Trier Cathedral

Trier Cathedral

Entire complex with Church of Our Lady and cloister (south view)

Trier Cathedral, aerial view (2016)

View from the north

Trier Cathedral at night from the Domfreihof

Trier Cathedral and Church of Our Lady as seen from the cathedral cloister

Detail of the westwork

Floor plan of the Trier Cathedral

The High Cathedral of St. Peter zu Trier is the oldest bishop's church in Germany and the mother church of the Trier diocese . With a length of 112.5 meters and a width of 41 meters, the building is the largest church building in the city of Trier and an important testimony to occidental sacred architecture.

Trier Cathedral has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier since 1986 ; it is also a protected cultural asset under the Hague Convention .

history

The cathedral stands over the remains of a representative Roman house. In the course of the " Constantinian turn " to Christianity initiated by Emperor Constantine , a basilica was built between 310 and 320, i.e. in the time of Constantine the Great , which under Bishop Maximin (329–346) became one of the largest church complexes in Europe with four basilicas , a baptistery and outbuildings was expanded. Around 340 the so-called square building was built, the core of the cathedral with four monumental columns from the Odenwald .

Roman time

As the core of the medieval settlement, the Trier Cathedral has attracted the interest of archaeological research since 1843. Larger excavations took place until 1981 , especially after the Second World War, under the director of the Bishop's Cathedral and Diocesan Museum , Theodor Konrad Kempf , and his successor Winfried Weber . In the oldest layers, an elegant Roman residential area from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD could be established. This included, among other things, a state hall richly decorated with wall and ceiling paintings with a coffered ceiling. Under the current crossing of the cathedral, parts of the building have been preserved, the reconstructed frescoes are exhibited in the Museum am Dom (former Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum). The rich furnishings have meant that the complex is partly ascribed to a late antique palace building.

• 

  Roman pillar in the cathedral

• 

  Roman arch attachment next to a pillar

• 

  Fragment of a Roman granite column in front of the cathedral

The residential development was torn down and leveled in the early 4th century in order to build a double church complex with two east-facing, three-aisled basilicas , of which the numerous column positions were particularly evident. The pillars of the north basilica were made of Odenwald granite, which is still indicated by the stone in front of the cathedral. A column very similar to the cathedral stone is located in the late Roman quarries on the Felsenmeer near Lautertal . The extension of the two church complexes including the transverse structures and peristyle courtyards is not completely secured and was probably between 40 (north basilica) and 30 m (south basilica under today's Church of Our Lady) width with a length of 150 m each. There was a square baptistery between the two churches , which is now marked in the pavement of the cathedral courtyard. In front of the choir of the north basilica, the remains of an octagonal building were uncovered, which the excavator interpreted as a "Herrenmemoria" (place of storage for relics).

Towards the end of the fourth century, the northern basilica was rebuilt again after being destroyed and a square building with a side length of 41.5 m was erected in the area of ​​the crossing. In the middle of this building there was a raised podium, at the four corners reused limestone columns ( spolia ) were used to replace the granite columns that had broken through the fire . According to the decoration of the capitals, they could have come from the temple at Herrenbrünnchen . Along the wind road on the north side of the cathedral, the associated brickwork is still visible up to a height of 30 m.

middle Ages

The 4th century church was destroyed by the Franks , the square structure and the northern basilica were rebuilt. Another destruction happened in 882 during the Viking raids in the Rhineland .

From the time in office of Bishop Egbert , the cathedral was expanded and redesigned. The west facade is a typical example of architecture among the Salians . The west choir was consecrated in 1121.

In the 13th century there was a fundamental renovation in the late Romanesque style ("Rhine-Maas-Romanik", described by Kubach and Verbeek ), which still shapes today's interior appearance. In particular, it concerned the vaulting with ribbed vaults, the installation of galleries and the redesign of the east choir.

The end of the Middle Ages brought external changes. Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had the two east towers raised around 1350 and Archbishop Richard von Greiffenklau zu Vollrads had the south-west tower raised after 1512 because the tower of the St. Gangolf civic church towered over the cathedral towers.

