Octagon of the Palatine Chapel

Already at the time of the Frankish King Pippins the Younger, buildings can be found in the area of ​​the later Palatinate . However, these were more likely to be limited to facilities such as those of a larger contemporary estate . It was not until about 780 that Charlemagne had the Palatinate expanded into a large complex with a King's Hall ( Aula regia ), Palatine Chapel , residential tower , garrison and courtrooms . Karl pursued the goal of building a "New Rome " ( Roma secunda ) north of the Alps as the permanent seat of government of his Frankish Empire , which saw itself in the succession of the Roman Empire . Aachen probably became Karl's favorite residence because of the nearby forest areas in which he could pursue his passion for hunting, but above all because of the hot thermal spring , with which the king, who rode on campaigns almost every summer, could alleviate his rheumatism. He had a thermal baths built on the Roman model next to the Palatinate . After 795 he stayed in other places only three times during the winter. In the winter of 804/05, the Palatine Chapel, built by Odo von Metz , by Pope Leo III. consecrated. At that time the most important Carolingian complexes had already been completed.

In 936 Otto the Great was crowned in the Aachen Palatinate , thus establishing the basis for the tradition of the coronation of the Roman-German kings in Aachen.

In the 14th century, on the initiative of Mayor Gerhard Chorus and with donations from Richard of Cornwall, the new Aachen City Hall was built in place of the King's Hall , as the old city ​​hall housed in the grass house was no longer representative enough. At the same time a Gothic choir was added to the Carolingian Palatine Chapel , and numerous chapels flanked the Palatine Chapel from then on. After fires in 1624 and 1656, the roofs of the Palatine Chapel were renewed in 1664.

With the end of the royal coronations in Aachen in 1531, the Palatinate lost its importance as a traditional coronation site for German kings. Since 1802, however, the Palatine Chapel, built as St. Mary's Church , has formed the central building of today's Aachen Cathedral , the cathedral for the newly founded diocese of Aachen .

Conception

Reconstruction of the palatine chapel without later additions

The royal and later imperial palace of Aachen was larger than any property that a Frankish king had owned before Charlemagne. From the winter of 794/795, the almost fifty-year-old ruler settled regularly in Aachen.

The Frankish king conducted his politics in the King's Hall, built according to Roman models. Karl probably lived with his family in attached, no longer preserved parts of the building. Research no longer maintains that the granus tower , which is still preserved today, was used as living space; rather, it is interpreted as one of the first representative stairwells north of the Alps. A two-storey connecting building led to the Marienkirche, the palatine chapel in the south of the complex. The connecting building probably included the court school in the upper part, while the lower area was probably reserved for the garrison.

The Palatine Chapel formed the centerpiece of the Palatinate Complex and was more splendidly designed than all the stone buildings that existed north of the Alps. Charles had columns and marble brought in from Rome and Ravenna to decorate them. A wooden corridor allowed the ruler to get from his living quarters to the church on dry feet.

After the imperial coronation in Rome on Christmas Day 800, Charles moved into the completed Palatinate and made it his permanent residence until his death in 814.

literature

  • Carl Rhoen : Description and history of the Carolingian Palatinate in Aachen. In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . Vol. 3 (1881), pp. 1-96, ISSN  0065-0137 (meritorious work of the 19th century, obsolete today).
  • Leo Hugot : The Palatinate of Charlemagne in Aachen, results of a topographical-archaeological investigation of the place and the Palatinate. In: Wolfgang Braunfels (ed.): Charlemagne, life's work and afterlife. Vol. III, Düsseldorf, 1965, pp. 534-572.
  • Leo Hugot: The palace of Charlemagne in Aachen. In: Catalog of the exhibition: Charlemagne. Work and effect. Aachen, 1965, pp. 395-400.
  • Günther Binding : German royal palaces. From Charlemagne to Frederick II (765–1240). Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 1996, ISBN 3-89678-016-6 .
  • Judith Ley: Aquis palatium: Late antique palace or early medieval palace? Architectural -historical considerations on the iconography of the Aachen Palatinate , in: Michael Featherstone, Jean-Michel Spieser, Gülru Tanman, Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt (eds.): The Emperor's House. Palaces from Augustus to the Age of Absolutism , Walter de Gruyter, 2015, pp. 127–146.
  • Judith Ley, Marc Wietheger: Light for the imperial ascent? The Granus Tower at the palace auditorium of Charlemagne in Aachen . In: Peter I. Schneider (Ed.): Lighting concepts in premodern architecture. International colloquium in Berlin from February 26th to March 1st, 2009 (= discussions on archaeological building research. Vol. 10). Schnell & Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7954-2460-2 , pp. 280-287.
  • Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 .
  • Walter Maas, Pit Siebigs: The Aachen Cathedral. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2445-9 , pp. 20–24.
  • Harald Müller , Judith Ley, Andreas Schaub , Frank Pohle : Pfalz and vicus Aachen in Carolingian times. In: Thomas R. Kraus (Ed.): Aachen. From the beginning to the present. Vol. 2: Karolinger - Ottonen - Salier. 765–1137 (= publications of the Aachen city archive 14 = supplements to the journal of the Aachen history association 8). Aachen 2013, pp. 1–408.
  • Sebastian Ristow : Construction phases of the core Palatinate according to the archaeological findings. In: Thomas R. Kraus (Ed.): Aachen. From the beginning to the present. Vol. 2: Karolinger - Ottonen - Salier. 765–1137 (= publications of the Aachen city archive 14 = supplements to the journal of the Aachen history association 8). Aachen 2013, pp. 119–122.
  • Frank Pohle (ed.): Charlemagne - Charlemagne. Places of power. Essays. Sandstein, Dresden 2014, ISBN 978-3-95498-092-5 , therein:
    • ders .: The shape of the Aachen Palatinate. 200 years of research - 150 years of reconstruction. Pp. 218-225.
    • Sebastian Ristow: Everything Karl? To the problem of the construction phase sequence of the Pfalzanlage Aachen. Pp. 226-235.
    • Judith Ley, Marc Wietheger: The Carolingian palace of King David in Aachen. New architectural studies on the Königshalle and Granus Tower. Pp. 236-245.
    • Harald Müller, Andreas Schaub: The Palatinate settlement. Aachen in Carolingian times. Pp. 246-253.
  • Frank Pohle: Research into the Carolingian Palatinate Aachen. Two hundred years of archaeological and architectural studies (= Rhenish excavations . Vol. 70). Philipp von Zabern, Darmstadt 2015, ISBN 978-3-805-34955-0 .

Web links

Commons : Kaiserpfalz Aachen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Critical to this Frank Pohle: The shape of the Aachen Palatinate. 200 years of research - 150 years of reconstruction. In: ders. (Ed.): Charlemagne - Charlemagne. Places of power. Essays. Dresden 2014, pp. 218–225, here p. 222.
  2. ↑ Wilfried Hartmann: Charlemagne. Stuttgart 2010, pp. 118f.
  3. ^ Pfalzenforschung in Aachen. Faculty of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University , accessed on May 12, 2017 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 31.5 ″  N , 6 ° 5 ′ 2 ″  E