Ingelheim Imperial Palace
The Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz is an important Palatinate from the second half of the 8th century; it served the emperors and kings until the 11th century as a place of residence and government. The Palatinate complex is located in today's Nieder-Ingelheim , 15 km west of Mainz , in the hallway "Im Saal" on a slope with a wide view of the Rhine plain. Impressive remains of the buildings of the Kaiserpfalz have been preserved above ground to this day. The greater part of the facility is located underground as a foundation and, thanks to archaeological excavations, allows the entire facility to be reconstructed.
Research history
The first investigations in the Palatinate area took place in the middle of the 19th century: In 1852 August von Cohausen reported on the first smaller excavations. In 1888/89 Paul Clemen joined in with excavations. The German Association for Art History began in 1909 under the direction of Christian Rauch with systematic investigations, but these had to be stopped when the First World War broke out. However, Rauch published preliminary reports on the excavation, after which a model was made in 1931/32, which was regarded as a representation of a typical Carolingian Palatinate until 1975 . In 1960 the excavations were resumed under the direction of Walter Sage with funds from the German Research Foundation. In 1963 Hermann Ament led the excavations. In 1965 and 1968/70 further archaeological investigations took place under the direction of Uta Wengenroth-Weimann. In 1975, Konrad Weidemann made another model of the Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim based on an overall plan of this excavation campaign and reconstruction drawings by Walter Sage. Since 1995 there have been new excavations in the Palatinate area. These investigations are aimed at a new recording, description and dating of the individual building parts and the overall topography and have already brought some finds to light. For example, a gold coin and a strap end from the time of Charlemagne as well as a high medieval warm air heater were recovered. In addition, the latest excavation results were used to create a new reconstruction model of the Palatinate Ingelheim last year, which incorporates the latest findings.
development
Early middle ages
history
The Palatinate District is located in Nieder-Ingelheim about 500 m away above the village of Nieder-Ingelheim with its Remigius Church, where the older Merovingian royal court is suspected. In both places, Nieder- and Ober-Ingelheim , there were several court groups with associated burial grounds, which were in royal possession in the 8th century.
The presence of the builder of the Palatinate, Charlemagne in Ingelheim is first documented for September 774. He stopped there briefly on the way back after his conquest of the Longobard Empire in northern Italy, where he was crowned King of the Longobards. Since the end of the year 787 he stayed in Ingelheim again, but this time much longer. He spent Christmas here and stayed through the winter without interruption until the middle of 788. During this time, the great imperial assembly of June 788, on which Duke Tassilo III. was sentenced to death by Bavaria for high treason (he was finally pardoned by Charlemagne and imprisoned in a monastery). The length and importance of the stay due to the celebration of Christmas and Easter and the imperial assembly that took place here require the presence of representative palace buildings and sufficient supplies from the surrounding courtyards. From Einhard's " Vita Karoli Magni " it is documented that Charlemagne actually had a palace (palatium, Pfalz) built in Ingelheim, because the construction of two palaces, in Ingelheim and Nijmegen , is one of the most important works Charlemagne placed right behind the Aachen Palatine Chapel and the Mainz Rhine Bridge . Einhard's clear expression ("inchoavit" = he began) suggests, however, that the construction work was not completed during Karl's lifetime. After his long stay in 787/88, the Pfalz Ingelheim was no longer used as winter quarters. Only in August 807 did Charlemagne hold his farm day again in Ingelheim. The Aachen imperial palace had become his "favorite palace ".
Ingelheim was visited much more often by his son, Ludwig the Pious , ten times between 817 and 840. Under him, the Ingelheim Palatinate was used for five imperial assemblies and four high-ranking embassy receptions and at least one synod . In the summer of 826, two important imperial assemblies took place in Ingelheim, in June and in October, a high point of Ludwig's government activity in Ingelheim. The first was a Danish petty king, Heriold / Harald, who had been deposed and expelled from his homeland, who had been Ludwig's feudal man since 814 and asked him for help in recovering his property. On this occasion he was baptized with his family and entourage in St. Alban's Abbey near Mainz .
On June 20, 840, Ludwig the Pious died on an island off the Rhine in Ingelheim. However, his body was not buried in Ingelheim, but instead transferred to the family grave in the Abbey of St. Arnulf in Metz .
