Karlsschrein

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The Karlsschrein in the choir hall of Aachen Cathedral

The Karlsschrein in the Gothic choir hall of Aachen Cathedral was built after 1182 in an Aachen goldsmith's workshop and was completed for the coronation of Frederick II in 1215, after Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa , the grandfather of Frederick II, removed the bones of Charlemagne in 1165 whose grave was raised in the Aachen Palatine Chapel .

Frederick II personally carried out the transfer of the bones and the closing of the shrine on July 27, 1215, the first anniversary of the Battle of Bouvines , which brought the decision in the German contest for the throne . Two days earlier he had been crowned Roman-German king again and finally in Aachen . In addition to the bones, the so-called “elephant fabric ” is located in the shrine, a double purple-dyed Samite fabric with tree of life and elephant motifs, as well as the so-called “rabbit fabric”, also made of silk satin with tree of life, rabbit and bird motifs. The former originally served as the shroud of Charlemagne; the latter was put in by Friedrich II when the shrine was closed.

construction

Front gable side

The 2.04 meter long, 0.57 meter wide and 0.94 meter high shrine is part of the shrine tradition of the late 12th century. It has the shape of a single-nave church without a transept. The more than two meter long oak box is covered with gilded silver, gilded copper, filigree , precious stones, enamels and brown varnish plates . The double profile of the base is adorned with enamel plates, engravings, filigree and silver stamps with floral decorations. The two long sides show eight arcades resting on enamelled double columns , under which emperors and kings of the empire are enthroned.

The front gable shows Charlemagne enthroned, Pope Leo III standing on his right . , on the left Archbishop Turpin of Reims . There is a half-length figure of Christ in a medallion above Karl .

On the back gable, the Madonna and Christ is enthroned between the archangels Michael and Gabriel . Above it, three half-figures represent the personifications of faith, hope and love.

The two roof surfaces each show four reliefs with scenes from the legend of Charles , the legendary story of the emperor, who is led on his life path through divine calling. The literary source for these reliefs is the so-called Pseudo-Turpin, a 12th century manuscript . A contemporary copy of the same can be found in the archive of Aachen Cathedral, while the original is the third book in the Codex Calixtinus in Santiago de Compostela . Driven combs made of gilded copper and five nodes adorn the roof ridge and the gable .

Karl enthroned between Pope Leo III. and Archbishop Turpin

Eight emperors are enthroned on each side. On the right long side, seen from the Karlsseite, enthroned from left to right: Heinrich II. , Otto III. , Otto I. , Otto II. , Charlemagne , a nameless ruler, Heinrich VI. and Friedrich II. On the other long side we find Heinrich III. , Zwentibold , Heinrich V , Heinrich IV. , Otto IV. , Heinrich I , Lothar I and Ludwig the Pious .

Iconographic concept

The pictorial program is shaped by Hohenstaufen , imperial ideas. Charlemagne is enthroned on the front between the representatives of the church in a place that is reserved for Christ alone in all other shrines. He himself, Emperor Charlemagne, is Christ's representative, who towers over the Pope and Archbishop . Sixteen German emperors and kings are enthroned on the two long sides of the shrine, otherwise reserved for prophets and apostles , the roof reliefs continue the imperial character of the pictorial program. They show the legendary life of Charles, based on the Historia Karoli Magni et Rothalandi , which was supposedly written by Archbishop Turpin of Reims (around 748-749). However, recent research has shown that the Historia Karoli was probably not made in France until around 1130–1140.

classification

The shrine is in the tradition of the Maasland shrines and is stylistically uniform with the exception of the dedication relief on the roof. His master presumably comes from the workshop of the Maastricht Servatius shrine , while a second master, who created said dedicatory relief, began work on the Maria shrine around 1220 . The Karlsschrein is one of the most important and well-known medieval goldsmiths' works in addition to the Marienschrein, which is also located in the Gothic choir hall.