Modern times

The baroque Trier Cathedral with the Church of Our Lady around 1800, Trier city model, City Museum Simeonstift Trier

At the beginning of the 18th century, the previously planned healing chapel, to which the monumental structure with pilgrim stairs inside the east choir belongs, was added. This is where the sacred skirt is kept. After a fire in the roof structure on August 17, 1717, the cathedral was redesigned by Johann Georg Judas from 1719 to 1723 and given a transept, the east towers were given baroque domes.

Several restorations followed in the 19th century, the aim of which was to restore the medieval appearance; in 1883 the east towers were given neo-Gothic domes instead of the baroque ones. Parts of the baroque furnishings were also removed and replaced by neo-Romanesque pieces.

Destruction in World War II and reconstruction

The Kordel sandstone cathedral was badly damaged in the Second World War, but could be rebuilt relatively quickly. Above all, large parts of the cloister, the roof and vaults of the healing chapel and the roofs of the west towers were destroyed. The vaults of the cathedral itself were preserved, so that the damage to the furnishings was limited. The most important altars of the cathedral were also protected by cladding or walling.

Some of the war damage was repaired on a provisional basis, as plans for a redesign had been pursued for a long time, especially in the area of ​​the high altar, but these could not be implemented due to the war. In addition, it became apparent at the end of the 1950s that there were obviously considerable structural difficulties that could not be remedied with only superficial repairs. The cause was the rotten oak piles of the pile foundation of the late antique component due to the lowering of the groundwater level , but also the numerous renovations in later centuries.

• Architectural model of the war destruction of Trier Cathedral in 1945
• 

  West side

• 

  North side

• 

  East Side

• 

  South side

After an architectural competition was held, the cathedral was thoroughly restored under the direction of the architects Gottfried Böhm and Nikolaus Rosiny and reopened on May 1st, 1974.

The restoration had become necessary mainly because of the static impairment; it was preceded by an intensive discussion in which, among other things, was considered to restore the medieval appearance of the cathedral and remove large parts of the furnishings. This was not done, however, so that the cathedral's historically evolved shape has largely been preserved. The removal of the interior plaster was controversial, but today's largely stone-faced design clearly shows the various construction phases of the cathedral. For the installation of the altar island made of dark gray peperino from Viterbo and inlays made of light preonyx from Volterra in the crossing, in addition to the additions from the early 20th century, original parts of the medieval rood screen had to be dismantled (today in the museum at the cathedral). Some pieces of equipment have been moved, including the former choir grille (so-called golden gate ), which today forms the end of the sacrament chapel in the north aisle in a modified form. The formerly flanking baroque altars, which were no longer in their original location before the restoration, also found a new place in the west choir. The restoration of the later walled-in opening into the healing chapel, which makes the original meaning of the architecture comprehensible again, was important in terms of liturgical and monument preservation.

A significant technical achievement was the stabilization of the entire building with a complicated system of steel tension and compression elements, which also had to be installed largely invisible in order not to impair the appearance of the architecture.

The Latin text “nescitis qua hora dominus veniet” (you do not know at what hour the Lord will come) stands above the church tower clock of the raised southeast tower , a reference to the Bible passage in Mt 24.42  EU “vigilate ergo, quia nescitis qua hora Dominus vester venturus sit “ (So ​​watch! For you do not know on what day your Lord is coming). According to the legend about a dispute between the bishop and the city, the inscription is an answer to the text on the tower of St. Gangolf, where it says “vigilate et orate!” (Watch and pray!); this is a phrase used several times in the New Testament.

On May 4, 2008, the first beatification took place in Trier Cathedral. Mother Rosa , the founder of the Waldbreitbach Franciscan Sisters, was beatified by the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels .

Furnishing

Interior view, looking to the east (to the high altar)

Interior view to the west

Relics and tombs

The holy skirt is the most famous relic in the cathedral treasury . It is kept in an annex under protective glass in a wooden container and is rarely presented to the public, similar to the Turin shroud . In addition, the Trier Cathedral has one of the holy nails from the cross of Christ.

