document niedermünster

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Under the Romanesque Niedermünster church in Regensburg from the 12th century is the document niedermünster , a photo-realistic , three-dimensional reconstruction of the settlement and building history of the area.

Logo of the document Niedermünster in Regensburg

documentation

Photo-realistic replica of the barracks of the Legion stationed in the Castra Regina

It shows the original findings of the Roman Regensburg with the camp of Legio III Italica , the first sacred building made of Roman stone material, the churches of the Carolingian period and the Ottonik, the ducal graves and the grave site of St. Erhard in comparison with the real walk through the excavations. Access is only possible with a guide.

history

When installing underfloor heating, one of the largest church excavations in Germany was carried out from 1963 to 1969. The uncovered findings show historical layers and buildings to a thickness of 5 m.

The excavation area under the Niedermünster is considered to be the only place in Bavaria in which structural evidence from the Roman camp to the Carolingian Palatinate of the Agilolfinger to the Ottonian women's monastery has been preserved in a very small space. It's a three-dimensional history book of the city.

Romans in Regensburg

Photo-realistic reconstruction of the "Castra Regina"

In 179 the third Italian legion with 6000 soldiers moved into their new camp, " Castra Regina " on the Danube , which was surrounded by a 2000 meter long ashlar wall with 22 towers and four monumental gates. In the early 5th century, the Roman troops withdrew from Regensburg .

The Bavarians

The Bavarians took over their inheritance. The Roman walls were partly used to build the first church surrounded by a cemetery. As a palatine chapel, it belonged to the nearby court of Duke Theodo von Baiern, who died around 717/18 and was buried in the church's choir. After 700, the bishop Erhard von Regensburg from the Franconian Empire, canonized in 1052 , found his final resting place on the north wall of the Palatine Chapel in a burial place made of tuff plates, closed with a Roman sarcophagus lid. The location of his grave remains untouched in all later new buildings of the church, but "grew" with the floor level.

Objects

Palatine Chapel

Photo-realistic reconstruction of the Palatine Chapel

In the 9th century, the Palatine Chapel was converted into a place of worship for the noble ladies of the newly founded Niedermünster Abbey , which is being built within the Roman camp walls. Here educated and self-determined women lived in a spiritual community.

Duke Heinrich I , the younger brother of Emperor Otto the Great , and his wife Judith arranged for the Niedermünster to be completely rebuilt. In 955 Heinrich was buried in front of the main choir of this three-aisled basilica. As abbess, his widow headed the women's monastery, one of the most important in Germany. Judith was buried in the Niedermünster. Likewise her daughter-in-law Gisela of Burgundy , mother of two famous children: Queen Gisela of Hungary and Emperor Heinrich II .

Grave of St. Erhard

Tomb of St. Erhard

The holy Erhard one of the hiking bishops without diocese and parish. This Franconian mission bishop worked at the Bavarian ducal court in Regensburg and found his final resting place in Niedermünster in a grave made of reused Roman tuff plates and a sarcophagus lid († around 715). His identity cannot be doubted due to the uninterrupted veneration up to the present day. The medieval survey process is shown in a unique way. At the canonical canonization of Erhard by Pope Leo IX. In the year 1052, the church floor was opened specifically above the grave and the sarcophagus lid was raised to the level of the church floor by building up the grave walls up to this height. Thus the Erhard grave became visible in the Ottonian church and has remained so through all construction phases until today.

Ducal tombs

Ducal graves in Niedermünster

The limestone sarcophagus of Heinrich, a brother of Otto the Great , is in direct axial relation to the older ducal tombs on the south wall of the Carolingian choir. His wife Judith, a daughter of Duke Arnulf, was buried at his side in a brick burial chamber. In addition, another family member found his final resting place in a second-used Roman sarcophagus. Her daughter-in-law Gisela of Burgundy was buried in front of the southern apse. The Gisela Cross - donated by her daughter Gisela of Bavaria and Queen of Hungary - is ascribed to her.

This ducal family burial made the Niedermünster stand out from all other Regensburg churches. Judith is still honored today as the new founder of the Niedermünsterstift, which she temporarily chaired. This veneration led to the opening of the grave and the reburial of her bones in the current Romanesque church.

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