Hardenrath
The Hardenrath family from Cologne was a wealthy merchant family who moved from Hameln on the Weser to Cologne in the 15th century . Johannes Hardenrath (the elder), whose descendants had a say in Cologne politics for several generations, is considered to be the founder of the Cologne-based family.
history
New citizens in Cologne
Johannes Hardenrath (I.) acquired the citizenship of the city of Cologne in 1449 . He had a high rank among the Cologne cloth dealers (whereby he specialized in trading in bark cloth ) and is said to have ranked third among them in the 1460s. In addition, numerous business transactions in the pension and credit sectors as well as his involvement in the British trade increased the family's prosperity. As all citizens of the city were obliged to join one of the 22 Cologne gaffs , Hardenrath had become a member of the Windeck merchant gaff. According to the councilor register, Hardenrath was in 1465 a member of the "Gebrechs" consisting of 13 gentlemen. Hardenrath's further membership in the council from 1465 to 1484 is, however, controversial, since according to a document from 1479 Johannes (I) Hardenrath, the husband of Sybilla (Beelgin) Slossgin, was described as deceased.
The family's name appears in the sources as "Hardenro", the Cologne councilor and chronicler Hermann von Weinsberg used the name "Hardenraidt" and the spellings used more recently with the name ending with "dt", "th" or "ht".
Also unknown is the end of the line of the Hardenrath, an important patrician family of the Cologne patriciate in the history of Cologne . The chapel of the Hardenrathschen Stammhaus, a Gothic hall building from the 15th century in the southeast corner of Marienplatz, was destroyed under dubious circumstances in 1970 during construction work taking place there.
Acquisition of a house on Marienplatz
In 1455 the family of the merchant Johannes Hardenrath bought a house southeast of the church of St. Maria im Kapitol on Marienplatz. The house, located in the St. Martin district, stood directly at a gate of the old Roman wall to the suburb of Oversburg behind the lower moat and had a chapel ( Dom. Gravinporzen since 1455, around 1487 called "Hardenro" house in the tax lists).
Residence Marienplatz and surroundings
Marienplatz, located in the medieval district of S. Martin , was joined to the east by the streets of Sternengasse and Stephanstraße (with the S. Stephan chapel built there around 1009 "in fundo b. Mariae in Cap.", Laid down in 1834). On its lower south side, two rows of houses separated the square from the Roman wall and the city moat behind it, which formed the border to the neighboring suburb of Oversburg .
The course began in the West in road width and the side of the Collegiate Church widened amounting St. Maria im Kapitol standing St. Notburgis (1169-1802, in the French period called the "Welsche Chapel") and went there north behind the Dreikönigenpförtchen in the Area of the "Lichhof" (early name for a cemetery) over. The chapels “S. Nicolaus in porticu ”(first mentioned around 1350) and the chapel first called“ Benedictus ”(around 1300) and later“ Anna-Lob ”. The traces of these two buildings were lost in the 18th century. Immediately in front of the gate, the Königstrasse converged, which, like the Plectrudengasse leading down from the Lichhof (via stairs), met the Malzbüchel street, which ran from the Heumarkt to the Kornpforte.
The name Büchel , used in medieval Cologne , referred in this case to the streets “Krummer Büchel”, “Hochfpfortenbüchel” and “Malzbüchel”. There are still streets under this name that already surrounded the natural hill around the Capitol Church, built there around 800, at that time.
This place of worship was built on the site of a Roman temple that rose above the city and was built in honor of the Capitoline Triassic , the gods Jupiter , Juno and Minerva .
As the early entries in the shrines show, some of the leading Cologne patrician families had acquired property on this site in addition to some houses and land owned by the Weiher and Benden monasteries . An entry from the year 1272 certifies that a house was assigned to Gottfried Hagens by himself to Schroeder Heinrich von Crouhusen. Further entries name the lay judge “Gerhard Mommersloch” (1304) or “Gobelini Scherfgin” (1331), furthermore the family of Wilhelm “de Aduycht” (1346) and one named after its owner “Arn. de Palacio “(also Arnold von Palaise) as a palace (1359).