In the cathedral there are numerous tombs of former Archbishops of Trier , such as Baldwin of Luxembourg , Richard von Greiffenklau zu Vollrads and Theodorich von Wied . Many of these tombs are funerary altars, ie they also served as side altars at which masses were also read.

Significant pieces of equipment are also the cathedral pulpit, which, like some other pieces, comes from the workshop of the Trier sculptor Hans Ruprecht Hoffmann , and the mighty structure in the east choir with pilgrim stairs and an opening to the healing chapel in the east choir by Johann Wolfgang Frölicher . The shell-shaped marble basin in the west choir, which is now used as a baptismal font, was also made by Frölicher. Originally it was a so-called “Fons Pietatis”: On the basin stood a figure of Christ, from whose wounds colored water flowed into the basin as “blood”. The choir stalls, which originally came from the Carthusian monastery in Mainz , are also a valuable baroque piece of equipment . Only the seats in the east choir are preserved, the rear walls are paneled in the west choir, other parts are stored in a museum.

With the Andreas portable altar by Bishop Egbert, Trier Cathedral is one of the most important works of art of Ottonian goldsmithing.

An early Byzantine ivory tablet, which was used as the side wall of a reliquary box and whose creation is dated by most researchers to the 6th century, shows 65 people in a very small space between two monumental buildings.

In the last years of the Second World War , the Trier cathedral treasure was housed together with the Aachen and Essen cathedral treasures in the Hainer tunnel in Siegen to protect it from air raids.

• 

  South aisle ( Stegman , 1862)

• 

  Baroque stucco work in the vault of the west choir

• 

  The mother of God Mary and the apostle John on the cross of Jesus in the choir of the cathedral

• 

  West apse, state around 1900

• 

  Relic of the head of Saint Helena in the crypt of Trier Cathedral

Reliefs and statues

Adoration of the Shepherds, stucco relief in the Lady Chapel

Tympanum from the 12th century on the portal to the Church of Our Lady

Possibly the oldest surviving picture in Trier Cathedral is the tympanum in the south wall at the portal to the Church of Our Lady. It is a sandstone relief from around 1180, which shows Christ enthroned in the center, Maria, the patroness of the Church of Our Lady on the left, and Peter, the patron of the cathedral, on the right. The figures emerge three-dimensionally, while the frame ornament is kept flat. In the course of the restoration, which was completed in 1974, the original colors of the artwork were exposed, which had been whitewashed several times over the course of the previous years and covered by a thick layer. The subtleties of the representation such as hair and the folds of the robes are clearly recognizable.

The stucco relief in the Marienkapelle of the cathedral to the right of the east choir was probably created after the fire at the beginning of the 18th century. It depicts the incarnation of Jesus in three scenes, from the announcement by the angel to the shepherds who come to worship the newborn child in the manger. This work of art also got its original color back in 1974.

In addition to the numerous statues in the altars, on the left and right of the staircase to the healing chamber there are Emperor Constantine, the founder of the cathedral, and his mother Helena, who is credited with finding the cross of Jesus and the Holy Robe.

The most recent pieces of equipment to date can be found in the west choir: In the baroque stucco niches, which originally contained statues of the apostles (which were lost in the early 20th century), sculptures of the three Blessed Blandine Merten , mother Rosa Flesch and Peter Friedhofen from the diocese of Trier were installed in 2015 .

Organs

There is evidence that organs have existed in Trier Cathedral since the 14th century. Until the 19th century, the instruments were placed on the north wall of the central nave under the vault as a "swallow's nest". After that there were two large instruments, one in the west choir, the other in the chapter choir. Since 1974 the main organ has been located again as a swallow's nest organ at a historical location on the north wall. A choir organ has been located on the south wall of the east choir since 1996 .

history

The first instruments were probably initially smaller instruments. In the course of time, with every addition, every renovation or new building, the organs got bigger. So built z. B. the organ builder Florentius Hocque in the years 1590 to 1593 an instrument with 25 registers on two manuals and pedal. After a fire in 1717, the instrument was removed and replaced by a new building by the organ builder Jean Nollet (Trier), which was completed in 1727. The instrument, arranged in the French Baroque style, had 35 stops on three manuals; The organ probably did not have its own pedal mechanism. The pedal seems to have been attached to the main work.

