Cathedral district (Bremen)

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Remains of the wall of the Domburg, discovered at the Domshof when the town house was demolished in 1909

The cathedral district in Bremen (also known as cathedral immunity or cathedral freedom ) was an area of ​​the old town that has included the cathedral as well as surrounding buildings and episcopal institutions since the emergence of the diocese of Bremen and over the centuries as an " enclave " a special sovereign and legal position in the Until it came completely under Bremen administration in 1803.

The Domburg

Location of the fortification rings of the Bremen Domburg in 10/11. Century, entered in a processing of the Murtfeldt Plan from 1796:
purple = assumed course of the ditch
yellow = street to be assumed for the 11th century
orange = paving stone from the 11th century
- = circular wall proven in the course
x = circular wall localized
o = wall (remains ) mentioned
v = ditch localized or detected in the course
u = ditch mentioned indirectly
bright red = cathedral since 1502/22
dark red = cathedral since 1041/1072
dark contour = cathedral around 1000

The beginnings of the cathedral district go back to the foundation of the diocese and the construction of the first Bremen cathedral by Willehad in 789. At first the Carolingian settlement core of the place on the Bremer dune and on the bank of the Weser arm Belge was under imperial sovereignty, from the 10th century then archbishop sovereignty. We do not know anything concrete about the nature and extent of a Carolingian fortification that can be safely assumed. Adam von Bremen then names several fortification companies of the archbishops around 1000 and 1020.

structure

Excavations have shown that up to the first third of the 11th century the complex had the shape of a pointed trench, to which earth walls and wooden palisades may have belonged. Two pointed trenches were found in several areas, although it is unclear whether they were dug at different times or as a double ring of trenches. It is assumed that there is only one entrance to the market area. Archbishop Hermann did not begin to equip the Domburg with a stone wall until shortly before his death (1035). The trenches were filled in and the foundations of a wall ring were laid in them. In connection with the wall, Adam von Bremen mentions a large gate against the market (“porta grandis contra forum”), which was provided with a seven-story tower based on the Italian model. Under Archbishop Adalbert , however, the gate tower and large parts of the stone wall were removed again a few years later in order to use the stones for the reconstruction of the cathedral, which burned down in 1041 . At least the foundations were preserved. Parts were later used again, as in the Maria Magdalenen chapel of the palatium or painstakingly removed as in the construction of the Gothic town hall .

localization

With its traces from different phases, the around 12 m wide fortification ring around the cathedral and the residential and farm buildings of the episcopal area ran roughly as follows (projected onto today's city map): Outer edge of the third city ​​hall arcade from the right - inside of the New City Hall - west Third of the Domshof - interior of the Bremer Bank - Sandstrasse at the Vorwärts house - across the Domsheide - along Marktstrasse - on the market from the west corner of the citizenship with increasing distance from its facade - about 12 m west of the north corner of the citizenship. The last-mentioned section was the eastern edge of the market square from the 11th to the 19th century, after the moat was filled in, the building line of a row of houses of the so-called Willehadiblock was created here . From these earliest times in the cathedral district (besides archaeological finds) only a few parts of the cathedral dating back to the 11th century have survived. Transversely to the curtain wall wall remains under the Gothic Palatium northeast of the town hall and the Balleerschen house before the Marketplace side of citizenship building were temporarily interpreted as remains of the gate tower, but in view of the found in 2002, remains of the doorway is more than doubtful. This must have been created after the trench had been filled in, was paved with stone slabs and lay in front of the later north wall of the Balleerhaus. From this location it can also be seen that in Adam von Bremen's description, “forum” means today's marketplace.

Partial cross-section of the ring wall in the non-public part of the Bremen Ratskeller, with a historical description. Partial cross-section of the ring wall in the non-public part of the Bremen Ratskeller, with a historical description.
Partial cross-section of the ring wall in the non-public part of the Bremen Ratskeller, with a historical description.

The cathedral district in the Middle Ages

After the wall of the Domburg was demolished, the cathedral district was no longer structurally separated from the rest of the settlement. From 1229 it was - together with most of Bremen's old town - enclosed by the newly built city wall. However, until 1522, the bishops had their own exit from the city through the so-called “ bishop's needle ”, a small gate in the eastern city wall.

With the emergence of a citizenry (as distinct from the church officials and subjects) from the 11th century and the emergence of a city ​​law in Bremen , the archbishopric and urban spheres of influence gradually became separated. Compared to the city ​​ruled by the Bremen council with its possessions, the cathedral district and the archbishop's territories outside the city were delimited as areas with their own law and jurisdiction, which were subordinate to the church administration.

