Gargoyles

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Hellenistic gargouille, Ai Khanoum , Afghanistan , 2nd century BC. Chr.
Gargoyles on Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral
Modern gargoyle, Chichester Cathedral showing a gargoyle
Gargoyle with a clearly visible water channel on Sacré-Cœur , Paris

Gargoyles are architectural elements - mostly pipes or gutters - for draining water off the eaves of the roofs . In their simple form they are also called drainage channels , drains or attachment eaves . The rainwater collected in the eaves shoots away from the building in an arc using gargoyles, preventing it from penetrating the masonry and foundation. Often they are figurative and represent - mostly fantastic - animal forms. The French name for gargoyles is gargouille , taken over into English as gargoyle , related to the German "gargle".

Development and design language

Gargoyle in the shape of the alien monster designed by HR Giger at the Scottish Paisley Abbey .

While in ancient buildings the water often fell in full width at the edge of the eaves, it was since the 6th century BC. Usually collected in a channel formed by the Sima and discharged via evenly distributed gargoyles. Initially designed in the form of simple clay tubes, these have since the 5th century BC. Mostly in the shape of lion heads, more rarely dog ​​heads; but they can also represent theater masks and similar grotesque beings. The gargoyles of antiquity were often in vertical relation to other components, so they could, for example, correspond to the volutes of the Ionic capitals .

Already in the Romanesque and later in the Gothic and Renaissance , demonic figures or animals were often used in a symbolic meaning , especially in larger church buildings . Since they are only used as gargoyles on the outer facade of the churches and never inside, they symbolize the influence of the devil on the earthly world, which stands in contrast to the purity of the heavenly kingdom - symbolized by the interior of the church. These water-spouting creatures are called gargoyles and are reputed to be protectors. Their demonic appearance is supposed to hold up a mirror to the spirits and demons, to scare them away and thus to protect churches and monasteries, sometimes also castles and houses, from evil forces - they consequently have an apotropaic meaning. Gargoyles are often depicted with an animal body and face, more rarely with a human-like body and demonic facial features. They often have wings with which, according to mythology, they cannot fly, but only glide.

The probably oldest examples of the gargouilles were created at the cathedral of Laon around 1220/1230, followed by the gargoyles of Notre-Dame in Paris in the late 13th to early 14th centuries. The bizarre, terrible and sometimes grotesque animal forms of the early and high Gothic gargoyles were increasingly replaced by human-like figures from the 13th century, which also lost their ominous expression in the 15th century. Similar to the mask of the Hellenistic gargoyle in Figure 2, amusing facial expressions were shown again.

Gargoyles are also preserved from this time, which serve to depict the contemptuous depiction of Judaism (cf. Judensau ).

In addition to stone gargoyles, there have also been metal gargoyles since the 16th century.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the gargoyle increasingly lost its function, as the rainwater was led away from the roof in downpipes . With the historicism of the late 19th century, the medieval gargoyle experienced a last brief bloom. Since the 20th century, it has been called a “drainage channel”, “drainage channel” or “attachment eaves” in an unadorned, simple form as a pipe or channel. In modern flat roof buildings it is generally found as an emergency overflow to prevent overloading of the roof when the rain drains are blocked.

During World War II were the navy at the baueigenen troops high bunkers set in Wilhelmshaven gargoyle on the roof corners. Actually, these decorative details were forbidden due to the sheer practicality of the Navy bunkers, but they were nevertheless implemented in these type bunkers in Wilhelmshaven.

→ see also: Neidkopf

Gargouille and Gargoyle outside of construction

The term gargoyle has also found its way into German usage through its use in fantasy literature and computer games . There he usually describes magical, chimeric or envious winged beings that are stone statues during the day, come to life at sunset and turn back to stone at sunrise. Examples are the animated series Gargoyles from Disney , the Ultima role-playing series by Richard Garriott and the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett as well as individual novels by Vickie Taylor , Mary Gentle , Andrew Davidson , Meredith Ann Pierce , but also the Harry Potter novel series by Joanne K. Rowling .

Gargoyles are also popular “ monsters ” in B-movie horror films, in which, in contrast to their nature in other mythologies, they are portrayed as evil. Examples of this are the films Gargoyles (1972), Gargoyles - Flügel des Grauens (2004), Reign of the Gargoyles (2007) as well as series such as Special Unit 2 , Tales from the Crypt , etc. In the books of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher they are portrayed as stone protectors who do everything in their power to protect the treasure of their creator. The only disadvantage is that, as mentioned above, they cannot be active in daylight, but only at night.

Others

Modern gargouille as a water eater at a pond at the Kurt Tucholsky School in Flensburg - Adelby
Human gargoyle (1926)

Also artistic performers called themselves gargoyles, who ingested large amounts of liquid (mostly water, but beer is also passed down) and emitted it through controlled vomiting in sometimes spectacular ways.

literature

  • John Boardman , José Dörig, Werner Fuchs , Max Hirmer : The Greek art. Hirmer Verlag, special edition Munich 1992.
  • Janetta Rebold Benton: Holy terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings. New York et al. 1997.
  • Birgit Bergander: Gargoyles on Ulm Minster. Photos: Marcellus Kaiser. C & S, Laupheim 2004, ISBN 3-937876-09-X .
  • Regina EG Schymiczek: The Siegburg gargoyles and the Cologne cathedral. An analysis in the mirror of new research results. In: Heimatblätter of the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis. 73rd year. Siegburg 2005, ISBN 3-938535-02-4 .
  • Regina EG Schymiczek: Over your walls, Jerusalem, I have ordered watchmen ... On the development of the gargoyle shapes on Cologne Cathedral. (= European university publications: series 28, art history, 402). Europ. Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt / M., Berlin, Bern, Brussels, New York, Oxford, Vienna 2004 (incl. Diss. Bochum 2003), ISBN 3-631-52060-3 .
  • Regina EG Schymiczek, Heribert Schulmeyer: Willibrord the gargoyle. Cologne Cathedral Publishing House, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-922442-46-3 .
  • Regina EG Schymiczek: Brood of Hell and Guardian of Heaven - Medieval gargoyles on churches and cathedrals. With a foreword by Barbara Schock-Werner. Schnell + Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-7954-1807-0 .
  • Regina EG Schymiczek: Milan's Monsters / Milan's Monsters. Gargoyles and grotesques in Milan. Books on Demand, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-8256-7 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Gargoyles  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Gargoyles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Hans Koepf : Picture Dictionary of Architecture.
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-23810978 'Alien' gargoyle on ancient abbey
  3. ^ Wolfram P. Kastner: Judensauskulpturen an German churches
  4. ^ Gargoyle on Notre Dame Cathedral, France . In: Epoch Times
  5. ↑ Crazy & fireproof: people, animals, sensations of show business, stone eaters, fire kings, mind readers, escape artists and other devils. Edition Volker Huber, Offenbach 1987.