Altarpiece of the Lübeck Cathedral

The Lübeck Cathedral possessed in the Middle Ages next to the main altar, a large number of altars, some of which have little to this day.

Main altar

Today's main altar as a simple stone table in the middle of the Romanesque nave of the cathedral

The first surviving high altar of Lübeck Cathedral was a new acquisition around 1478, which was initiated by the art-loving Bishop Albert II. Krummendiek . According to the tradition of the chronicler Kunrat von Hoeveln, this late Gothic high altar in the choir was to be climbed from behind. Above, the stone sculpture is said to have been a Madonna with Christ, which could be turned mechanically. Tears were produced by placing a sponge filled with water inside the hollowed out head. This altar was used until 1696, but after the Reformation initially only by the cathedral chapter, which remained Catholic, not by the Lutheran congregation. This initially used the Holy Cross Altar , which Bishop Albert Krummendiek had built directly under the triumphal cross by Bernt Notke . This Holy Cross altar was demolished without replacement at the beginning of 1571 on the instructions of the Lutheran Bishop Eberhard von Holle . The late Gothic main altar from 1478 was demolished in 1696 to make way for a new baroque altar; there is no evidence of the whereabouts of the former main altar from 1478. The new baroque altar, which the canon and Holstein politician Magnus von Wedderkop donated to the cathedral, is described in literature as having little artistic value. The model was certainly the new Fredenhagen altar (1697) in the Marienkirche in Lübeck , but in contrast to this, the new altar of the cathedral was a wooden construction that was painted black and marble. The altarpiece was a painting with Christ crucified. To the left and right of it two statues of evangelists, framed by twisted columns. Young men held the coats of arms of the donor couple in the gable. The superstructure then showed a painting of the Entombment. Next to it stood outside statues of an evangelist and Saint Paul, on the top of the pediment stood the Savior with the Easter flag. The baroque high altar burned in the air raid on Lübeck on March 29, 1942 . In the course of the reconstruction of the cathedral after the Second World War, the concept was changed, the altar table is now in the middle of the Romanesque nave.

Remaining reredos from side altars

Like all medieval episcopal churches, Lübeck Cathedral also had a large number of side altars in the passageways and side chapels, most of which were connected with vicarages . In 1920 only seven of the pre-Reformation reredos were preserved, five of which are still in the cathedral today, and two ended up in the medieval collection of the St. Anne's Museum in Lübeck.

altar	Dating	Picture carver	painter	Location	particularities
Warendorp altar	1340 (sculpture) 1400 (painting)	unknown	unknown	St. Anne's Museum	Winged altar (117 × 116.5 × 10.5 cm) with the Crucifixion of Virtue , from the Warendorp Chapel, later in the Brömbsen Chapel, since 1948 on loan from the St. Anne's Museum. The oldest wooden winged altar in Lübeck. New version of the painting on the outside of the wing around 1400.
Altar of canonical times of day	1st third of the 15th century	./.	unknown master from Lübeck	Dom	Winged altar (144 × 133 cm), the sequence of images thematizes the poem Patris Sapientia, attributed to Aegidius Romanus , and reproduces this under the individual passion scenes.
Altar of the Maria Magdalenen Brotherhood of the Stecknitz drivers	1422			Dom	Winged altar (158 × 137 cm), central panel carved with the three figures of St. Catherine, the Virgin Mary and St. Barbara. Foundation of the Stecknitz drivers to the St. Nikolaikirche, the parish church of the cathedral under the west towers.
Altar of the saints corpse brotherhood of the mill servants	1460	Hans Hesse	Hans Hesse	Dom	Winged altar (133 × 128 cm), central panel carved with the figures of St. Martin, the Madonna of the Crescent Moon and St. Catherine standing on top of Emperor Maxentius.
Lay altar	1477	./.	Bernt Notke (workshop attribution)	Dom	Four-seat choir stalls from the time of Bishop Heinrich II. Bochholt , to which four panel paintings were added as a reredos for the lay altar as part of the Bishop Krummendieks foundations , of which the two middle panels were constructed as movable wings. The panels show St. Clemens , Mary with the Baby Jesus, John the Baptist and St. Agnes with ribbons that point to the Lamb of God ; on the other side the two cathedral patrons St. Blaise and St. Nicholas. The dimensions of the wings are 132 × 52 cm; of the entire frame 169.8 × 273.2 cm. Until 1942 the lay altar stood in the middle rood screen opening; since the restoration in 1996 to the west of the glass wall closing the choir.
Greveraden altar	1491	./.	Hans Memling	St. Anne's Museum	Grand piano retable with the Passion of Christ (central panel 221.5 x 167 cm; grand piano 221.5 × 83 cm), foundation of the Greverade family for the Greveraden chapel of the cathedral, stored there in 1939 and as property since 1945 in the St. Anne's Museum the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the legal successor to the family foundation.
Marienaltar with the unicorn hunt	1506			Dom	Winged altar (201 × 101 cm); originally with double wings; the outer altar wings of this foundation of cathedral vicar Johannes Parchem are lost.