In 1832 a new organ was installed for the first time in the gallery in the west choir. The instrument was built by the organ builder Wilhelm Breidenfeld and had 52 stops on three manual works and a pedal, and already had 2 pedal stops 32 '. The instrument was redesigned as early as 1870.

From 1890 onwards there was discussion about a new building elsewhere in the cathedral, especially since the location of the west gallery organ to support choir singing had proven to be disadvantageous; In 1899 a new building in the chapter choir was decided. The new instrument was built by Carl G. Weigle. The organ with its 55 registers on three manual works and a pedal was housed in two organ cases that faced each other on the two galleries of the side chapels in the east choir. The so-called "normal organ" was inaugurated as early as 1901; the instrument had 43 stops on two manual works and a pedal and was located on the south side gallery; the console for both instruments was also set up there. The so-called "high pressure organ" with 12 registers on a manual and pedal came on the northern gallery; it was completed in 1908 by Klais (Bonn). After severe damage in World War II, the Weigle organ was only partially repaired, the high-pressure mechanism was no longer repaired. During the large-scale renovation of the Trier Cathedral, it was completely dismantled, parts of the housing are preserved in the museum at the cathedral.

Main organ

Main organ

Main organ console

The swallow's nest organ of Trier Cathedral is an instrument made by the Bonn organ manufacturer Klais ; it was consecrated at the same time as the renovated cathedral on May 1st, 1974. The arrangement created by cathedral organist Wolfgang Oehms comprises 67 registers (5602 pipes) on four manuals and pedal and enables the reproduction of organ music of all styles up to the avant-garde. The largest pipe weighs 125 kg. The instrument itself weighs around 30 t. It is 16 m high and about 8 m wide. The organ is one of the largest instruments of the Diocese of Trier - along with the organ of the Saarbrücken Christkönigskirche with 68 stops.

The rich decorations of the organ case were designed by the sculptors Hillebrand and Heiermann and the painter Viktor Breiling. In the middle part of the organ the four manual works are housed on four levels (below the Rückpositiv, above the breastwork, above the main and swell movements); The pedal stops are in the flanking towers. For reasons of space, the pedal register base 32 'and the fan system are located outside, in the biforium behind the organ. The breastwork is swellable. The play system is located between the Rückpositiv and the breastwork in the middle of the organ; can be reached via the north aisle vault. The action mechanism is mechanical (with the exception of the pedals register 32 ', which is played electrically). The links and registers are electric.

In the foot of the Trier cathedral organ there is a special effect register: a representation of the shepherd god Pan , as the inventor of the pan flute , a primitive predecessor of the organ; The organist can fold the pan figure out of the case and then five separate tones will sound. Because of its horns, the figure can also be interpreted as a devil who is forced by the organ builder to make music for the glory of God; a really harmonious music is not possible for the devil, and so the five pipes of the pan flute are clearly out of tune: fs '' (+ 9 cents ), gs '' (- 10 cents), b '' (+ 3 cents), h '' (+ 31 cents) and cs' '' (-42 cents).

The organ was often used for CD recordings of works by Max Reger , among others by Josef Still , Hans Jürgen Kaiser and Martin Welzel.