Anthropological investigation

In 1874 the Aachener Stiftskapitel had a scientific examination of the remains of Charlemagne by the Bonn anthropologist Hermann Schaaffhausen (1816-1893) carried out. Schaaffhausen determined that the bones were 2.04 meters tall. More recent studies from 2010 put this information into perspective and come to a size of 184 centimeters, which can also be considered above average for Karl's age. Einhard had already remarked about Karl's stature: "because his length, as we know, was seven of his feet" ( nam septem suorum pedum proceritatem ejus constat habuisse mensuram ). After the examinations in 1874, the right collarbone was broken and healed again. No historian reports this violation. The skull shows a dolichocephalic shape (long skull), the seams were closed without a trace, as is the case with old age . The finding is considered proof of the authenticity of the Charles relic.

Existence and security 1983–88

On January 30, 1983, during a Vespers service, the sealed zinc box with the bones of Charlemagne was removed from the shrine and opened. That evening the ark was resealed and placed in a makeshift wooden shrine. The Karlsschrein itself was taken to a goldsmith's workshop in the cathedral area that same night. Goldsmiths Gerhard Thewis and Peter Bolg worked there for five years on the conservation of the work of art under the scientific direction of Herta Lepie . In doing so, care was taken to ensure that no restoration or even renovation was carried out, as was often the case in the past with the repair of works of art, so that the shrine would not be irreversibly changed and its originality would be damaged. The medieval gilding could be exposed again. The age of the oak used for the oak box showed that it had been felled around 1182.

literature

  • Ernst Günther Grimme (text), Ann Bredol-Lepper (photos): Aachen goldsmithing in the Middle Ages. Seemann, Cologne 1957, pp. 38-48.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme (text), Ann Bredol-Lepper (recordings): The great centuries of Aachen goldsmithing (= Aachener Kunstblätter. Vol. 26). Verlag des Aachener Museumsverein, Aachen 1962, pp. 44–49.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The Aachen cathedral treasure (= Aachen art sheets . Vol. 42). 2nd edition, Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, No. 44 pp. 66-69.
  • Florentine Mütherich , Dietrich Kötzsche (Hrsg.): The shrine of Charlemagne. Existence and security 1982-1988. Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 1998, ISBN 3-930701-45-6 .
  • Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen cathedral (= The German inscriptions , Volume 31). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-88226-511-6 , pp. 29-36 No. 34 ( online ).
  • Ernst Günther Grimme (text), Ann Münchow (recordings): The Aachen Cathedral. Architecture and equipment. Einhard, Aachen 1994, ISBN 978-3-920284-87-3 , pp. 152-163, 167-175.
  • Herta Lepie , Georg Minkenberg : The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Brimberg, Aachen 1995, ISBN 3-923773-16-1 , pp. 12-13.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The Aachen Cathedral. Einhard, Aachen 2000, ISBN 978-3-930701-75-9 , pp. 70-75.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The Karlsschrein and the Marienschrein in Aachen Cathedral , Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 2002, ISBN 3-936342-01-6 .
  • Hans Jürgen Roth: An image of the sky. Aachen Cathedral - liturgy, bible, art. Thouet, Aachen 2011, pp. 99–106 (with a theological focus).
  • Herta Lepie: The Aachen Cathedral Treasure. In: Clemens MM Bayer, Dominik M. Meiering , Martin Seidler, Martin Struck (eds.): Treasure art in Rhenish churches and museums. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2827-3 , pp. 121-137, here p. 126.
  • Walter Maas, Pit Siebigs: The Aachen Cathedral. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2445-9 , pp. 103-106.

Remarks

  1. ^ Walter Maas, Pit Siebigs: The Aachen Cathedral. Regensburg 2013, p. 103.
  2. ↑ a b Herta Lepie, Georg Minkenberg: The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Aachen 1995, p. 12.
  3. ^ Frank J. Rühli, Bernhard Blümich, Maciej Henneberg: Charlemagne was very tall, but not robust. In: Economics & Human Biology. Vol. 8 (2010), pp. 289-290.
  4. ↑ Herta Lepie, Georg Minkenberg: The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Aachen 1995, p. 13.

Web links

Commons : Karlsschrein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 29.3 "  N , 6 ° 5 ′ 4"  E