Hildebold Cathedral

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The old Carolingian cathedral (above in the picture), illumination from the Hillinus Codex of the Cologne cathedral library, 10th century.
Old Cologne Cathedral - reconstruction after August Essenwein

The Hildebold Cathedral was the Carolingian building , dating back to the 9th century, and the immediate predecessor of today's Cologne Cathedral .

history

Archbishop Hildebold with the old cathedral in hand, mosaic Villeroy & Boch 1899

Building history

It is unclear when the construction of the pre-Romanesque cathedral began. Construction began after the death of Archbishop Hildebold in 818 and was completed before 857, because the Annales Fuldenses and Annales Bertiniani mention a lightning strike in 857 in the church that was in use, to which, among other things, a priest at the Petrus Altar (i.e. in the west) had fallen victim. On the basis of excavation findings, Otto Doppelfeld dated the construction of the first church to around the year 800. This building was destroyed by a city ​​fire around 10 years later and demolished under Hildebold and the site leveled. The earliest written reference to Hildebold can be found in the handwritten chronicle Agrippina by Heinrich von Beeck , written between 1469 and 1472, which Hildebold names as the builder of the old cathedral: “This Hildeboldus was, the sant Peter founded the cathedral at Coelne yrst ind let do. ”This was contradicted for the first time in 1958 and a start of construction in Ottonian times under Archbishop Bruno was accepted. According to this, Hildebold is no longer an option as the builder of the Old Cathedral, but the start of construction remains indefinite due to the poor sources.

Other researchers believe that construction probably began around 850, when Archbishop Gunthar was in power. Although he was excommunicated during the construction of the cathedral in 863 , he was able to remain in office until 866. The excommunicated Gunthar was, however, undesirable as the builder and namesake, which is why the church was later attributed to its more famous predecessor Hildebold and it therefore bore the name "Hildebold Cathedral" for a long time. The church was consecrated on September 27, 870 (or 873) by Archbishop Willibert . His erroneous namesake Archbishop Hildebold had long since died at this time († September 3, 818). Hildebold comes into question as the builder or as the donor for parts of the last phase of reconstruction of the Merovingian Cathedral that preceded the Old Cathedral , especially for its western part with the so-called St. Galler-Ring atrium . Archbishop Willibert was buried here on September 11, 889. Before 965, Archbishop Bruno I extended the Old Cathedral by adding aisle each in the north and south to form a five-aisled church.

Damage and demolition

As early as September 15, 857, the Old Cathedral was severely damaged by a lightning strike during a severe storm; As a result, three people were killed in the cathedral. Between December 881 and January 882 it was damaged as one of the few buildings to survive the destruction and pillage by the Vikings .

On July 23, 1164, Imperial Chancellor and Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the most important relics of the High Middle Ages with the Three Kings to what was then the most important and prosperous city of the Old Kingdom with almost 50,000 inhabitants . Since the days of the Empress Theophanu , who came from the blood of the rulers of Eastern Rome, it was also the center of German goldsmithing and thus the lucrative trade in relics. In the Old Cathedral, the relics were kept in the Shrine of the Three Kings . On April 13, 1248, with the consent of Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden, it was decided to demolish the huge Romanesque Hildebold Cathedral. The demolition work began on April 27, 1248 with the excavation of the eastern church walls. These caves were supported with wood. In order to bring the cathedral to collapse, the construction workers wanted to set fire to the wooden supports on April 30, 1248. Due to the strong wind, however, the fire spread uncontrollably and destroyed the cathedral down to the remaining walls. However, the Shrine of the Three Kings was saved.

Already on August 15, 1248 Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone for today's Cologne Cathedral with great solemnity in the presence of the elected but not yet crowned anti-king Wilhelm of Holland on the site of the now completely demolished Carolingian Old Cathedral.

Appearance

The old cathedral had a 97.50 m long nave , which was bordered at both ends by transepts . The three-aisled basilica had an apse with a crypt each in the east and in the west (Marienchor in the east, Peterschor in the west) and each with a transept, the arms of which were the width of the nave. Except by two bell towers on the outer walls of the western transept of the construction of two wooden was crossing towers surmounted that have been built over the nave roof. The transepts later disappeared as the cathedral was supplemented by two more aisles . The central nave was supported by ten pillars each and thus opened into the aisles through eleven arcades.