I Rückpositiv C – c 4 1. Praestant 08th' 2. Quintad 08th' 3. Dumped 08th' 4th Principal 04 ′ 5. Reed flute 04 ′ 6th Octave 02 ′ 7th Forest flute 02 ′ 8th. Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 9. Sesquialter II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 10. Scharff IV 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 11. Bell cymbal II 01 ⁄ 3 ′ 12. Dulcian 16 ′ 13. Cromorne 08th' Tremulant

II main work C – c 4 14th Praestant 16 ′ 15th Principal 08th' 16. Hollow flute 08th' 17th Gemshorn 08th' 18th Fifth 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 19th Octave 04 ′ 20th Night horn 04 ' 21st third 03 1 ⁄ 5  ′ 22nd Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 23. Super octave 02 ′ 24. Cornett V 08th' 25th Mixture V 02 ′ 26th Cymbel III 01 ⁄ 3 ′ 27. Trumpet 16 ′ 28. Trumpet 08th' 29 Trumpet 04 ′ Carillon

III breastworkC-c 4 30th Reed flute 08th' 31. Praestant 04 ′ 32. recorder 04 ′ 33. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 34. Duplicate 02 ′ 35. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 36. Sifflet 01' 37. Acuta IV 02 ⁄ 3 ′ 38. Overtone III 04 ⁄ 7 ′ 39. Hautbois 08th' 40. Vox humana 08th' Tremulant

IV Swell C – c 4 41. Drone 16 ′ 42. Principal 08th' 43. Perforated 08th' 44. Gamba 08th' 45. Unda maris 08th' 46. Octave 04 ′ 47. Flute octaviante 04 ′ 48. Salicional 04 ′ 49. Flageolet 02 ' 50. Fittings VI 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 51. Cor anglais 16 ′ 52. Trumpet 08th' 53. Clairon 04 ′ Tremulant

Pedal C – g 1 54. Pedestal0 32 ′ 55. Principal 16 ′ 56. Sub bass 16 ′ 57. Octave 08th' 58. Chanter 08th' 59. Super octave0 04 ′ 60. flute 04 ′ 61. Backset V 04 ′ 62. Aliquot bass IV 0 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 63. Piffaro II 02 ′ 64. Bombard 32 ′ 65. trombone 16 ′ 66. Trumpet 08th' 67. Schalmey 04 ′ Tremulant 0

• Coupling : I / II, III / II, IV / II, III / I, IV / I, IV / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
• Playing aids : 1920 electronic setter combinations , wind outlet valves: HW, SW, key lock: HW, register crescendo (roller), pistons
• Remarks

1. ↑ Glockenspiel, consisting of 25 tubular bells.
2. ↑ Swellable.

Choir organ

In 1996, a choir organ was also built by Klais, Bonn, which is located on the south wall of the east choir and on the gallery behind; this organ was also designed as a swallow's nest organ. It can be operated from a mechanical console within the swallow's nest or from an electric console in the immediate vicinity of the choir podium in the cathedral's high choir. Its 25 registers on 2 manuals and pedal are distributed over the following disposition :

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 1. Principal0 08th' 2. Drone 08th' 3. Octave 04 ′ 4th Reed flute 04 ′ 5. Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 6th Super octave 02 ′ 7th Mixture IV 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 8th. Trumpet 08th'

II Swell C – g 3 9. Lovely Gedackt0 16 ′ 10. Reed flute 08th' 11. Salicional 08th' 12. Principal 04 ′ 13. recorder 04 ′ 14th Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 15th Swiss pipe 02 ′ 16. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 17th Fifth 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 18th Sifflet 01' 19th oboe 08th' Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 20th Sub bass0 16 ′ 21st Salicet 16 ′ 22nd Octave 08th' 23. Dumped 08th' 24. bassoon0 16 ′

• Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
• Playing aids : 96 (3 × 32) electronic typesetting combinations
• Mechanical action action (swallow's nest), electric action action (console choir platform)
• Electric stop action

Chest organ of the east crypt

In addition, since 1994 there has been a chest organ in the east crypt of the cathedral by the organ manufacturer Link in Giengen an der Brenz with a manual divided at b ⁰ / h ⁰ . The instrument has 5 registers (Gedackt 8 ′, Reed Flute 4 ′, Principal 2 ′, Fifth 1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′, Octav 1 ′)

Bells

Historical chime

There was a significant bell in the tower until 1942/1944. In some cases, bells had to be delivered in 1942 for armament purposes. The remaining bells were destroyed in an air raid in 1944.

