Grave of Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg

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The burial place and above all the Renaissance period coffin of Georg Wilhelm von Brandenburg was artistically and technically a masterpiece of its time. It last stood in the choir of the Königsberg Cathedral in Königsberg and was destroyed in World War II.

Death and burial of Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg

Georg Wilhelm died on December 1, 1640 in Königsberg. The turmoil of the Thirty Years' War made it impossible to bury the elector's body in Berlin. His son and successor, the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , decided to bury his father in the royal crypt of the Königsberg Cathedral . Only the enfeoffment with the Duchy of Prussia by the Polish king, as well as the preparations for the elaborate funeral ceremonies, not least the manufacture of the pewter coffin with rich ornamental and figurative decorations, were the reason for the transfer of the embalmed corpse from the castle church in the cathedral did not take place until March 11, 1642. So he remained the only Hohenzollern ruler to be buried in Königsberg.

A contemporary paper reported on the manufacture of the coffin that it was "first seen with astonishment by thousands of people at Christoff Grünbergen's pot-maker, and then put in the small arsenal in a castle and completely made." The next day the velvet-padded wooden coffin was placed in the tin coffin together with the electoral corpse. This is described as follows: “The delicate and splendid coffin made of the best English pewter, made with great diligence everywhere with beautiful sublime work, figures and foliage, and beautifully gilded ... On top of the ceiling on the hood a churhutt, in which in the middle of the Chur-Scepter, at the feet a child on a dead head, and on the sides eight eagles, also cast from clear tin, stand ”.

The rectangular coffin with a conical lid rests on eight lion figures with heads facing each other in pairs. The broad sides of the coffin case are divided into one, the long sides into three arcades with wide pilasters and semicircular arches. The pilasters rest on consoles with winged angel heads of alternating male and female herms . On the long sides there are eight further consoles with masks, which are already on the coffin lid and each carrying an eagle. The eagles, like the lions, are shown in pairs facing each other in broad protective wings. The eight arched fields are decorated with pieces of fruit and tendrils. Each arcade is decorated with three oval heraldic shields. The series of coats of arms shown includes a total of 24: Jülich , Kleve , Berg , Stettin , Pomerania , Kassuben , Wenden , Silesia , Crossen , Jägerndorf , Nuremberg , Rügen , Gützkow , Usedom , Wolgast , Barth , Mark , Ravensberg , Ruppin , Zollern and the Blood flag. The Prussian coat of arms shows a black, neck-crowned eagle in a silver field, on its chest it bears the intertwined letters V and G, an allusion to the liege lord of the elector, the Polish king Władysław IV. Wasa . A lion's head with a ring-shaped brass handle is located on the front and base of the lid. On the horizontal cover plate lies an electoral hat and a short septum, and at the end a boy sits on a skull. On its sloping sides there are three oval inscription cartouches with an epitaph containing the elector's "Res gestae":

The most noble, powerful Prince and Lord, Mr. Georg Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg, Arch Chamberlain and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, in Prussia, in Jülich, Cleve, Berg, Stettin, Pomerania, also in Silesia in Crossen Herzog, Burgrave in Nuremberg, Prince zu Rügen, Graf der Mark and Ravensburg, Herr zu Ravenstein etc. On November 3rd, 1595 he was born in the old style in Cologne on the Spree between 3 and 4 o'clock. His father was Johann Sigismund , then Margrave and hence Elector of Brandenburg, his mother Anna , daughter of Margrave Albrecht Friedrichs of Brandenburg, 2nd Duke in Prussia, and Marie Eleonore, daughter of the Duke of Jülich, Cleve and Berg. He devoted his young years to studies worthy of a prince, first at the court of his father and grandfather, then at the university in Frankfurt. In 1612 he attended the election of the Roman emperor Matthias. In the next year he took over the government of the Jülich duchies for his father, through whose extensive inheritance his mother had increased the property of the House of Brandenburg. On July 14, 1616, in the old style, he married Elisabeth Charlotte , daughter of Elector Friedrich IV , Count Palatine on the Rhine, and Princess Luise Juliane of Orange . A heroine by faith in God, among the first in benevolence and compassion for the stooped, she is now a deeply grieving widow. With her he produced sons, namely Friedrich Wilhelm , the successor, who by God's grace may be granted to rule for a long time and showered with all happiness, and Johann Sigismund, who was raptured from this temporality in the third month after his birth, but daughters Ludovike Charlotte and Hedwig Sophie . In 1619 he succeeded his father in electoral dignity; as Duke in Prussia he was enfeoffed in 1621. Throughout the stormy period of his government, he worked for the security of his subjects through strength of soul - which, true to his motto, true to his motto -, through special cleverness, admirable skill and unbelievable moderation for the security of his subjects, insofar as the fateful times without rights allowed. In any case, he brought Prussia the peace that it has long enjoyed. On November 20, 1640 between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. at Königsberg Castle, between sighs, heartfelt prayers to God and the Sustainer Jesus Christ and repeated confession of his faith, he gave his soul back to heaven after he was 45 years old Had lived 18 days and 3 hours for years. A prince pious, just, gentle and loving his own.

