Millennial rose bush
The Millennial Rosenstock in Hildesheim is a saying numwobenes copy of the dog rose in the cemetery of Hildesheim St. Mary's Cathedral . It is located behind the choir of the cathedral and is the landmark of the city of Hildesheim.
meaning
The rose bush was the inspiration for Hildesheim's landmark - the rose . It is closely linked to the founding of the cathedral , the diocese and the city of Hildesheim in the 9th century and is considered to be the guarantor of life in this place. In a bombing raid on March 22, 1945 during the Second World War , the rose bush was burned and was buried under the rubble of the apse . Eight weeks after the attack, the root of the rose bush produced 25 new shoots. This gave the rose miracle a new meaning, because until then it was only understood as a pious legend that can be traced back to the 17th century.
Say of the rose miracle
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legend of
the founding of Hildesheim Cathedral
(original in the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum )
In the year 815 Emperor Ludwig the Pious took quarters in a royal court in Aulica ( Elze ) while traveling . From there he set out to hunt with a small retinue. Suddenly a white stag appeared in front of the hunters. Ludwig gave his horse the spurs and went after him. However, this collapsed and the deer escaped. Exhausted, Ludwig thrust his hunting horn to inform his hunting companions of his location, but received no answer. Finally he took his pectoral cross with the shrine of Mother Mary , which he always carried with him, hung it on the branches of a bush and knelt in front of it to pray. Then he fell asleep. When he awoke hours later, he saw the place covered with snow while everything else was green. His cross hung on the branches of a blooming rose bush. When he tried to take it, it was held on with all his might. The emperor vowed to build a chapel at this point . Then he heard hunting horns. His entourage finally found him, and the emperor reported on the rose miracle. Ludwig finally had a small church built on that site. This resulted in the Hildesheim Mariendom , on whose walls the rose bush is still growing.
Another version of the legend tells of Emperor Ludwig, who pitched his tent on a hill in the forest to attend Holy Mass, to which relics from the courtly chapel were also taken. After returning, the court chaplain remembered leaving the relics in the forest. When he returned to the place of holy mass, he found the reliquary vessel hanging on a rose bush, but could not remove it. The emperor interpreted this as a revelation of divine will and had a chapel built in honor of the Blessed Mother, placing the rose bush around the building.
Millennial rose bush
The shrub is probably at least 700 years old, as it is a dog rose (Rosa canina L.), which is often found growing wild around Hildesheim as a rose hip shrub . It has the property of constant renewal: underground shoots are able to form new roots and emerging shoots. Such vegetative reproduction has no influence on the genetic makeup of the plant. Thus, given favorable growth conditions, it will always remain the same plant even for thousands of years. Today's rose bush has a height of almost 10 meters, which is due to climbing aids. Normally such rose plants only reach 3 meters in height and do not lean against buildings.
literature
- Klaus-Jürgen Strobel: Everything about roses . Ulmer, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8001-4471-9 , p. 52.
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : Designed natural monuments of Lower Saxony , Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover 1982, ISBN 3-7842-0256-X .
- Helga Mathies; The Hildesheimer Rose , Schnell & Steiner publishing group, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7954-2941-6 .
Web links
- Rosenstock at Hildesheim Cathedral at Monuments Online
- Legends from Lower Saxony - The rose bush of Hildesheim at Project Gutenberg-DE
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Text on the information board in front of the millennial rose bush
- ^ Bernhard Gallistl: Narrated World Heritage: Twelve Centuries Hildesheim . Hildesheim 2015, p. 80
Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 57 ″ N , 9 ° 56 ′ 51 ″ E