St. Georg Abbey Ruins (Goslar)
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The St. Georg monastery ruins in Goslar go back to the founding of the monastery by Emperor Konrad II on the Georgenberg, which towers above the old town of Goslar to the north. The monastery buildings , which burned down during the Goslar riots in 1527 , have almost completely disappeared, only fragments of the foundation walls have been preserved. These can be viewed freely.
history
The history of the monastery dedicated to St. George is closely linked to the Salian family . The monastery register of the dead names Konrad II as “fundator primus”, i.e. first founder, Heinrich IV. As “second founder” and Heinrich V as “special benefactor”. This development can be traced back to the archaeological finds, although the Salians were able to fall back on even older predecessor buildings.
The oldest building remains
During excavations in 1963/64, in addition to a few older traces of construction, an approximately 18.50 meter long hall building with east apse and west gallery belonging to the first third of the 10th century proved to be the oldest structure.
It is possible that this is the Chapel of before the still preserved Goslar Imperial Palace had been present Pfalz - or castle. This is indicated by some statements from various sources ( e.g. Thietmar von Merseburg , Adam von Bremen , Goslarer Domchronik).
The Octagon of Conrad II.
To the west of this chapel, a vaulted octagon similar to the Aachen Palatine Chapel was built by Konrad II around 1025, taking up the east-west axis of the chapel . The north-south extension of the octagon was about 27 meters on the outside. Inside there was also an octagonal core room (about 11 meters inside diameter) with eight bent pillars. Between the outer and inner octagon there was an approximately 4.50 meter wide gallery.
In the west, two octagonal towers decided to build, with a stepped portal in between as the main entrance . According to some sources, there was a paradise in front of the portal , but this could not be proven archaeologically. At the 5/8 end there were also octagonal apses on the two eastern sloping sides . The straight east side decided on a semicircular apse that reached directly to the west side of the older chapel that was already there.
The choir extension of Henry IV.
In the period between 1065 and 1073, under Henry IV, this old chapel was redesigned into a two-storey, three-aisled choir extension. The semicircular east apse of the octagon gave way to a west block with a square central and two smaller, also square, outer towers. Through this building, which was attached directly to the east side of the octagon, a passage to the octagon was created on the one hand, and on the other hand the arching pressure of the octagon could be absorbed. In the central tower there was possibly a gallery that could be accessed via the two outer stair towers. A main choir with an east apse and two side choirs with an east apse set back by about 6 meters from the main apse were connected to this west wing. The choir extension had a length (east-west) of about 23 meters and a width (north-south) of about 18 meters.
The entire structure (octagon and choir extension) was now about 55 meters long and a maximum of about 27 meters wide.
It is possible that Bishop Benno II of Osnabrück was the builder responsible for this conversion, as was the case with the construction of the nearby Harzburg .
The cloister of Henry V
In 1108 Heinrich V donated the previously free monastery to the Hildesheim Monastery and furnished it with some goods. The monastery received further goods from Heinrich in 1120 in order to be able to finance further expansions in a targeted manner. This was probably the construction of the cloister and some outbuildings, for example between the cloister and the choir. The consecration of these extensions is attested for 1128. The remains of the foundations of the south aisle are still preserved from the cloister.
The further history of the pen
The Augustinian Canons took over the monastery between 1124 and 1128 .
In 1145 there is said to have been a major fire in the monastery, the Steterburger Annalen report of a brilliant reconstruction under Provost Gerhart.
In 1484/86 the monastery was badly damaged in the course of the "Great Hildesheim Feud", but was restored by the Hildesheim bishop.
On July 22nd, 1527, the citizens of Goslar decided to burn down the monastery and grind the ruins down to the foundation walls. They wanted to prevent Duke Heinrich the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg from using the strategically favorable location of the monastery to attack the city from there in the course of the Reformation conflicts. The same fate befell St. Peter 's Monastery , the Holy Sepulcher Monastery and the St. John's Church . Since then, only the ruins have remained of the monastery. The convent of the Augustinian Canons moved to the Stiftsvorwerk Grauhof , which was expanded into a new monastery, and existed there with interruptions until 1803.
A first archaeological investigation took place in the years 1875 to 1885, a second, under the direction of Günther Borchers (see lit.), took place in 1963/64. Only through this second excavation was the construction sequence described above determined. For example, the semicircular apse on the east side of the octagon was not recognized in the first excavation and is therefore missing from the floor plan shown.
The "Kaiser" column by the Oldenburg sculptor Eckhart Grenzer has stood in the center of the octagon since 1980. The crown was symbolically reproduced by the stone sculptor from the old Roman-German imperial crown . There is a lead seal with the artist's insignia on the shaft of the column.
literature
- Günther Borchers: The excavations and investigations in the collegiate church St. Georg zu Goslar . In: Low German Contributions to Art History 5, pp. 9–60. German Kunstverlag, Munich, 1966.
- Günther Borchers: St. Georg . In: Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments 35, pp. 107–120. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1978.
- Heinrich Spier: The Georgenberg as the site of an older Palatinate Goslar . Goslar, 1991.
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. on this: Spier, The Georgenberg as the site of an older Palatinate Goslar .
- ↑ according to Borchers, St. Georg , p. 118.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 54 ′ 40 ″ N , 10 ° 25 ′ 42 ″ E