Pilgrim horn

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A 15th century Aachen horn from Cologne

Pilgrim horns , also called aachhorns , were instruments made of hard-fired earthenware or, more rarely, of stoneware , which were mainly produced in pottery locations in Rhineland in the late Middle Ages and early modern times . These horns were blown by pilgrims at the presentation of relics during a procession in places of pilgrimage .

Acorns

Replica of a maple horn from Langerwehe

The most famous medieval pilgrim horns are the so-called aachhorns . These hard-fired earthenware instruments were mainly produced in the Rhineland pottery location Langerwehe near Aachen in the 14th to 15th centuries , but also in Hauset and Raeren- Neudorf. They were made from a low-iron, light yellow burning clay . In the area of ​​the sound mouth they had a yellowish to green lead glaze . The horns made in Hauset had a brown engobe at the mouth instead of a lead glaze . The approx. 25 to 40 cm long horns were shaped by hand and shaped with a knife so that a polygonal cross-section was created. At the top of the horn, two hand-molded eyelets for attaching a carrying cord or a strap have been attached. Otherwise, aachhorns were usually plain and simple. For a trained person it was possible to produce up to five tones on it.

Sanctuary display in Aachen with horn blowers. After an oil painting from the 17th century.

Aachhorns made of clay were purchased in the Middle Ages by pilgrims on their journey to Aachen from the shrine . Since the beginning of the 14th century at the latest, four textile relics that are important for Christianity have been shown here, which have been kept in the Aachen Minster since the time of Charlemagne . These relics are said to be the dress of Mary , which she wore on Holy Night , a diaper and the loincloth of Jesus Christ and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist . The reliquary was initially assigned at irregular intervals of several years, from 1349 until today every seven years, between July 10th and 24th.

The horns were then blown when these relics were presented during a procession. A contemporary account by Philippe de Vigneulles , a chronicler and pilgrim from Metz, from 1510 tells of the deafening noise made by thousands of pilgrims during the reliquary with the pilgrims' horns.

After completing a sanctuary tour, many pilgrims brought aachhorns back to their places of origin as souvenirs. There they were often used as signal horns. Langerweher Aachhorns can be found in archaeological excavations all over Europe at castles or fortifications. Aachhorns may also have been purchased directly for use as guardian horns or signal horns.

At the beginning of the 17th century, aachhorn was mostly only used by children. The custom of horn blowing during the assignment of relics gradually disappeared in the period that followed.

Another ceramic product for pilgrims from Langerwehe was the canteen .

Lower Rhine pilgrim horns

In early modern times, pilgrim horns made of clay were also made in pottery villages on the Lower Rhine around the pilgrimage site of Kevelaer . These were blown during the Marian pilgrimage in Kevelaer, but are also said to have been used to drive away thunderstorms. Pilgrim horns from the Lower Rhine are mainly found in multiple twisted designs.

In addition to the pilgrim horns for the Christian rite, short cow horn-shaped instruments were also made in the Lower Rhine , which were used as shofar horns . Shofar horns have their origins in the Jewish religion and are used, among other things, during the service at the Jewish New Year festival Rosh Hashanah and on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur .

Contemporary sources

  • Peter von Beeck : AQUISGRANUM, Aquisgranum sive historica Narratio de regiae SRJ et coronationis regum Rome. sedis Aquensis civitatis origine ac processu . Aachen 1620, p. 186 ( books.google.de ).
  • Johann Nopp : Aachener Chronick . Cologne 1632, p. 135 , urn : nbn: de: hbz: 061: 1-68230 .
  • Philippe de Vigneulles: Commemorative book of the Metz citizen Philippe von Vigneulles. From the years 1471–1522 . Edited from the handwriting of the author. Ed .: Heinrich Michelant . Stuttgart 1852, p. 173, 177 f., 180 .

literature

  • Gertrud Benker : Sound devices made of clay . Munich 1989.
  • Dieter Hupka: Neuss finds as evidence of the Aachen sanctuary trip . In: Neuss yearbook for art, cultural history and local history . 1989, ISSN  0077-7862 , p. 36-39 .
  • Lutz Jansen: Aachen pilgrims in Upper Franconia. A remarkable ceramic find from the late Middle Ages from Bamberg . In: Archaeological correspondence sheet . tape 25 , no. 4 , 1995, p. 421-434 .
  • Kunstgewerbemuseum Stadt Köln (Hrsg.): Steinzeug . Cologne 1986, p. 174 .
  • Günter Mangelsdorf : The Aachhorn from Greifswald - a contribution to medieval devotional studies . In: Ground monument maintenance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . Yearbook 39, 1991, pp. 219-225 .
  • Heinrich Schiffers : Cultural history of the Aachen sanctuary tour . Cologne 1930, p. 156 ff .
  • Mechthild Scholten-Neess, Werner Jüttner: Niederrheinische Bauerntöpferei 17. – 19. Century . Düsseldorf 1977, ISBN 3-7927-0070-0 , p. 194 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jansen 1995, p. 424.
  2. ↑ Kunstgewerbemuseum Stadt Köln (Ed.) 1986, p. 174.
  3. ↑ Jansen 1995, p. 422.
  4. ↑ Schiffers 1930, p. 156 f.
  5. ↑ a b Schiffers 1930, p. 156.
  6. ↑ For example, when excavating a guard tower in Brilon / Sauerland ( LWL-Museum für Archäologie : Neujahrsgruß 2007. Münster 2007. S. 84.), or in Greifswald (Günter Mangelsdorf, 1991. S. 219 ff.)
  7. ↑ a b Jansen 1995, p. 429.
  8. ↑ Scholten-Neess 1977, p. 194; Jansen 1995, p. 430; Schiffers 1930, p. 255 f.
  9. ^ Monumenta Judaica. 2000 years of history and culture of the Jews on the Rhine. Cologne 1964, E 609 – E 620.

Web links

Commons : Pilgrims horns  - collection of images, videos and audio files