Another property in the row of these patricians of the city represented on Marienplatz was a property at the southeast end of the square. In 1200 it was called: dom. et ar. Ex opp. S. Notburgis vicina dom. advocati Almari versus Sculptáum portam . The house was given to Everhard "Kleyngedanc" as a fief by Heinrich de Volmutsteine in 1212 and passed from this family to the "Hardefust" family. 120 years later, from 1322, the house was listed as that of "Vayt" (Vogt) Almershoyven on the shrine maps and was registered in 1455 as the property of the merchant Johannes Hardenrath.
Known descendants
- Johann (II.) Hardenrath, son of the family founder, was married to Christina, the daughter of the mayor Goswin von Straelen. Johann's marriage to Christina had three daughters (of whom Christina married into the wealthy house of the Hacqueney family in Cologne) and two sons, they named her Johann and Goswin. Goswin studied with his brother Johann at Cologne University , then went to Orléans after the death of his father in 1499 and later joined the order of the Carmelites . Johann (II.) Was a council member. He died in 1499.
- Johann (III.) Was married to Agnes, the daughter of the mayor Johann von Merle. Johann III. was a councilor from 1507 to 1523. During this time, in 1515, the future Emperor Karl appointed him his stable master. In 1516, Emperor Maximilian took him and his family under his personal protection. An aristocratic diploma handed down to the family in the “Collection of Chains” goes back to him.
Christina Hardenrath, on an altarpiece (wing), the Hacqueney family from Cologne
Johann Hardenrath
Anna Hardenrath, née Klepping
Ardenrath House
- Johann von Hardenrath the Elder, son of Johann (III.), Was born in Cologne around 1530. After completing his studies at the old Cologne University, he took up an assessor position at the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Speyer . During this activity as an assessor he was evidently able to distinguish himself as a good lawyer and was appointed as a councilor in the service of Duke Wilhelm . Johann made his career there and was appointed Vice Chancellor of the Prince in 1580. Like his younger brother, Johann was strictly Catholic and vehemently opposed Luther's theses and for the goals of the Counter-Reformation . Johann Hardenrath died on January 12, 1601 in Cologne.
- Johann von Hardenrath the Younger, whose year of birth is unknown, was the son of the married couple Johann and Christina Hardenrath, a born von Lyskirchen . He was married in two marriages. They were Katharina Gail, daughter of a Cologne mayor, and Anna Klepping, daughter of Dortmund's mayor Georg Klepping and his wife Anna von Bardenhorst. Hardenrath, whose marriages had six children, became councilor of the city of Cologne in 1583 as the banner owner of the Eisenmarkt merchants' gaff. A year later he became mayor of the city. He held this office sixteen times between 1584 and 1629/30.
- Countess Anna Christine von Gronsfeld was born von Hardenrath. She married Count Gronsfeld on April 14, 1639 (* 1615 - January 29, 1692). She was the daughter of the mayor Johann von Hardenrath.
Buildings of the family
Hardenrath House, Marienplatz
The councilor Johannes (I.) Hardenrath and his wife Sybilla Sloesgin had their house on Marienplatz expanded with a magnificent ground floor hall with a late Gothic star vault and made it their house chapel. In the center of this vault was a keystone with the image of the Salvator , a representation of the blessing Christ with a stylized globe, under whose protection John had placed his house and his family. This central eye-catcher of the vaulted room was surrounded by several coats of arms , such as that of the landlord with his initials, probably a shield with two intertwined circles (inscription difficult to read) and another shield with the image of three hats decorated with ribbons. This is interpreted in the specialist literature as an indication of a possible marriage between the Hardenrath house and the house of those von Ju (ü) den (also a family of Cologne mayors), but also rejected as an indication of such an assumption. It is not known whether there was a connection with the Cologne hat makers ' guild and the cloth merchants' gaff (which Hardenrath may have presided over).
Heraldic shield with the initials Johannes Hardenrath
Most likely, intertwined circles were the sign of the Sloesgin family
Sign with no documented interpretation
In addition, the hall had been equipped with chilling heads. It was grotesque stone carvings that resembled the so-called Cologne grin heads, whose supposed powers were supposed to ward off the devil as a tempter through their pictorial representation .
The grimace-like faces worked into the walls, which originally had plants growing out of their mouths and noses (also known as vine eaters), were adorned with angelic figures as wall decorations, such as the exhibit from the Cologne City Museum with a seductively beautiful woman's face with pearl jewelry and a fashionable bonnet .
