Seven-armed candlestick (Braunschweig)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The seven-armed candlestick

The bronze seven-armed chandelier from the 12th century is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in Braunschweig Cathedral . Comparable candlesticks can only be found in Essen Minster , Klosterneuburg Abbey and Milan Cathedral .

description

The bronze chandelier consists of 74 individual parts, is 4.80 m high, has a span of 4.30 m and weighs over 400 kg. It rests on four reclining lions, each carrying a kite. Between the dragons there are openwork tendril fillings and figural decorations as reproductions of the 19th century. The candlestick trunk and the S-shaped arms are divided by knobs. The second and third shaft pommel have enamel plates on which the four evangelists, ornamental ribbons and, as an addition from 1896, the four winds are depicted. The type of execution suggests a Cologne workshop as the place of manufacture of the Romanesque pit melt plates. At the end of the trunk and each of the six arms there is a lily-shaped eight-leaf candle plate.

history

The time when the chandelier was created is not recorded in writing. Like the Marienaltar consecrated in 1188, it is considered to be the foundation of Duke Heinrich the Lion for the founding of the church in 1173, the collegiate church of St. Blasius and Johannes d. T. Due to material analyzes and stylistic similarities with the Marien Altar and the Braunschweig Lion , the chandelier is likely to have been made in a bronze foundry workshop in the Braunschweig area. It was first mentioned in a document in 1196, when Ludolf von Volkmarode undertook to take care of the wax candles for this candlestick. At that time, it was located in front of the cross altar, which was consecrated in the same year, and because of its direct proximity to the tomb of Henry the Lion († 1195) and his wife Mathilde († 1189) it had the function of a chandelier. This place, confirmed in the 13th century by the Braunschweigische rhyme chronicle , was retained for the centuries to come.

Dismantling in the baroque period

From 1687 and around 1700, Dukes Rudolf August and Anton Ulrich carried out serious redesigns of the interior of the cathedral. The rood screen system was demolished and a two-flight staircase was installed. In 1728 a baroque high altar was built by Anton Detlev Jenner . At this point, at the latest, the seven-armed candlestick was dismantled as it restricted the view of the new altar. It was stored in the chapter house, so that it could be saved from being transported away as Napoleonic looted art in 1806. Christoph Friedrich Görges († 1852) took stock of the chandelier in 1815. He found 67 individual parts, the fillings between the dragon's feet as well as the supporting iron rod being missing.

Reconstruction and multiple restoration

Görges and the Braunschweiger Hofbaurat Krahe campaigned for the re-erection of the chandelier, which found its new location under the eastern arch in April 1830. In the years 1895 to 1897 a restoration took place, whereby the lost tendril fillings between the dragons were replaced by the Hildesheim sculptor Friedrich Küsthardt . A new installation in front of the steps to the choir yoke was carried out in 1938. As part of the National Socialist estrangement of the cathedral into a "national consecration place", the candlestick was draped in 1940 with panels of swastikas and imperial eagles and finally brought into the crypt in 1942 together with the Imervard cross . In the following year he was brought to safety in Goslar's Rammelsberg from bombing raids and transported back on August 20, 1945 after the end of the Second World War . The candlestick was erected in front of the eastern arch of the crossing by November 4, 1945. In 1954 it was necessary to stabilize it by installing an iron support tube. This year the chandelier found its current location in the crossing on the high choir. Another restoration was carried out in 1984 after several cracks appeared. In May 1992 the chandelier was dismantled and statically secured. From April to November 1997 it was dismantled and cleaned again.

symbolism

Menorah

In terms of design and religious symbolism, the Braunschweiger candlestick refers to the Jewish menorah , the seven-armed candlestick of the Old Testament Temple of Solomon , which is mentioned in 2. Book of Moses (37, 17–24). The seven-armed chandelier found its way into Christian art through illumination. During the Carolingian era , replicas of this Jewish temple device were made, the oldest surviving example of which is the Essen candlestick from around 1000. It is possible that Henry the Lion wanted his church to be understood as an image of the Temple of Solomon, which is indicated by parallels between the works of art he donated and the furnishings in the Old Testament.

Jesse tree

Medieval theologians like Rupert von Deutz reinterpreted the seven-armed chandelier in the Christian sense as an image of Christ . The chandelier with its plant-like embellishments grows like a tree ( Tree of Jesse ) in height, which the Tree of Jesse springs. According to the prophecy of Isaiah (11, 1–3), the radix Jesse (root, trunk of Isai ) springs from the virga (scion), on whose flos (flower, Jesus Christ) the sevenfold Spirit of God will rest. It is also possible to interpret the chandelier as lignum vitae , the wood of life or the tree of life , which symbolizes resurrection and eternal life.

Seven number

The number seven is of great importance in Christian symbolism and refers, among other things, to the completion of creation. It includes the numbers four (four evangelists and four winds on the emails) and three. In the Revelation of John , Christ appears with seven golden candlesticks, which symbolize the seven churches to which John writes. Christ carries the keys of death and hell in the vision. These symbols for the resurrection correspond to the original location of the candlestick next to the grave of the donor couple and its function as a funeral candlestick. The number seven can still be connected with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the seven sacraments as well as with the Old Testament seven "pillars of wisdom" ( Prov 9, 1).

literature

Coordinates: 52 ° 15 ′ 51.4 "  N , 10 ° 31 ′ 27"  E