Imperial Cathedral
Imperial Cathedral is a traditional name for domes that are particularly related to the Empire of the Holy Roman Empire .
Important medieval cathedrals
The three Romanesque domes in Mainz , Worms and Speyer have been cathedrals since the Middle Ages , the predecessor buildings of two since late antiquity . They are often referred to as the Rhenish imperial cathedrals. Its surroundings in the north-western Upper Rhine area were the home country and power base of the Salian emperors.
The Speyer Cathedral was built at the instigation of Emperor Conrad II from around 1030 as a burial place for the Salian kings and emperors and was later raised and vaulted under Henry IV from 1082 to 1104.
The Mainz Cathedral was built by Willigis , the de facto regent for the underage Otto III. , started after 975; After the cathedral fire in 1081, Emperor Heinrich IV had the eastern building restored or rebuilt. Mainz was the coronation site for Philip of Swabia , Friedrich II. , Heinrich Raspe IV. And (probably in the previous building) Heinrich II. And Konrad II.
The Worms Cathedral is the burial place of the Emperor Konrads II family. In addition, Worms was the venue for four Reichstag and two court days. It lost its rank as episcopal church in 1801 with the dissolution of the diocese.
Important Carolingian foundations
The Aachen Cathedral , Palatine Chapel and since Charlemagne under the care of the Marienstift founded by him , has only been a bishop's church since 1802 or permanently since 1930 .
The Frankfurt Imperial Cathedral was founded by Ludwig the German in 852, when Aachen was under his brother Lothar , as a canonical monastery and never became a cathedral .
Both houses of God successively had outstanding importance as coronation churches for the Holy Roman Empire , 936–1531 coronation as German king in Aachen and, if possible, then as Roman emperor in Rome or another Italian city, from 1562 coronation as Roman emperor in Frankfurt.
Later imperial foundations
The Bamberg Cathedral is considered as Imperial because of Ottone , King and later Emperor (from 1014) Henry II. , Both in 1004 laid the foundation, and in 1007, during the construction period, the founding of the diocese of Bamberg procured. However, from this point of view, the cathedrals in Paderborn and Magdeburg could also be called the imperial cathedral.
The imperial cathedral in Königslutter bears its name because it was built in 1135 together with a Benedictine monastery by the Saxon emperor Lothar III. was donated by Supplinburg , who is also buried in this church. Located in Guelph area, the abbey church no longer had any imperial significance when it was completed in 1170, as Southwest German Hohenstaufen had meanwhile wore the imperial crown. Similar to the Frankfurt Cathedral, the building was never a bishop's church ( cathedral ).
Because of its foundation by Emperor Otto I (who was also buried there), Magdeburg Cathedral is also counted among the imperial domes. The Archdiocese of Magdeburg established by Otto I was dissolved in 1680 and its territory fell to Brandenburg.
literature
- Dethard von Winterfeld : The imperial cathedrals Speyer, Mainz, Worms and their Romanesque surroundings. Romanesque in Germany ; Publisher: Schnell & Steiner; Edition: 1 (January 2000), ISBN 3-7954-1293-5 .