The Aquitanian monk Ermoldus Nigellus describes in a poem of praise written in 826/828 about Ludwig the Pious as the highlight of the last book, the Pfalz Ingelheim in connection with the report about the alleged baptism of King Harald in 826. In two cycles, he describes the murals of the regia domus (King's Hall) and an aula dei (God's Hall) in great detail (Book IV, 179–282). In comparison with the archaeological findings and the reports of contemporary annals, however, one can only look at his descriptions with the utmost caution.
The late Carolingians can only be identified seven times in the Ingelheim imperial palace.
architecture
The Merovingian court groups of the 7th century were demolished in favor of the building of the Palatinate in the last quarter of the 8th century. The core district of the Palatinate was 145 m × 110 m in size and was laid out on a slope terrace three kilometers away from the southern bank of the Rhine. Already in Carolingian times a king's hall ( Aula regia ) based on the model of ancient basilicas and a semicircular building ( exedra ) were characteristic of the overall floor plan of the Palatinate. The shape and arrangement of the buildings reveals a closed construction plan, which, according to the results of the archaeological excavations, was not completed before the 10th century. The Aula regia was a single-nave apsidal hall measuring 40.5 mx 16.5 m with a narthex in front of the main entrance on the north side and side portals on the east and west side. At the southern end of the hall you can still see the remains of the wall of the throne apse . The remains of the interior include 3,000 fragments of the differently colored plaster walls and floor slabs made of marble and porphyry , some of which can be seen in the visitor center and museum near the Kaiserpfalz . Above the left corner ashlar of the apse, a combat stone has been preserved in its original position, which formed the base of a triumphal arch above the apse. This means that the eaves height of the Aula regia can be reconstructed to 13 m and the ridge height to 19 m.
The semicircular building had a diameter of 89 m, was at least two-story and had six round towers on the outside, some of which contained complex water-carrying facilities. But the towers also had an important representative function: Presumably, the main aim was to make the Palatinate look large and urban from this side. The semicircular building spans the entire width of the Palatinate development. In the architecture of the early Middle Ages, Ingelheim, together with the Royal Palace of Samoussy / France, is the only example of a semicircular curved building block. The interior was divided into six or seven halls by radial walls, which were accessible from a portico. At the apex of the semicircular building there was a gate opening in Carolingian times, the so-called "Heidesheim Gate".
The opening was flanked by two smaller passages. These led into arched corridors, which then ended in the outer towers on the outside of the semicircular building. The two passages and the adjoining passages can still be seen today. At one of the openings there is still a sandstone fall in its original position. The Carolingian door openings are now part of a piece of the defensive wall, which, however, was not built until the Staufer period. In Carolingian times, the Palatinate was not yet fortified. A hall building and the elongated north wing with pillared courtyard were connected to the west. The Carolingian Palatinate Church was discovered here in 2004 during an excavation inside the core building north of the hall church. Before it was unclear which church was used as a chapel in Carolingian times (see: Sacred topography of the imperial palace Ingelheim).
The architecture of the Carolingian imperial palace in Ingelheim is shaped by ancient models, which can be seen in the shape of some main buildings such as Aula regia, Exedra or Trikonchos. The closed overall floor plan and the relative position of the components to each other also resemble the Roman palace and villa building.
High Middle Ages
history
Under Ottonian rule, Ingelheim is again preferred. Otto I, for example, can be found at least ten times in Ingelheim - as often as in Aachen. In June 948 there was an important synod in Ingelheim, which was supposed to clarify the schism at the archbishopric of Reims ; the synod did not take place in the narrower Palatinate area, but in the Remigius Church, which is located west of the Palatinate area. Further imperial synods took place in 958, 972, 980, 993 and 996. Two Easter celebrations (977 and 980) and an imperial synod (980) were held in Ingelheim during the short reign of Otto II. Otto III. is most frequently detectable in Ingelheim. What is noticeable here is the simultaneous presence of the empresses Theophanu and Adelheid , who in the phase of his dependent reign took over the affairs of state for the child king Otto III. led. The preference for the Palatinate was probably due to the fact that Archbishop Willigis resided in neighboring Mainz , whose authority and political influence had made him one of the most powerful of the empire. After 994, when Otto III. was fourteen years old, Aachen became his preferred Palatinate at the same time as he took over government.