literature

Johannes Baltzer , Friedrich Bruns: The architectural and art monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck. Issued by the building authorities. Volume III: Church of Old Lübeck. Dom. Jakobikirche. Aegidia Church. Verlag von Bernhard Nöhring, Lübeck 1920, pp. 9–304 Unchanged reprint 2001: ISBN 3-89557-167-9
Walter Paatz : Bernt Notke and his circle. Berlin 1939
Wolfgang Grusnick, Friedrich Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral . Langewiesche publishing house, Königstein iT 1996, ISBN 3-7845-0827-8
Kerstin Petermann: Bernt Notke. Working method and workshop organization in the late Middle Ages. Berlin: Reimer 2000, ISBN 3-496-01217-X
Uwe Albrecht , Jörg Rosenfeld, Christiane Saumweber: Corpus of medieval wood sculpture and panel painting in Schleswig-Holstein, Volume 1: Hanseatic City of Lübeck, St. Annen Museum . Ludwig, Kiel 2005, ISBN 3933598753
Uwe Albrecht (ed.): Corpus of medieval wood sculpture and panel painting in Schleswig-Holstein. Volume 2: Hanseatic City of Lübeck, The Works in the City Area. Kiel: Ludwig 2012 ISBN 978-3-933598-76-9

Web links

Commons : Altars in Lübeck Cathedral - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ BuK, p 118
↑ BuK, p 119
↑ BuK, pp. 119-120
↑ A tabular overview of the vicariate foundations can be found in BuK, pp. 120–132.
↑ BuK, p 133
^ Corpus, Vol. I, No. 5, pp. 52-59
↑ BuK, pp. 134-138; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , pp. 24–26.
↑ Buk, p. 138 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 28.
↑ Buk, pp. 139–141 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 27.
↑ Buk, pp. 142-143; Walter Paatz: Bernt Notke , p. 332; Kerstin Petermann: Bernt Notke , pp. 65–69.236-238
↑ Corpus, Volume I, No. 85, pp. 261-271
↑ Buk, pp. 146–148 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 29.

[1] BuK, p 118

[2] BuK, p 119

[3] BuK, pp. 119-120

[4] A tabular overview of the vicariate foundations can be found in BuK, pp. 120–132.

[5] BuK, p 133

[6] Corpus, Vol. I, No. 5, pp. 52-59

[7] BuK, pp. 134-138; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , pp. 24–26.

[8] Buk, p. 138 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 28.

[9] Buk, pp. 139–141 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 27.

[10] Buk, pp. 142-143; Walter Paatz: Bernt Notke , p. 332; Kerstin Petermann: Bernt Notke , pp. 65–69.236-238

[11] Corpus, Volume I, No. 85, pp. 261-271

[12] Buk, pp. 146–148 ff .; Grusnick / Zimmermann: The Lübeck Cathedral , p. 29.