Thietmar candlesticks
The Thietmar chandelier , traditionally azeline chandelier , is the oldest of the four Romanesque wheel chandeliers preserved in Germany . It was made for the Hildesheim Cathedral in the 11th century .
The traditional name is based on an erroneous assignment to Bishop Azelin (1044-1054). In the inscription that has disappeared today and is handed down in a manuscript from the early 16th century, however, his predecessor Thietmar (1038-1044) names himself as the founder.
Until 2010 the chandelier hung in the St. Antonius Church near the cloister of Hildesheim Cathedral . Since the end of the extensive renovation work on the cathedral in 2014 and the conversion of the Antoniuskirche to the cathedral museum, it has had its place in the cathedral's chancel. The Hezilo chandelier returned to its original place in the nave of the church.
The Thietmar chandelier is the model and sister work of the Hezilo chandelier , which was commissioned by Azelin's successor, Hezilo . Perhaps both candlestick crowns were planned as an ensemble from the start, just as they hung in the cathedral for centuries: the Hezilo chandelier in the nave , the roughly half the size Thietmar chandelier in the choir . The cathedral restoration restored this constellation.
According to older research, the background to the development was the devastating fire of 1046, to which the Altfrid Cathedral and numerous outbuildings in the Domburg fell victim. A gold and silver chandelier donated by Bishop Bernward had previously hung in the nave. In research it was taken for granted that the latter perished in this fire and that Azelin and Hezilo donated the two existing candlesticks for the new building. Why the candlestick Thietmar actually survived at that time is unexplained.
Like the Hezilo chandelier, the Thietmars is a circular ring made of gilded copper and tin-plated sheet metal, which alternates between twelve towers and twelve gates. However, the ornamentation is more economical. It is limited to a braided round rod that runs through the middle and an openwork leaf wreath on the upper edge. The twelve gates to which the tethers are attached are rectangular frames in front of them with round arches and roofing. If they ever contained figures, they must have been very small and flat. The towers are most elaborately designed, with three niches on the outside and one on the inside with openwork door leaves on a hexagonal floor plan. the inner one is flanked by two brick-patterned round or square towers with battlements . The spiers that tower over the hoarfrost are partly round, partly hexagonal and designed like lanterns with openwork windows .
Additions, removals and repairs have changed the Thietmar chandelier in some details over the centuries. The overall impression of the shimmering city of God , which he wants to evoke like all works of his kind, is unimpaired. The chandelier underwent a major scientific restoration in 1982–1989.
literature
- Adolf Bertram , History of the Diocese of Hildesheim , Vol. 1, Hildesheim 1899, p. 106.
- Christine Wulf: The inscriptions of the city of Hildesheim. Wiesbaden 2003 ( The German inscriptions 58 ). Vol. 2. pp. 213-216.
Web links
- The Thietmar chandelier (dom-hildesheim.de)
- Christine Wulf: The so-called small wheel chandelier. The German inscriptions , DI 58, City of Hildesheim, No. 22 (†)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Victor H. Elbern : Cathedral and Cathedral Treasure in Hildesheim , Königstein 1979, p. 12.