In Ottonian times, the imperial palace became one of the more preferred Easter palaces with six documented stays in Quedlinburg and Aachen . Easter in the Palatinate was particularly important for the rulers of that time, as they were able to bring their power and wealth to the outside world every year on this high ecclesiastical feast day by means of a symbolic coronation.
According to the literary sources, only a few stays at the rulers took place during the 11th and early 12th centuries.
architecture
Based on the archaeological investigation of building finds, a renovation and a slight expansion of the palace complex can be assumed in the 10th century. On the basis of the examination of preserved scaffolding beams in the area of the king's hall (dendrochronology), a renovation of the same could be dated to the second half of the 10th century. To the east, next to the Aula regia, the hall church was built, a single-nave cruciform church, the name of which is not derived from the architectural design, but from its location in the hallway " In the hall ". The church is much larger than its predecessor (see The sacred topography of the Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim). In contrast to other church buildings of this time, its apse is not exactly in the east, but in the northeast. So it fits perfectly into the Carolingian construction plan.
Although the proven reinforcement of the masonry and the excavation of a trench suggest slight fortification measures, the structure and expansion of the Carolingian palace complex was preserved at this time.
Late Middle Ages
history
The Hohenstaufen emperors can only be identified four times in Ingelheim, but without any particular political connection.
Frederick I Barbarossa was perhaps once in Ingelheim, namely at a meeting with Hildegard von Bingen , if the reference to it in an alleged letter from the emperor to her is genuine, perhaps in 1154 or 1163. After its restoration and fortification, the Palatinate mainly for territorial policy and security and was probably inhabited by Burgmannen. Like other rural Palatinates, it lost its importance for major political, religious and social events in the 11th century after Heinrich III. 1043 had celebrated his wedding feast for the marriage with Agnes von Poitou in Ingelheim. After that, there were hardly any written records about the imperial palace for a long time until Charles IV was the last ruler to stay here in 1354. This stay of Charles IV is attested by a document for the establishment of an Augustinian canon monastery to care for the Aachen pilgrims from Bohemia. The canons now take over the palace buildings.
In 1375 the entire imperial territory of Ingelheim was pledged to the Electoral Palatinate by the same Charles IV . The Palatinate area, like the entire “ Ingelheimer Grund ”, was under the rule of the Electorate of the Palatinate until the French Revolution .
architecture
In the source "Gesta Frederici" by Rahewin it is said that the second Staufer Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa expanded the Palatinate Ingelheim and "restored it in the most appropriate way". What is certain, however, is that the Palatinate was fortified during the Staufer period. These structural developments can certainly not only be linked to one person, but were lengthy processes that have also taken place in recent times. The area "In the hall" was expanded to a castle-like fortification and thus included in the Staufer defense system in the west of the empire. In the area of the Heidesheimer Tor, this means that the semicircular building from the Carolingian era was fortified in the east with the Heidesheimer Tor: The original gate was bricked up and the upper masonry areas were completely demolished and replaced by a defensive wall. The entire elevation of the Heidesheim Gate was developed as a defensive wall with battlements and loopholes. A battlement was drawn inside. The outer towers were dismantled. The hall church was renovated at this time and received Romanesque architectural decorations on the choir, crossing and exterior. The original building arrangement was essentially retained, but the area was doubled to the south and surrounded by a defensive wall. According to the current state of research, it is not yet clear whether new representative buildings were erected within this fortification or a settlement area was fortified.
Romanesque architectural decorations on the hall church Ingelheim
Romanesque architectural decorations on the hall church Ingelheim
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Sacral topography
In the Middle Ages, a palatinate was made up of farm buildings, residential buildings and a palatine chapel. Christian Rauch, one of the first excavators in Ingelheim, assumed after his excavations in 1909–1914 that the Ingelheim Saalkirche or a direct predecessor of this church represented the Carolingian Palatinate Church. Its results were not in doubt until the early 1960s. However, during recent excavations, including inside the hall church in 1960/61 under Walter Sage , fragments of so-called Pingsdorf ceramics were found in the bottom floor of the church . This is the name of a type of ceramic that was only manufactured from around 900. Thus Rauch's assumptions had to be corrected: the founding building of the hall church could not have been built in the early medieval period, but had to be dated to the 10th century, the time of the Ottonians. These results raised the question of where the location of the early medieval sacred building in the Palatinate was actually to be found.