Present stock

The ten-part cathedral bells are - in terms of their weight - one of the largest bells in Germany. It was cast in 1951 by the Otto bell foundry in Bremen- Hemelingen as a replacement for the historic eight-part bell that was destroyed in the Second World War. The arrangement of the new bells had already been designed in 1946 by the then cathedral music director Johannes Klassen.

A differentiated chime has existed since 1998, which is consistently based on the church year and the musical conditions of the chime.

From 1999 to 2001 the bells were renovated, with all bells receiving new wooden yokes and new clappers. In the course of this work, the weights were also determined, since the original weighing slips of the foundry can currently no longer be found. The steel bell cage is level with the upper sound openings of the high tower.

No.	Surname	∅ (mm)	Mass (kg)	Nominal (16th note)	inscription
1	Christ & Helena	2273	7970	f sharp 0 +7	“To the king of eternity, the immortal, invisible, only God be praise and glory forever and ever. Amen. Through Saint Helena, Empress and patroness of the Trier. For this to happen, I ring the bell. O King of Glory, Christ come with your peace. It is better to put your trust in the Lord than to put your trust in a person; it is better to trust the Lord than the prince. "
2	Maria	1911	4480	a 0 +2	“In honor of the Queen of Peace, those immaculately received and taken to heaven, I raise my voice. Protect the Trier people and the city. The king does not win with a large army and the belligerent does not save himself with a great power. "
3	Peter	1707	3500	h 0 +1	“Peter, the key holder of the kingdom, protect this temple which is dedicated to him. Whoever stands in the protection of the Most High, who dwells in the shadow of the Almighty, can speak to the Lord, you are my refuge, my castle, my God, in you I trust. "
4th	Eucharius , Valerius & Maternus	1524	2600	c sharp 1 +4	“I am consecrated to Eucharius, Valerius and Maternus. I exhort you to imitate your fathers and to remember the deeds they accomplished. How lovely are the feet of the messenger of joy on the mountains, who proclaims peace and brings good news. "
5	Matthias	1438	2060	d 1 +2	"O Matthias, Patron of the Diocese of Trier, who has become part of the apostolic dignity, obtain through your pleadings that we with you endlessly praise the King of Glory. And the lot fell on Matthias and he was counted among the eleven apostles. "
6th	Nicetius	1280	1450	e 1 +4	“I praise St. Nicetius, the Bishop of Trier, the restorer of this temple. I ask that he keep this house, devastated by the war and newly restored, for the length of the days. Lord, hear the petitions, and grant that everyone who enters this temple to ask for Your benefits may enjoy the grant. "
7th	Agritius	1140	1010	f sharp 1 +3	“And we four little bells, we join in the praise of our big sisters. Saint Agritius, the first bishop in this cathedral. "
8th	Maximinus	954	590	a 1 +3	"Saint Maximinus, Bishop, the great defender of the faith."
9	Paulinus	843	400	h 1 +1	"Saint Paulinus, bishop and martyr, bravest defender of the faith."
10	Ambrose	757	280	cis 2 −1	"Saint Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan, born in Trier."

Fun and games at the Domstein in Trier

Giant column in the late Roman quarry on the Felsenmeer near Lautertal in the Odenwald

Domstein

In front of the main entrance to the cathedral is a gray diorite column about four meters long , the so-called cathedral stone. According to a legend, the devil is said to have been tricked into helping build the cathedral. When the cathedral was finished he realized he had been betrayed and hurled this stone against the walls.

The old granitoid columns were damaged by fire during the Migration Period and had to be replaced by limestone columns in the 6th century . One of the replaced pillars remained in front of the southwest portal and was not cleared away later.

A copy of one of the approximately 65 tons heavy pillars made of Odenwald granite is in the Museum am Dom (former Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum).

