Binger inscription

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The so-called Binger inscription (BI) or "Diederih stone, tombstone of Dietrich" is an early medieval Old High German Christian grave inscription, which was donated by "Diederih". The tombstone was found in Bingen in 1900 and dates from the end of the 10th century (975–1000). The monument is the only surviving epigraphic testimony of Old High German in vernacular and is part of the body of Old High German literature .

Finding and describing

Replica of the tombstone and inscription

During the demolition work of the Binger Domkellerei, next to the church and cemetery of St. Martin , the stone with figurative representations and the two-line inscription was found. Today it can be viewed in the medieval collection of the Landesmuseum Mainz (signature: Landesmuseum Mainz, tombstone of Dietrich p. 3089). The stone made of gray sandstone , preserved in three pieces, belonged to a slab with the reconstructed dimensions 64 X 93 X 11 cm. The fragments allow a relatively reliable reconstruction of the plate.

The figurative relief depictions show a bearded man, presumably a cleric, in a prayer position ( oranten position ) with raised (lower) arms on the front right . He wears a cap and a knee-length skirt belted around the waist, which shows pointed oval patterns above the belt. Two oval disks are carved out on the chest, which are interpreted as possible coat closures. The lower legs are shown wound with long calf straps. Above the head of the "cleric" is his name in an arch (window arch) in capital letters (like the actual "Binger inscription"); is preceded by a cross, dotted word separators subdivide the syllables, the R has a short cauda :

+ DIE • DE • RIH •

On both sides of the figure the approaches to a further window arch are visible. These remains suggest that these arches each spanned two window openings about 30 cm high and that the stone was designed and manufactured symmetrically in five parts. In the lower part or third is the actual inscription, flanked on the left by the remains of a (also window-framed) female figure, of which only the hem of the skirt and the wrapped feet have been preserved. Another (male) figure on the right is suspected, or is likely.

On the unfinished back of the stone, which is bevelled on the sides, folds are made on the windows (possibly for the purpose of closing with plates). Roughly at the height of the “Diederih” inscription, remains of letters can be found that are at the end of a line and can be read either as LF GOT or EF COT. According to Heinrich Tiefenbach, these are probably samples made by the stonemason before the front was inscribed.

inscription

The inscription has been preserved on the left-hand side and is clearly legible, but on the right-hand side it has been damaged by being broken off and requires appropriate additions due to conjectures . It is appropriate without word separations.

"GEHVGI DIEDERIHES · GO [] / INDE DRVLINDA · SON []"

The inscription is generally added to the male full name Godefrides at the gaps (breaks in the lines) and SON [] to sones , the latter is considered harmless. The production to Godefridus is, however, any form, already Elias v. Steinmeyer had noted that any (male) form can be used with the Got- link. Jacob Como († 1945), a local historian from Bingen, had with his research in the regional deed books of 10/11. Century a nobleman Thidrich determined for the name of Diederih whose father was a Gozzolf . The added inscription reads:

"Remember Diederih, the son of Godefrides / Gozzolfes and Drulinda."

Furthermore, the inscription can be reconstructed by evaluating the stonemason samples on the back as the appropriate missing elements of the inscription and adding a "(HI) LF GOT" from the reading LF GOT. Wolfgang Haubrichs reads, or therefore transmits with Tiefenbach:

"Remember Dietrich, the son of Gozzolf [?] And Drulinda, God help him."

The figurative figures next to the inscription are therefore probably the parents of Diderih who donated the memorial inscription to their deceased son. So it is a memorial inscription that invites the reader to pray for the deceased.

The dating of the inscription around the year 1000 and thus the production of the stone can be well represented by means of the sound levels as Late Old High German in the Rhine Franconian dialect. In Diederih and Diederihes, the sound level shows the (Old High German) sound shift to h for Germanic k (see Old Norse Þiðrek , runic ÞiúðríkR ). Within the continuum, a dialectal spatial delimitation can be represented by means of the media through the d- lettering. d stands for Germanic þ with Diederih in the initial , as well as for Germanic d in the initial in inde, Drulinda in the initial. Due to the additional correspondence of the inscribed graph G with Germanic g , the finding points to the Central German-speaking area for Tiefenbach. He further narrows that the vowel prior flexives gehugi and Drulinda leads to the Old High German and the weakened diphthong ( diphthong ) ie for other (older) io in the spätalthochdeutsche phase. To do this, he evaluates the prefix ge and the final word in inde , for other Old High German inti , also as attenuation products of the late phase of Old High German. Also with son [es] u would be expected instead of o . Specifically, Tiefenbach points out that the diphthong ie did not prevail until the 11th century and that the genitive ending Drulinda would be expected in the 11th century instead of -a from the dative dominant -o . This overall finding supports the writing time recognized in research as well as the linguistic geographical classification.

literature

expenditure

Research literature

  • Jacob Como: The Dietrichstein von Bingen and the foundation of the parish Mörschbach (Hunsrück). In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 37/38 (1942/43), pp. 50–54.
  • The first millennium: culture and art in the emerging West on the Rhine and Ruhr. Plate volume, 1962, no.448.
  • Gustav Ehrismann : History of German literature up to the end of the Middle Ages. Part 1: Old High German Literature. 2nd fully worked out edition, CH Beck, Munich 1932 [Reprint 1966], p. 363.
  • K. Körber: Old High German stone inscription. In: Korrespondenzblatt der Westdeutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kunst 20 (1901), Sp. 4–7.
  • Heinrich Tiefenbach: Binger inscription. In: Rolf Bergmann (Ed.): Old High German and Old Saxon Literature. de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-024549-3 , pp. 55–56 ( fee-based author database at de Gruyter ).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Ernst Förstemann: Old German name book, I, personal names. 2nd edition 1900, col. 426.
  2. ↑ Jacob Como: Mainzer Zeitschrift 37/38 (1942/43) P. 52 f., Note 2. According to: Heinrich Tiefenbach: Zur Binger inscription. With three pictures and a card. In: Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter 41 (1977), p. 129 f., Note 24.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Haubrichs: The Beginnings: Attempts at vernacular writing in the early Middle Ages (approx. 700-1050 / 60). (= History of German literature from the beginning to the beginning of the modern age I, 1) Joachim Heinzle (Ed.). 2nd, reviewed edition, Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1995, ISBN 3-484-10701-4 , p. 38.
  4. ↑ Lena Petersson: runnamnslexikon Nordiskt. 5th revised edition, Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Uppsala 2007, ISBN 978-91-7229-040-2 , p. 306.