Arn (Wuerzburg)

Arn von Würzburg (* before 855; † July 13, 892 ) was Bishop of Würzburg from 855 to 892.

Life

Arn was appointed Bishop of Würzburg by Ludwig the German in 855 . In the year of his inauguration, the cathedral burned down in Würzburg , which he had rebuilt in honor of St. Kilian . He took an active part in the Reichstag and Reich synods .

Arn fought as an active military leader z. B. 884 together with Heinrich , Margrave of Friesland, in the defense of Saxony against a strong Norman invasion. In 892 he moved out together with Poppo, the Duke of the Sorbian Mark , on an unsuccessful campaign against the Bohemians. On the way back, Arn and his companions were killed by Slav troops. The place where Arn was martyred is not known. About a hundred years after his death, Thietmar von Merseburg described that this had happened “ in pago Chutizi ”. Strange stars could be seen at the place of martyrdom. Even the Slavs of the area thought that these lights were the souls of the martyrs.

Various places in Saxony claim to be the site of Arn's death with no or no convincing reasons. This is based on local research, especially from the 19th century. For example, a late medieval stone cross was erected near Klaffenbach on the spot where Arn was martyred. Overall, however, the view was consolidated that the place of death in Arn would have been somewhere in the Chemnitz or Zschopau area. However, this area was uninhabited both at the time of Arn's death and at the time when Thietmar was active. Other local researchers suspect that Arn used the most comfortable pass over the Ore Mountains, the Alte Böhmischer Steig via Most (Brüx), Sayda , Oederan and Waldheim (across today's Central Saxony district ) as a way back. This reinforces the assumption that Arn was buried in the no longer preserved Jacobi Church in front of Colditz Castle . A later made grave stone Arns of porphyry from Rochlitz is located in the Church of St. Aegidien (Colditz). Arn was venerated as a saint until the 18th century.

Another place that is associated with the death of Arn is the area around Burgstädt . A memorial has stood on the district road between Herrenhaide and Taura , by the bridge over the Chemnitz-Leipzig railway line , since February 2006. This monument is reminiscent of an atonement chapel which, according to legend, was built near this site in 1250 to commemorate the martyrdom of Bishop Arn.

literature

• Werner Trillmich (Hrsg./translation): Thietmar von Merseburg, Chronik. In: Selected sources on German history in the Middle Ages. Freiherr vom Stein Memorial Edition 9) 1957, I, 4 (3), p. 6.
• Carl Ruland:  Arn (Bishop of Würzburg) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 577 f.
• Leo Bönhoff : The death of Bishop Arn of Würzburg. In: NASG (New Archive for Saxon History). 26. 1905, pp. 147-157; Literature, in: NASG 26, 1905, pp. 158-195; Nachrichten, in: NASG 26, 1905, pp. 196-208
• C. Klotzsch: The death of Bishop Arn of Würzburg. In: NASG. 29. 1908, pp. 273-281
• Alfred Meiche: Zuckmantel and the place of death of Bishop Arns von Würzburg. In: NASG. 31. 1910, pp. 307-314
• Wilhelm Engel:  Arn. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 356 ( digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Arn, Bishop of Würzburg. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 220.
• Peter Kolb, Ernst-Günther Krenig (Ed.): Lower Franconian history . Würzburg 1989, p. 164.
• Reinhard Spehr : Christianization and the earliest church organization in the Mark Meissen. An attempt . In: Judith Oexle (ed.): Early churches in Saxony. Results of archaeological and architectural studies (publications by the State Office for Archeology and State Museum for Prehistory 23) Stuttgart 1994, pp. 8–63. ISBN 3-8062-1094-2 .

Web links

• Chronicle of the bishops of Würzburg auf Arn (Würzburg) in the Frieschen Chronik
• Confirmation certificate from King Arnulf , Frankfurt, from November 21, 889 to confirmation from King Arnulf, Frankfurt, from 889 November 21

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Monument to Bishop Arn in Würzburg in Saxony. In: mainpost.de. May 19, 2011, accessed June 29, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Gozbald	Bishop of Würzburg 855–892	Rudolf I.