Bell from 1682

Cloister

Auxiliary Bishop Chapel

The Gothic cloister was built between 1245 and 1270, connecting the cathedral to the Church of Our Lady. In the west of the cloister is the Auxiliary Bishop's Chapel (in earlier times "Paulus Chapel"), and a burial place for the canons was set into the floor . Today this place is marked with a stone slab that contains a small peep window, on which it says “ OSSUARIUM MCMXCI”. The current auxiliary bishop's chapel has served as the burial site of the auxiliary bishops in Trier since around 1870 . The altar in the auxiliary bishop's chapel shows in the antependium the " handkerchief of Veronica " with the face of Christ. A bell hangs on the northern outer wall of the chapel, which is only "taped" (struck on one side) at the funerals of canons and auxiliary bishops. The bell belonged to the cathedral clock and was used to strike the quarter hour until 1927.

Church music

The choir is currently headed by cathedral music director Thomas Kiefer . Since 1994 Josef Still has been the cathedral organist of the High Cathedral in Trier.

See also : Trier Cathedral Youth Choir

Cathedral chapter

Today the Trier cathedral clergy consists of two dignitary ( cathedral provost Werner Rössel and cathedral dean Franz Josef Gebert ), eight resident cathedral capitulars and four non-resident cathedral capitulars; there are also six cathedral vicars . All are ordained priests and play an important role in the Vicariate General, the Faculty of Theology and Caritas. The Trier cathedral chapter has existed since the middle of the 6th century, was numerically more extensive in the Middle Ages and was able to enforce essential rights of rule over the bishop. From 1289 it consisted only of nobles.

In its current form, it was installed on July 25, 1884. The provost is supervisor of all staff employed by the Dom (eg Domkapellmeister , organist ), and lives in the neighborhood next to the Duomo ( Cathedral Square 4) located Dompropstei . The cathedral dean is responsible for planning and celebrating services in the cathedral .

The Trier cathedral chapter played an important partner role for the bishop and the diocese leadership in the culture war in the 19th century, in National Socialism and in the Saar question in the 20th century. Its importance also emerged in a special way on the occasion of the Heilig-Rock exhibitions in 1810, 1844, 1891, 1933, 1959 and 1996. At its meeting on June 26, 1995, the cathedral chapter passed new statutes , which the Bishop of Trier confirmed on June 29, 1995.

See also : List of Trier Cathedral Preachers

Extra-church use

There are also regular exhibitions and concerts in the cathedral, such as the International Organ Days every year in May and June, attracting many music lovers.

literature

• Hermann Laven: The Trier Cathedral and its past. Lintz, Trier 1911.
• Nikolaus Irsch : The Trier Cathedral (= The Art Monuments of the Rhine Province. Vol. 13, 1). Düsseldorf 1931.
• Theodor Konrad Kempf: Investigations and observations on Trier Cathedral 1961–1963. In: Germania. Vol. 42, 1. – 2. Half-Vol., 1964, pp. 126-141.
• Franz Ronig , Gustav Bereths (Ed.): The Trier Cathedral. (= Yearbook of the Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection 1978/79). Neuss 1980, ISBN 3-88094-237-4 .
• Hans Constantin Faussner: Wibald von Stablo, the Trier cathedral and reliquary treasure and the imperial crown. In: Festschrift for Nikolaus Grass. Innsbruck 1986, p. 177 ff.

