Mausoleum of Count Ernst zu Munster

Mausoleum of Count Ernst zu Münster, 2007

The mausoleum of Count Ernst zu Münster is a listed tomb in Derneburg in Lower Saxony . It was built in 1839 as an almost 11 meter high pyramid by the architect Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves . The order to build it as a hereditary burial was placed by Count Ernst zu Münster , the owner of the secularized Derneburg monastery at the time .

Building description

Entrance portal

The mausoleum stands on a base with a base area of 11.8 by 11.71 meters. 34 stone layers each 30 cm high rise from the stone layer on the base to the 10.51 meter high top of the pyramid. The side surfaces have an angle of repose of 61 degrees.

626 sandstone blocks were built, which are up to 2.5 meters long, 30 cm high and 40 cm deep. The stone material used is a local, fine-grain, beige-colored Rhätsandstein . It could have come from a nearby quarry. Due to the stepping of the side walls, they appear blurred, which runs counter to the pyramid-typical geometry.

The entrance is laid out in the Egyptian manner as a temple portal and cut into the pyramid body with a sloping cloak. The building inscription “Grafl. Münster families / burial / built in the year MDCCCXXXIX ”. Originally the tomb was closed with a sandstone door weighing several hundred kilos. A fragment of it is still in the access area. Today the door is locked by bars. Architectural studies on the outer shell of the pyramid revealed that it was originally painted red and the sandstone door was painted yellow.

The 5.75 meter high interior measures 7.33 × 6.18 meters. Inside, the structure consists of a brick vault with a mortar coating that was originally colored dark blue. There are nine sarcophagi in the pyramid. In it, the are Count Ernst zu Münster , his wife Wilhelmine Charlotte Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1783-1858) and the daughters of the couple buried.

graveyard

The area around the pyramid developed over time through burials into a small family cemetery, which was surrounded by a cemetery wall. One of the graves is that of Prince Georg zu Münster , who died in 1902 , the son of the pyramid builder. For the grave of Prince Alexander zu Münster , who died in 1922, which was elaborately carved from Weser sandstone , the cemetery area was probably expanded by relocating the cemetery wall. On the tomb of his wife Lady Muriel Hay (1863-1927) is the Celtic high cross , which indicates her origin from Scotland.

history

The builder Count Ernst zu Munster

In 1839, Count Ernst zu Münster commissioned the architect Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves to plan a mausoleum . It is assumed that the count wanted a grave pyramid right from the start, which can be traced back to his biography. He traveled to Italy from 1793 to 1798. One focus of his travels was preoccupation with the ancient burial culture. According to his travel reports and letters, he visited numerous graves and burial grounds, including the ancient, 36-meter-high Cestius pyramid in Rome on March 22, 1794 . It is an important model for the Derneburg pyramid.

Since the grave pyramid was not yet completed when Count Ernst zu Münster died on May 20, 1839, his remains were kept in a vault of the former Derneburg monastery until his burial on May 19, 1840. According to a balance sheet drawn up in 1845 on the structural expenses in Derneburg, the burial cost 2048 thalers . This was a considerable sum, as the Derneburg estate, according to tradition from 1814, had an annual income of 6,000 thalers.

Monument significance and condition

The overgrown mausoleum complex, 2020

The Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation considers the tomb to be a monument of national importance. This assessment takes into account the people involved in the construction, such as Count Ernst zu Münster, who was important for the Kingdom of Hanover, and the royal Hanoverian court architect Laves. The tomb is outstanding in terms of architecture and art history because it depicts an Egyptian pyramid motif. This motif came into fashion in the grave culture of the Central European nobility from the second half of the 18th century . A similar grave pyramid is the family mausoleum built in 1776 by Count Wilhelm zu Schaumburg Lippe on the Baum hunting lodge . He was the grandfather of Ernst zu Münster's wife Wilhelmine. Another funerary pyramid is the complex, also built by Laves at Hämelschenburg Castle, which was created in 1855.

The last more extensive repair work on the grave pyramid took place in 1985. Today (2020) it needs urgent repairs just like the surrounding cemetery. In 2017, a feasibility study was carried out on the necessary restoration measures for which no carrier is available. Although repair is uneconomical from an economic point of view due to the lack of use, there is a high level of public interest in preserving the cultural monument.

literature

Anna-Franziska von Schweinitz: The Derneburg funerary pyramid and its model in the Schaumburg Forest. In: Hildesheimer Jahrbuch für Stadt und Stift Hildesheim 70/71, 1998/99, pp. 219–231
Karl Hiller: The Derneburg mausoleum of Count Ernst zu Münster: Findings from building research , in: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony 2/2018, pp. 77-82, ISSN 0720-9835 ( online )