Buckeburg Mausoleum
The mausoleum in the Bückeburg Palace Park is the burial place of the dynasty of Schaumburg-Lippe . It is located in the castle park of Bückeburg about 50 kilometers west of Hanover .
The mausoleum was built between 1911-1915 in the reign of Prince Adolf to plans by the Berlin architect Paul Baumgarten in neo-Romanesque built style. With a height of 43 m and a width of 27 m, it is the largest mausoleum of its kind in Europe . Its cost was over a million gold marks .
history
The Bückeburg mausoleum replaced the Renaissance mausoleum in Stadthagen as a family burial place. The reason for the construction was the death of Prince Georg zu Schaumburg-Lippe from Bückeburg in April 1911. The topping-out ceremony for the building was celebrated in December 1912, but the interior work finally dragged on until 1916 because of the start of the war .
Towards the end of World War II , a tank shell penetrated the dome. Remnants of the grenade are exhibited in a wall niche in the entrance area of the domed hall. The hole in the ceiling mosaic is still visible today. After the war, the mausoleum was used as a furniture and book store, as Bückeburg Castle was confiscated by the British Army of the Rhine until 1953 .
Exterior
The materials used for the construction were travertine on the front, otherwise Obernkirchen sandstone and copper for the dome , which bears a wrought-iron cross .
The relief above the portal , a work by Albert Comes (1883–1954) shows the prince in the center, the homage to warriors, hunters and horsemen on the left , and homage to the arts, trade and agriculture on the right. The capitals of the four columns each bear one of the symbols of the four evangelists . The coat of arms of the princes of Schaumburg-Lippe is located above the relief .
The entrance door is a bronze work by Josef Rauch from Berlin . It also shows the symbols of the evangelists, as well as the monogram of Christ , a tree from Paradise and animals from Revelation .
lobby
There are two paintings in the vestibule: on the left “ Hagar in the Desert ” by Gerrit van Honthorst , on the right “ John preaching in the desert” by Lorenzo Pasinelli (1629–1700).
On the left and right in the vestibule there are rosette windows that are modeled on the Jeronimos Monastery in Belém ( district of Lisbon ).
From the vestibule, stairs lead left and right to the choir corridor of the domed hall, a bronze door on the left leads into the crypt with the coffins, which is not open to the public.
Domed hall
A wrought iron grille by Eduard Puls separates the vestibule and the domed hall .
Gottfried Hofer designed the 25 m high domed hall with the largest mosaic work in Central Europe with 500 m² gold mosaic. The dome is supported by ten columns , between which there are niches. Apart from the two niches that are taken up by the entrance and the chancel , the niches were originally intended as a location for sarcophagi . The floor mosaic in its niche should be determined by each member of the Princely House, so in most niches there is no mosaic. Prince Adolf intended the niche to the left of the altar for his sarcophagus, so the mosaic is executed. The niche to the right of the altar contains a memorial cross for Georg Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe, who died in April 1945.
The rest of the floor of the domed hall is made of red, Italian and green, Greek marble . In front of the altar there is a rectangular floor area that can be lowered into the crypt below with the catafalque standing on it.
Due to the November Revolution of 1918, the originally planned installation of sarcophagi in the domed hall never came about; coffins of the royal families are in the crypt below. On the mausoleum site there is also a cemetery , which is not open to the public , where members of the Schaumburg-Lippe family can be buried in an earth burial or urn burial.
Sanctuary
The chancel is decorated with a crucifix from the 13th century and a Frankfurt Bible print from 1628. Count Wilhelm acquired the baroque candelabra in 1763 in Portugal .
literature
- Wilhelm Gerntrup: The mausoleum in the castle park. Prince Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe and the mausoleum in Bückeburg. Merlin Verlag, Gifkendorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-87536-284-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ William Gerntrup: The mausoleum in the castle grounds . Gifkendorf 2010, p. 10 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 15 '28.62 " N , 9 ° 2' 5.19" E