So-called vine eater
Demon head
Face of a medieval beauty
In the middle of the 17th century, the patrician property became the property of the Cologne mayor family de Groote , from whom it later came to the Cologne casino company.
Hardenrath House, Sternengasse
The Haus zum Raben in the Sternengasse ( platea stellarum ) was formerly (1422) owned by the multiple Cologne mayor Mathias Walrave (first term in 1418), then it became the property of the mayor family Kannegießer (1453). Since 1619 the house, which is obviously valued by the upper class of the city, has been owned by the Johann Hardenrath family. In 1643 ownership changed to Countess Anna Christine von Gronsfeld, née Hardenrath, as a dowry . In this house, which continued to be called Hardenrathsches Haus, Maria de 'Medici, who lived in exile in Cologne, died on July 3, 1642 .
Donors and foundations
Many of the wealthy citizens of Cologne were committed to the common good of the city. They supported this with extraordinary foundations, in which they paid for the poor or orphanages, for example. Other endowments often went to convents, in which many daughters from middle-class backgrounds joined and there not infrequently rose to the monastic leadership of the institution. Foundations for the parish churches in the residential areas of the respective donor, who mostly belonged to the upper class of the city, were not the exception, but the rule. The type of donation was varied. There were grants in cash or as regular pensions, the assumption of construction costs for monastic facilities, church renovations or renovations, as well as gifts in the form of land.
In medieval times, the visual arts also benefited from commissions from generous dignitaries. The architecture , the sculpture and the painting and the entire arts and crafts of the city experienced, especially in the 15th and 16th century heyday.
The maintenance of church music was also promoted. Here in Cologne it was primarily the foundation of Johannes Hardenrath who set up a singing school at the collegiate church of St. Maria in the Capitol. Today the restored Hardenrathkapelle and the idyllic Sangmeisterhäuschen at the Dreikönigenpförtchen reminds of this .
Dreikönigenpförtchen Foundation
There was also an entrance to the collegiate church's immunity area on the northeast side of Marienplatz . Through the small gate passage at the corner house on Königstraße one entered the Lichhof in front of the choir of the church, an open area that was probably used as a churchyard at a very early time . The first references to the gate, later named Dreikönigenpförtchen according to a legend, show some information about this location. In 1193 the headline read:
- Foramen in antiquo muro, quod situm est versus domum Cauwercinorum (ubi exitur versus domum Cauw); contra domum Cauw, in illo porticu pelegrini (sic!) sepeliuntur .
In 1355 the passage was not given a special name, the shrine book “Porta Martis” (district of S. Martin) used the term “Roman Gate”.
At this point in 1460 the "Dreikönigen-Törchen" was built by Johannes Hardenrath.
Salvator Chapel Foundation and furnishings for the collegiate church
Soon after buying the house on Marienplatz, Johannes Hardenrath (1464) commissioned the Cologne cathedral builder Konrad Kuyn († 1469) to decorate the eastern conche of St. Maria in the Capitol with a choir screen. In 1466 he had a chapel added to the collegiate church.
Salvator or Hardenrath Chapel
Altarpiece
One of the tracery barriers, founder Hardenrath
The chapel was built on the south side in the gusset between the choir and the transept, from which it was also to be entered, and was named "Capella S. Salvatoris". It was a privatorium that was liturgically, legally and financially independent of the Church. The chapel consecrated to the Salvator (Savior) was only called "Hardenrath Chapel" in the following.
The wall paintings above a surrounding ledge were remarkable . On the north wall, which was divided into three zones, a number of saints were depicted in a niche architecture, to the left of which, in a chapel-like room, the donor was kneeling.
Up until the Second World War, the chapel, which was spanned by a net star vault and measuring around four by four meters, had significant late-Gothic furnishings, only parts of which remained. In today's restored condition and with the singing gallery in front of it under the vault with a usable area of 17.65 m², it is still an example of musical patronage in late medieval Cologne.