On March 11, 1642, the coffin was ceremoniously transferred from the castle church to the cathedral. Widow Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz and son Friedrich Wilhelm followed the coffin, which was so heavy that 24 aristocrats had to carry it. The tin coffin was placed in the royal crypt of the Königsberg cathedral. At the end of the 19th century there were considerations to move the magnificent coffin into the princely crypt of the new Berlin Cathedral. For this purpose, the coffin was subjected to a thorough inspection. It was found that this is still in good condition. Thereupon it was decided by Kaiser Wilhelm II that the sarcophagus of Elector Georg Wilhelm should remain in Königsberg.

Backup and realignment

On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Königsberg Cathedral in 1933, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg approved a substantial sum for restoration work on the cathedral. In this context, a renovation of the choir's tombs was undertaken. Since the tin coffin showed considerable damage ( tin plague ) in the lower part of the crypt due to the moisture in the soil , it was decided to place it above the ground in the eastern part of the cathedral for the purpose of better preservation in the future. The coffin was emptied and the elector's remains remained in the crypt. A detailed examination of the magnificent coffin revealed the fine pewter work of the 17th century.

War and post-war period

The coffin remained in the high choir of the Königsberg Cathedral until the end of the war. Still unscathed by the fire in the cathedral caused by a bomb hit from August 29th to 30th, 1944, it survived the demolition and looting of the cathedral and the princely crypt after the city was conquered by the Red Army in April 1945. In 1947 the coffin was still in the choir room of the cathedral ruins. The pewter decorations were knocked off and there was a large hole in the lid. Presumably there were valuables in the empty coffin. So all sacral and sepulchral furnishings in the cathedral were lost. The tombs were buried and leveled. It is unknown whether they still contain the inner coffin with the bones of the elector.

source

literature

  • Richard Dethlefsen (ed.): The cathedral church in Königsberg i. After their most recent restoration. Wasmuth, Berlin 1912, p. 75 f.
  • August Rudolph Gebser, Ernst August Hagen : The cathedral to Königsberg in Prussia. A church and art history description. Second section: Ernst August Hagen: Description of the cathedral church in Königsberg and the works of art it contains with an introduction to the art of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Hartung, Koenigsberg 1833.
  • Michael Lilienthal : Historical description of the Thums, or the cathedral churches, of the city of Kneiphoff-Königsberg. Reussner, Königsberg 1716, online .
  • Andreas Nachama : The Great Elector. Stapp, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-87776-173-9 ( Prussian heads. History 24).
  • Hans-Joachim Neumann : Friedrich Wilhelm the great elector. The winner from Fehrbellin. Edition q, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-86124-293-1 .
  • Ernst von der Oelsnitz: The magnificent coffin of Elector Georg Wilhelm in the Königsberg Cathedral. In: Old Prussian gender studies. Vol. 9, 1935, ISSN  0344-5593 , pp. 55–58 with 1 illustration (Unchanged reprint: Old Prussian Gender Studies . Volume 3: 1935–1938. Association for Family Research in East and West Prussia, Hamburg 1987).
  • Heinrich Lange: The magnificent coffin of Elector Georg Wilhelm. In: Berlin monthly journal . Volume 3, 2000, pp. 4-15.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Lilienthal: Historical description of the Thums or the cathedral churches of the city of Kneiphoff-Königsberg. Königsberg 1716, no p.
  2. ↑ Ernst v. the Oelsnitz: The magnificent coffin of Elector Georg Wilhelm in the cathedral of Königsberg. In: Old Prussian gender studies. Vol. 9, 1935 (reprint Vol. 3, 1935-1938, Hamburg 1987), pp. 55-58 with 1 illustration.