In the course of the discussion there were also considerations according to which the Remigius Church could represent the Carolingian Palatinate Church. From written sources it is clear that this church already existed in 742, at the time of the Carolingians. However, the Remigius Church is not located directly in the Palatinate area, and the location of a Palatinate Chapel outside the main area would be untypical for a Palatinate architecture.
In 2003/04, under the direction of Holger Grewe, an archaeological excavation was carried out on an open area north of the hall church, during which the sacred center of the Carolingian Palatinate was finally discovered. Remnants of two churches that preceded the construction of the hall church in the 10th century were uncovered.
- The three sacred buildings of the Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim
Trikonchos
Apse room
Hall church
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(on the right the floor plan of the buildings, on the left their location in the Palatinate area)
The trikonchos
The oldest detectable chapel is a building with three apses, a so-called trikonchos . Three apses with a diameter of approx. 4 m each were arranged at right angles to one another. The west end of the church was completely destroyed as a result of the line construction in the 20th century, so that it is no longer possible to determine with certainty today whether there was a nave in the west in the form of a small rectangular hall or a fourth apse. According to the excavation findings, however, a fourth apse, which would make the building a central building, is less likely.
The apsidal hall
Before 900 the trikonchos was abandoned and replaced by an apsidal hall . It cannot be reconstructed from the building findings why the first sacred building was replaced. The fact that the apsid hall offered more space than the previous building may have played an important role.
The hall church
In the 10th century, the hall church was built south of the apsid hall . The existence of the apsidic hall next to the newly built church has been proven, possibly with a functional separation, such as a main church and the royal private chapel. The hall church was much larger than the apse room. The ship was almost twice as long and the sweeping transept arms offered additional space. The numerous traditional coronations of the 10th century took place here.
The hall church was renovated in the 12th century. The Romanesque architectural decoration on the apse still testifies to this today. The hall church suffered in modern times from destruction by the Thirty Years War and misappropriation by the occupation of French troops during the revolution. The church was in a ruinous condition and had collapsed except for the choir and the transept walls. The renovation began in 1803. The first services could soon be held again. In 1861 the larger bell tower was built in the neo-Romanesque style. The nave was only rebuilt in 1965 and reconstructed according to historical dimensions.
Tourist development
Touristic concept
In 1998, the City Council adopted the “Concept for the Investigation, Conservation and Tourist Development of the Imperial Palatinate”, which was developed with the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage of Rhineland-Palatinate , and has been implemented since 1999. It includes, among other things, the representation of the three main periods of the imperial palace by one component each: the "Palatinate of the Carolingians" through the Aula regia, the "Palatinate of the Ottonians" through the hall church and the "Palatinate of the Staufers" through the Heidesheimer Tor. The concept also calls for no structural replicas and reconstructions, as this type of measure is not possible due to the overlapping of different phases of centuries of building history. Another important aspect is the permanent presentation of the remains of the walls and foundations in their original position, which is carried out according to the technical specifications of the Institute for Stone Conservation and the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage. A crown layer for permanent presentation in the open air is separated from the original masonry by a lead band.
In order to make underground components accessible to visitors, the recent city floor is lowered so that a historic walking level can be achieved. Stairs and ramps are chosen in a contrasting building material for the monument. Information areas and consoles must not obstruct the view of the monument either and must stand out in terms of shape and placement.
The three main monument areas
The presentation area of the Aula regia is the focus of the presentation of the Carolingian palace complex and was opened in 2001. The building findings were uncovered, preserved and prepared for monument tourism by means of information boards. Selected finds can be seen in showcases, and two computer terminals are located on an information wall, which offer further information as well as a virtual reconstruction of the Carolingian throne hall. The permanent exhibition “The Palatinate of the Ottonians” is located in the hall church. Here, too, visitors can find information on the basis of exhibited found material and two computer terminals. From the church ceiling, the floor plans of the various sacred buildings of the imperial palace are alternately projected onto the church floor. In 2007 a further presentation area was opened: Using the Heidesheimer Tor, the Palatinate is presented at the time of the Hohenstaufen. The presentation includes an outdoor and an indoor area. Outside, visitors are brought closer to the monument without reconstruction by lowering the ground level to historical height and preserving the findings in their original position. In the inner area, the presentation house, historical developments and backgrounds are explained.