Foundation of the Singermesse
In addition to the donated Salvator Chapel, the Hardenrath / Schlösgen couple set up a daily mass celebration accompanied by music and singing . This long-term endowment enabled the necessary measures, such as the employment of a singing master, who was then entrusted with the management of a singing school . The institution developed into a popular institution in the spirit of the donors and achieved a high national reputation. It is well known that the singers performed at the Duesseldorf court in 1581. In 1591 the court conductor there published a collection of motets by Cologne musicians. The foundation was maintained by the descendants of Johannes Hardenrath until the 19th century.
Foundation for the Cologne Charterhouse
In 1510 Johannes von Hardenrath and his wife Agnes von Merle donated a new chapel to the monks of the Cologne Charterhouse in Cologne , in which the existing sacristy of the church was incorporated.
The small building was a third chapel building, which was attached to the Carthusian church on the side facing the city. Two chapels had previously been donated to the monastery church. The first, the Angel's Chapel, arose from a foundation that the former Cologne mayor Jakob von Hemberg, alias von Bernsauwe, donated to the monastery. This chapel, consecrated in 1425, was mentioned several times in later times, so it said in a document from 1545:
- "A cell by the angel chapel lanx der straissen stainde".
A little later, the Angel Chapel was joined by the Marienkapelle, which Archbishop Dietrich donated to the lay brothers of the order in 1426 and consecrated them in 1427.
The chapel financed by the Hardenrath couple, which was subsequently also referred to as the “New Sacristy”, was to become the most artistic building in the Charterhouse. Apart from the considerable destruction of its interior during the French era and the effects of the Second World War, it has been preserved to this day.
Closed altarpiece with heraldic shields of unknown meaning by a Dutch painter of the 16th century who is unknown today
Cardinal hats and “Merlen” on the coats of arms of the Cologne patrician families Hardenrath and Merle
Stone relief of Johann Hardenrath with a reproduced head
When it was built, the old sacristy was extended by an additional yoke and a polygonal apse was designed. The late Gothic, with decorative ornaments by flowers and tendrils ornamentik completed net vault should be a work of the architect Johann working in Cologne from Langenberg. Four of the end pieces of the belt arches ended with the donors' coats of arms attached in pairs. These were each that of the imperial stable master Johann von Hardenrath with three golden cardinal hats on a red, gold-framed background and a shield of his wife Agnes von Merle, which also depicted three gold merles on a gold-framed, but blue background (during the restoration around 1928 with a red background falsified). One of the two other arched end pieces of the vault ended with a relief of Agnes von Merle (completely destroyed by the French and replaced by an eagle) and on the opposite side with a bust of the donor Hardenrath made in stone. In 1511 the chapel and an altar erected in honor of Saints Catherine and Saint Anne were consecrated by Theoderich Wichwael from the Augustinian order , titular bishop of Cyrene .
Lore
The fact that Johann Hardenrath was elected the highest representative of the city 16 times by the city council suggests the assumption of good administration. The successors of Johann Hardenrath moved from time immemorial with the gentlemen of the large council from the House of Citizens (the Raitzhuys) to the church of St. Maria in the Capitol. There they entered the house of God through a carved portal door still preserved today on the north side of the church and celebrated a mass for thanksgiving. Then the new mayor was summoned in front of a painting by Hardenrath to do this credit and to emulate his actions.
Hermann von Weinsberg, on the other hand, is said to have expressed himself critically about Hardenrath, although he himself held the office of councilor. In his notes on Cologne politics, he wrote that he saw Hardenrath as a typical representative of the Cologne clique . Weinsberg stated as follows:
- So ask for help, partnership and support .
Loss of the last Gothic house chapel
In March 1970, human error led to the destruction of the approximately 550-year-old building on Marienplatz in Cologne. The so-called Hardenrath chapel was a testament to imperial city architecture and at the same time the last preserved Gothic house chapel in the city. It had survived the last world war and in the last few years of its existence it stood unused on Marienplatz. Lack of interest on the part of the responsible authorities left the building in neglect, so that it was ultimately an asylum for non-settled people. There was no one responsible for the collapse of the historic building during the construction work carried out there. Considerations to rebuild the house chapel, which was 80 percent destroyed, did not lead to any result, and the planned construction of a multi-storey semi-detached house was implemented.