The cathedral and surroundings in the 16th century

In addition to the cathedral with its immediate outbuildings, the cathedral district included parts of the Domshof, the Wilhadiquartier, the Domsheide, the Sandstrasse , the Buchtstrasse, parts of the wall , the Ostertorstrasse and the Süsterstrasse. In it were next to the cathedral, the palatium (the seat of the archbishop), the Wilhadikapelle (the parish church of the cathedral community), cathedral school and Athenaeum and various cathedral curia (residential and farm buildings of the cathedral chapter). However, the ownership structure was sometimes quite complex - individual pieces of land outside the area also belonged to the cathedral district. B. There were also bourgeois houses right on the Domshof. The development of the area remained rather loose until the end of the 18th century - in contrast to the rest of the old town - there were numerous gardens and free land.

Between the archbishop and the council, there were repeated disputes over various rights and competencies relating to the area. In particular, the Domshof on the border between the urban and archbishopric areas was the subject of several disputes, for example in 1592 when the city had large amounts of material stored here to expand the fortifications or in 1636 when the council put up two pillory in front of the palatium .

After the Thirty Years War

Map of the Hanoverian possessions in Bremen from 1750

In 1638 the cathedral became Lutheran , while the council and the municipal parishes had turned to the Reformed (Calvinist) creed since 1581 . As a result of the Thirty Years' War , sovereignty over the secularized area of ​​the Archbishopric of Bremen (the former Bremen diocese), to which the cathedral district also belonged, fell as the Duchy of Bremen to the Kingdom of Sweden , which from then on could assert financial and legal claims here. The cathedral was thus an enclave in the city in two respects: as a Lutheran congregation in the Reformed environment and as a Swedish possession in Bremen. The First Bremen-Swedish War (1654) and the Second Bremen-Swedish War (1666) did nothing to change this, after which the existing legal status quo was established. Due to this imprecise regulation, there were also several complaints from the Swedish side about the use of the Domshof by the council, which used the area as a parade ground for the citizens' companies and had guards set up here. However, the allegations were always rejected with reference to the fact that it was loca publica civitatis ('public urban area').

The Swedish crown, which set up the administrative headquarters of the newly created Duchy of Bremen-Verden in Stade , used their property in Bremen primarily as a source of income. So let Charles XI. Separate the properties in the cathedral district into structural goods (church property) and director property (royal property) and divide the income accordingly. After brief interruptions by Danish sovereignty (1676–1679 and 1712–1715), the area came to Kurhannover in 1715 . At that time, numerous buildings in the cathedral district were already in disrepair, as hardly any investments had been made. Only at the end of the 18th century did the condition of the area improve through the renovation and reconstruction of various buildings. One of the last administrators of the Hanoverian possessions in Bremen was Adolph Freiherr Knigge (from 1790 to 1796). In 1794 G. H. Buchholz made a very detailed map of the Hanoverian possessions in Bremen with the plan of the houses that Kurhannover owns in the Free City of Bremen.

Bremen Highness

With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , Bremen finally received undivided sovereignty over the possessions in the cathedral district in 1803, which meant a considerable financial gain for the city. 160 buildings in the area were sold, the remaining 45 or so after a long dispute between the council and the cathedral parish were divided up. As a result, numerous plots of land in the area were newly built. The former bishop's residence, the palatium, in the direct vicinity of the town hall was replaced in 1818/19 by the town hall as the new seat for authorities and post offices and as the headquarters of the city guard.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frank Wilschewski: The Carolingian bishopric of the Saxon tribal area until 1200, Michael Imhof Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-127-0 , chap. II (pp. 14–29), Bishopric of Bremen
  2. ↑ Peter Johanek: The city and its edge . Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-24105-6 , p. 171 .
  3. ↑ a b Thomas L. Zotz, Lutz Fenske: Die Deutschen Königspfalzen: Repertorium der Pfalzen, Königshöfe and other whereabouts of the kings in the German empire of the Middle Ages . Ed .: Max Planck Institute for History. tape 4 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000, ISBN 978-3-525-36513-7 , pp. 188 .
  4. ^ Wilhelm Lührs: The Domshof. History of a place in Bremen . Edition Temmen, Bremen 1987, ISBN 978-3-920699-87-5 , pp. 11 .
  5. ^ A b Wilhelm Lührs: The Domshof. History of a place in Bremen . Edition Temmen, Bremen 1987, ISBN 978-3-920699-87-5 , pp. 18 .
  6. ^ Herbert Schwarzwälder: View of Bremen . No. 195.Bremen 1985.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Lührs: The Domshof. History of a place in Bremen . Edition Temmen, Bremen 1987, ISBN 978-3-920699-87-5 , pp. 37 .

literature