Museum near the Kaiserpfalz
In April 2004 the newly established museum near the Kaiserpfalz with a visitor center was opened in Ingelheim . In addition to the gold coin of Charlemagne and the Ingelheim strap tongue , marble and porphyry remains are exhibited here, which once adorned the walls and floors of the Carolingian imperial palace.
Since 2006 a new model of the imperial palace has been shown, into which current excavation results have been incorporated.
With the help of a computer-aided information system, visitors can find out more about the Imperial Palatinate.
Exhibitions
- 2014/2015: splendid place. Palatinate views . Companion book.
Further offers for visitors
Another offer for visitors is the signposted circular route that leads to the remains of the Palatinate, some of which are hidden in the hall area. The starting point is either the information column at the beginning of the street "Im Saal" east of the old town hall or the visitor center and museum at the Kaiserpfalz in the old fire station. The monument-compliant development of the Kaiserpfalz is guaranteed by 18 circular route stations, at which visitors can find individual information boards that were completely renovated in 2006. A map with location markings can be found at each individual station. A detailed information brochure on the "Historisches Rundweg" has been available in the visitor center since mid-2005, which can be purchased for a nominal fee of 2 euros.
Another important step in relation to the tourist development of the Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim was made in April 2007 with the eGuide . This is an information system that runs on PDAs that visitors can borrow in the visitor center and museum on site. The small computers are GPS-capable, so that you can orient yourself in the former Palatinate area along the route of the signposted circular route and call up both visual and auditory information about the individual stations via the PDA.
literature
- Günther Binding : German royal palaces. From Charlemagne to Frederick II (765–1240). Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 1996, ISBN 3-89678-016-6 .
- Peter Classen : The history of the Königspfalz Ingelheim up to the pledge to the Electoral Palatinate in 1375. In: Johanne Autenrieth (Hrsg.): Ingelheim am Rhein. Research and studies on the history of Ingelheim. Boehringer Sohn, Ingelheim am Rhein 1964, pp. 87–146.
- Holger Grewe: The excavations in the royal palace in Ingelheim am Rhein. In: Lutz Fenske, Jörg Jarnut , Matthias Wemhoff (eds.): Splendor palatii. New research on Paderborn and other Palatinates from the Carolingian era. (= German royal palaces. Contributions to their historical and archaeological research. Vol. 5 = Publications of the Max Planck Institute for History. Vol. 11, 5). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-35311-1 , pp. 155-174.
- Holger Grewe: New results on the sacred topography of the imperial palace Ingelheim. In: Archeology in Rhineland-Palatinate. 2004/2005, ISSN 1614-4627 , pp. 86-88.
- François Lachenal , Robert Boehringer (Ed.): Ingelheim am Rhein. 774-1974. Boehringer, Ingelheim 1974.
- Walter Sage : The excavations in the Palatinate in Ingelheim am Rhein 1960–1970. In: Francia. Research on Western European History. Vol. 4, 1976, ISSN 0251-3609 , pp. 141-160, digitized .
- Hans Schmitz: Pfalz and Fiskus Ingelheim (= studies and materials on constitutional and regional history. Vol. 2). Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and others, Marburg 1974, ISBN 3-7708-0495-3 (also: Frankfurt am Main, University, dissertation, 1967/68).
- Britta Schulze: The sacral topography of the imperial palace Ingelheim. New findings and current issues of archaeological excavations. In: Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Mainz-Bingen. 2006, ISSN 0171-8304 , pp. 90-95.
Web links
- Official website of the Kaiserpfalz Ingelheim
- Historischer Verein Ingelheim: Websites on Ingelheim history
- Site of the Ingelheim Museum
Individual evidence
- ^ Historischer Verein Ingelheim eV from August 3, 2010 . ingelheimergeschichte.de. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
Coordinates: 49 ° 58 '39.2 " N , 8 ° 4' 17.4" E