Saber of Charlemagne

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Replicas of the imperial insignia of the Holy Roman Empire in the coronation hall of the Aachen town hall with the saber of Charlemagne (right)

The so-called saber of Charlemagne is one of the most precious weapons that have survived from the Middle Ages . The saber of the Hungarian type was girded on by the Roman-German kings at the coronation ceremony and was part of the so-called Aachen jewels of the Holy Roman Empire . These were kept in Aachen until 1794 . It is not exactly known since when these pieces were assigned to the imperial regalia and kept in Aachen.

The Saber of Charlemagne is not to be confused with a second weapon, which Charlemagne is credited. It is known as Joyeuse and was the coronation sword of the French kings.

Examination of imperial regalia when they were handed over to the Vienna National Bank in 1946

history

The so-called saber of Charlemagne is of the Eastern European type and dates from the 10th or early 11th century. Legend has it that Otto III. supposed to have found him at the opening of the tomb of Charles in the year 1000. However, due to its estimated age, it was never owned by Charlemagne, as he died in 814. When French troops advanced in the direction of Aachen in 1794 , the jewels located there were brought to the Capuchin monastery in Paderborn , came to Hildesheim in 1798 and reached Vienna in 1801. The saber was kept in the treasury of the Vienna Hofburg .

In 1938, on the instructions of Adolf Hitler , the imperial regalia were brought to Nuremberg , where they were exhibited in the Katharinenkirche . During the Second World War they were stored in the historical art bunker to protect them from air raids . In 1945 the imperial regalia were found there by US soldiers and brought back to Vienna in the Hofburg in 1946.

literature

  • Hermann Fillitz : The insignia and jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. Schroll, Vienna et al. 1954.
  • Wilhelm Schwemmer: The Reichskleinodien in Nuremberg 1938–1945. In: Communications from the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg. Vol. 65, 1978, ISSN  0083-5579 , pp. 397-413, ( online ).
  • Ernst Kubin: The imperial regalia. Your Millennial Way. Amalthea, Vienna et al. 1991, ISBN 3-85002-304-4 .
  • Sabine Haag (ed.): Masterpieces of the Secular Treasury (= short guide through the Kunsthistorisches Museum. 2). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85497-169-6 .
  • Jan Keupp , Hans Reither, Peter Pohlit, Katharina Schober, Stefan Weinfurter (eds.): "... die keyerlichen zeychen ..." The imperial regalia - emblems of the Holy Roman Empire. Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7954-2002-4 .

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