The almost 100 m long atrium extended to the old Roman main street. The cathedral became the model for many churches that were built in Europe during its time and housed, among other things, the Gero Cross , the first surviving monumental crucifix in the West, from the tenth century . It was in the middle of the nave.

Altars

Petrus altar

The Petrus altar was the high altar of the cathedral. It was raised in the west choir above a crypt and could be reached via two flights of stairs. The stairs to the crypt lay between the stairways to the west choir. Archbishop Hildebold had the altar clad in precious metals between 786 and 800 on behalf of King Karl . In the choir there was a presbytery for the cathedral clergy and a candlestick for 96 candles. A seven-armed candlestick stood by the altar.

Mary Altar

The Marien Altar was located in the east choir of the cathedral, which was spatially separated from the rest of the church and could only be reached through two entrances. It was elevated above a crypt, which, however, only took up a third of the choir. A document from Pope Leo IX. from the year 1051 designated the Marienchor as the main choir. While the apse was decorated with a picture of the judge of the world , there was an ambo on the church side . A candlestick with 96 candles lit the choir. On the altar was a reliquary of St. Ursula .

More altars

  • The cross altar was in front of the Marienchor, which could be entered to the left and right of him.
  • The three kings altar was in the nave and was free-standing. Behind him was the Shrine of the Three Kings, above which there was a large candlestick.
  • The Martinus altar and the Stephanus altar were in the western transept, each in a small, east-facing choir. A candlestick for 16 candles hung in front of the Stephen altar.
  • The Severinus altar and the Cosmas and Damianus altar were located at the eastern end of the 3rd and 4th side aisles, which were later added, and were located under the towers.
  • The Medardus altar was clad with precious metals by Archbishop Hildebold.
  • Archbishop Brun erected two altars in honor of St. Gregory of Spoleto and St. Privatus, which however no longer existed in the 13th century.
  • A small chapel was built on the south side of the cathedral, in which the Nicholas altar was located.
  • There was an altar in each of the two crypts.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Untermann: On the consecration of the Cologne Cathedral from 870. Retrieved on May 13, 2020 . ; Stefanie Lieb (Ed.): Style and Form (Festschrift Binding): Architectural representations in Ottonian book illumination: The Old Cologne Cathedral in the Hillinus Codex , Darmstadt 2001, pp. 32–45.
  2. Otto Doppelfeld: The excavation of the Carolingian Cathedral (1948), printed in: Otto Doppelfeld / Willy Weyres (eds.): The excavations in the Cologne Cathedral (Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Kölner Forschungen 1), Mainz 1980.
  3. quoted from Günther Binding : The dating of the Carolingian Cologne Cathedral; In: Yearbook of the Cologne History Association. V. , Vol. 52, Cologne 1981, pp. 191-210, quoted on p. 192.
  4. Irmingard Achter: On the dating of period VII. (1958) and Albert Verbeek: On the outer wall plinth at the Old Cathedral , 1958; both printed in Otto Doppelfeld / Willy Weyres (eds.): The excavations in Cologne Cathedral (Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Kölner Forschungen 1), Mainz 1980, pp. 248-251.
  5. Carl Dietmar / Werner Jung: Small illustrated history of the city of Cologne , 2002, p. 41f.
  6. ↑ Based on a report by a monk from St. Pantaleon, printed in: Peter Fuchs: Chronik zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln , Volume 1, 1990, pp. 200 f.
  7. Beuckers, Klaus Gereon: Der Kölner Dom , Darmstadt 2014, p. 14.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Nyssen: Heiliges Köln , press office of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Cologne 1975, p. 14 ff.

See also

Portal: Cologne Cathedral  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the subject of Cologne Cathedral

literature

  • Paul Clemen (Ed.): The Cologne Cathedral (= The Art Monuments of the Rhine Province. Volume 6, Part III). Reprint of the 2nd, increased edition, Düsseldorf, 1938. Düsseldorf Schwann 1980, ISBN 3-590-32101-6
  • Peter Fuchs: Chronicle of the history of the city of Cologne. Volume 1, Cologne 1990
  • Carl Dietmar / Werner Jung: Small illustrated history of the city of Cologne, Cologne 2002
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Oediger: History of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Volume 1: The Diocese of Cologne from the beginning to the end of the 12th century. 2nd Edition. Bachemn, Cologne 1972, ISBN 3-7616-0158-1 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 28.8 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 29 ″  E