The sometimes violent reactions that this event triggered in politics and the population were commented accordingly in the entire city press and in other media. The main articles related to this event were later archived. The following extract is taken from this archive material:
- According to testimony from Pastor Angenendt of St. Maria in the Capitol, among others, the city curator Fried Mühlberg assumed that the chapel was brought to the collapse on purpose.
literature
- Hermann Keussen : Topography of the city of Cologne in the Middle Ages. in 2 volumes, Cologne 1910. Reprint: Droste, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN 3-7700-7560-9 and ISBN 3-7700-7561-7 .
- Ludwig Arntz , Heinrich Neu, Hans Vogts : Paul Clemen (Hrsg.): The art monuments of the city of Cologne. Volume II, extension volume The former churches, monasteries, hospitals and school buildings of the city of Cologne. Verlag L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1937. Reprint: Schwann, Düsseldorf 1980, ISBN 3-590-32107-5 .
- Ulrich S. Soenius, Jürgen Wilhelm (Ed.): Kölner Personen-Lexikon . Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 .
- Arnold Stelzmann, Robert Frohn: Illustrated history of the city of Cologne . Bachem, Cologne 1958, 1990 (11th edition)
- Wolfgang Schmidt: Citizenship, Church and Art. Foundations to the Cologne Charterhouse (1450–1550) In: The Cologne Charterhouse around 1500 . Essay volume / Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Ed. Werner Schäffke, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-927396-37-0 .
- Hugo Stehkämper ( arrangement ): New citizens of Cologne 1356-1798 . (Messages from the city archives 61–64). 4 volumes, Cologne / Vienna 1975–1983. Vol. 1 No. 1449.9.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonhard Ennen: Hardenrath, Johann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 590 f.
- ^ Hugo Stehkämper, new citizen of Cologne 1356–1798
- ^ Information from the Cologne City Museum
- ↑ "Wyndege": Windeck, merchants gaff, named after its Gaffelhaus (new) Windeck on the Alter Markt
- ↑ "frail": frailty, that which is still missing from the full "holy" number (7x7) of 49 councilors
- ^ Wolfgang Schmidt: Citizenship, Church and Art. Foundations to the Cologne Charterhouse (1450–1550) pages 390–420
- ^ Hermann Keussen , Volume I, plate district S. Martin, and p. 51, Col. 2
- ↑ Ludwig Arntz, Heinrich Neu, Hans Vogts, pp. 353 and 348 ff
- ↑ Hermann Keussen, B. I, p. 50 ff
- ^ Wolfgang Schmidt, Citizenship, Church and Art. Foundations to the Cologne Charterhouse (1450–1550) pages 390–420
- ↑ Ulrich S. Soenius, Jürgen Wilhelm, p. 214 f
- ↑ a b inventory catalog of the Cologne City Museum, p. 102 f
- ↑ a b Hermann Keussen, Volume I, p. 269, Col. 2
- ↑ Ernst von Oidtmann Collection, reference to: A. Fahne Köln, in: Geschlechts I, pp. 129 to 209
- ↑ Wolfgang von Löhneysen, Reality in Pictures: “From antiquity to the present” , 2004
- ↑ Stelzmann 11th edition 1990, p. 164
- ↑ Hermann Keussen, Volume I, plate district S. Martin, and p. 52, column 2, p. 44, column 2
- ↑ Harald Kümmerling, testimonials for music care in the Hardenrath chapel , Colonia Romanica 3, ISSN 0930-8555 , 1988, pp. 96-98
- ^ After Willehad Paul Eckert: Cologne, City on the Rhine between tradition and progress , Cologne, DuMont art travel guide, 1976. p. 246
- ↑ HAStK, inventory of Carthusian U 2/834
- ↑ Reiner Dieckhoff in: The Cologne Charterhouse around 1500. Essay volume. Editor Werner Schäffke. Cologne City Museum. Cologne 1991. Pages 427-467
- ^ The Cologne Charterhouse around 1500. Volume of essays. Editor Werner Schäffke. Cologne City Museum. Cologne 1991, page 47
- ↑ Helmut Signon: Bagger destroyed the Hardenrath chapel in Kölnische Rundschau on March 18, 1970 / Archive of the Rhenish Association for the Preservation of Monuments and Landscape Protection in the Archive of the Rhineland Regional Association, No. 50104