Tomb of Emperor Friedrich III.
The grave of Emperor Friedrich III. is a monumental work that is in the apostle choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna . In 1513 the body of Emperor Friedrich III. buried there. The grave slab was created by Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden and by Friedrich III. for the grave site originally planned in Wiener Neustadt. The tomb in St. Stephen's Cathedral was commissioned by Maximilian for his late father, the original tumba and tombstone were brought here and incorporated, and the tomb itself was moved here. It is not only one of the most important sculptural works of art of the late Middle Ages, but also unique in its monumentality in a church from this time.
history
Emperor Friedrich played an important role for the Archdiocese of Vienna throughout his life . In 1469 he succeeded in obtaining the bull In supremae dignitatis specula from Pope Paul II , which established the dioceses of Vienna and Wiener Neustadt in Austria. In this bull, the Roman-German emperor and his successors were also given the right to appoint bishops.
In 1463, thirty years before his death, the emperor appointed the Dutch sculptor from Strasbourg , Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden, and commissioned him to build a monumental grave in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna in the polygon of the apostles' choir. After another imperial letter, in 1468 he finally began to work on the cover plate with the portrait of the emperor at rest. The material he used was red, spotted Adnet marble , which was particularly difficult to work with. Van Leyden died in 1473, but his design was retained and the work of Max Valmet continued, who made the side reliefs. Michael Tichter , who completed the work and was also known as the emperor's "grave master", created the balustrade and in 1510 the erection of the tomb in the cathedral could begin.
Kaiser Friedrich died at the age of 78 on August 19, 1493 in Linz. His heart and entrails were buried separately and buried in the parish church of Linz . The body itself was buried in the ducal crypt under the central choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Twenty years later, on November 12th, 1513, his body was ceremoniously transferred to the high grave. Research carried out in November 2013 confirmed that the contents of the grave are in their original state; the funeral insignia is just as complete as the fabric wrapping around the corpse.
description
The tomb is shielded by the stone balustrade to which steps lead up at the back of the tomb. From there it is possible to look at the grave cover, which is otherwise not possible due to the height of the tomb of more than two meters. On the cover, the figure of the resting emperor is portrayed in full coronation regalia, surrounded by his coat of arms and rulership attributes. His crowned head rests on a pillow, the imperial orb he carries in his right hand, the long scepter in his left. Around the scepter is a banner with the vowels AEIOU .
The emperor is dressed in a richly embroidered cloak, and although lying down, he appears to be stepping slightly forward with his right leg. The emperor looks to the east, towards the rising sun. This is supposed to symbolize the resurrection. The grave slab is framed by a Latin banner.
The sides are divided into several levels and decorated with 240 smaller statues. Further coats of arms are carved on the top level under the lid. Below is a small ledge on which small figures of plaintive monks pray for his soul. The good works and his foundations are also shown, they should speak for him at the Last Judgment . His actions overcome putrefaction and death, depicted on the pedestal in the form of creatures and skulls . In other parts of the coffin, the risen Savior , the apostles and the saints of the house protect the emperor's soul.
In 1969, in a more or less secret operation, researchers drilled a hole in the tomb to make sure that there was indeed a corpse inside. This hole was used for a comprehensive investigation from 2013, the results of which were presented in November 2019. The evaluation shows that the interior still contains the original funeral insignia and well-preserved textiles.
literature
- Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon Vienna . Volume 5. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-218-00547-7 , pp. 335ff.
- Renate Kohn (ed.): The emperor and his tomb. Interdisciplinary research on the high grave of Emperor Friedrich III. in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. Böhlau, Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-205-20640-8 .
- Lothar Schultes : The Emperor's Tomb - An Odyssey , in: Communications from the Society for Comparative Art Research in Vienna, Vol. 71, No. 1/2, February 2019, pp. 1–16.
- Franz Kirchweger, Katja Schmitz-von Ledebur, Heinz Winter, Franz Zehetner (eds.), "In hoc precioso monomento". The burial of Emperor Friedrich III. In Vienna's Stephansdom, (Writings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, 20) Holzhausen Verlag, Vienna 2019. ISBN 978-3-9032-0748-6
Web links
- Short film about the grave in aeiou's Austria Lexicon
- The Friedrichsgrab. “Our St. Stephen's Cathedral” , Association for the Preservation of St. Stephen's Cathedral, accessed on October 31, 2011.
Remarks
- ↑ A look into the grave of Friedrich III. ORF.at of November 8, 2019, accessed November 11, 2019.
- ↑ Friedrich III. in St. Stephen's Cathedral: The Emperor's Endoscopy - derStandard.at. Retrieved November 20, 2019 (Austrian German).
- ↑ ORF report from November 8, 2019
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 29.4 " N , 16 ° 22 ′ 24.6" E