Web links

Commons : Trier Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Trier Cathedral
• Detailed history of the cathedral
• Pictures of the cathedral
• Information and pictures about the cathedral bells ( Memento from September 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• The organs of the Trier Cathedral
• Bells for the pontifical vesper, clock strike & evening angelus of Trier Cathedral (video with sound)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erika Simon : The Constantinian ceiling paintings in Trier. ( Trier contributions to antiquity 3) Zabern, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0903-1 .
2. ↑ More precisely, actually Mela quartz diorite, see Erwin Nickel : Odenwald. Vorderer Odenwald between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. Bornträger, Berlin / Stuttgart 1985 ( collection of geological guides 65 ) p. 20.
3. ↑ Heinz Cüppers in: Heinz Cüppers (Ed.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. P. 593.
4. ↑ For the Roman buildings under the Trier Cathedral, see Hans-Peter Kuhnen : Dom and Liebfrauen: The beginnings of the Trier Episcopal Church. In: H.-P. Kuhnen (ed.): The Roman Trier. ( Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany 40), Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, pp. 114–121; Winfried Weber: Ancient church in the area of ​​the cathedral and Liebfrauen. In: Heinz Cüppers (Hrsg.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. P. 633f .; Sabine Faust: Cathedral and Liebfrauen: Early Christian church complex. In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region. ( Series of publications by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 35 ) Trier 2008, p. 44f.
5. ↑ Gottfried Böhm, Nikolaus Rosiny: Thoughts of the architects on the conversion and renovation work on the high cathedral in Trier . In: The Trier Cathedral. (= Yearbook of the Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection 1978/1979), Neuss 1980, pp. 441–446.
6. ↑ Franz Ronig: 25 years ago: Re-inauguration of the Trier Cathedral, the festival of the altar consecration on May 1, 1974 after more than ten years of restoration, liturgical refurbishment of the cathedral, http://paulinus.de/archiv/archiv/9918/bistuma2.htm , accessed on July 15, 2018.
7. ↑ Balthasar Fischer: The ivory tablet of the Trier cathedral treasure. In: Kur-Trierisches Jahrbuch 9, 1969, p. 5ff.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Franz Ronig: The Trier Cathedral . 9th, modified edition, Paulinus-Verlag, Trier 1979, ISBN 3-7902-0134-0 .
9. ↑ http://www.dominformation.de/bauwerk/einrichtungen/seligen-figuren.html
10. ↑ Information on the history of the organs in Trier Cathedral on the Dommusik website (as of November 28, 2018)
11. ↑ More information about the cathedral organs ; for disposition on the website of the organ builder
12. ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto Glocken - family and company history of the bell foundry dynasty Otto . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, here in particular pp. 352 to 364, 550 .
13. ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, here in particular pp. 314 to 325, 506 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
14. ↑ Ringing regulations for Trier Cathedral (as of April 28, 2009, 12:15 p.m.; PDF document; 88 kB) ( Memento from December 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ Exterior shot of the loud bells (July 10, 2008) on YouTube .
16. ↑ Interior shot of the plenary (April 16, 2010, 4:40 p.m.) on YouTube .
17. ↑ Interior shot of partial bells f sharp ° –a ° (April 16, 2010, 4:30 p.m.) on YouTube .
18. ↑ The column consists of "Odenwälder Granit" from Felsberg near Lautertal and can be referred to petrographically as quartz diorite, which, according to the classification of Albert Fahrtisen, is one of the granite iodes rich in plagioclase; s. Henner Barth: Quartz diorite and granodiorite from the Felsberg train in the Bergstrasse Odenwald: their geological and petrological relationships with marble and amphibolite, gabbro and diorite. Dissertation Heidelberg 1970.
19. ↑ The Trier Cathedral ( Memento from January 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
20. ↑ Entry on the ossuary under the auxiliary bishop's chapel in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on September 17, 2015.
21. ^ Entry on the altar in the auxiliary bishop's chapel in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on September 17, 2015.
22. ↑ The Trier cathedral bells past and present (PDF; 193 kB). ( Memento from December 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ The Trier Cathedral Chapter. In: www.bistum-trier.de. Retrieved November 10, 2016 . 

Remarks

1. ↑ The sentence is grammatically incorrect, since indirect questions in Latin are internally dependent clauses and are therefore always in the subjunctive ; see Heinrich Przybyla: Guide to Latin sentence theory, p. 25f. Section 8 in conjunction with 7.1.1.2). It should therefore correctly read in Latin nescitis qua hora dominus veniat , 'You do not know at what hour the Lord is coming' . When the current clock was installed in 1951, the provost of the cathedral at the time, Carl Kammer, refrained from correcting the inscription, which was lost at the beginning of the 19th century and only reapplied in 1908. He justified this in the Trierische Landeszeitung on October 28, 1951 in the article “Domuhr, Domtürme und Domhähne” according to this post in a Latin forum as follows: “The strict grammarian will object to the 'veniet'; but the wise canons smile about it and say: Cicero and Donatus have also spoken Platt. "

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 22 "  N , 6 ° 38 ′ 35"  E