Aachen Cathedral Treasury

Coordinates: 50°46′30.13″N 6°4′58.14″E / 50.7750361°N 6.0828167°E / 50.7750361; 6.0828167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Entrance to the Aachen Cathedral Treasury
The Ottonian Cross of Lothair
Gothic Bust of Charlemagne

The Aachen Cathedral Treasury (

Staufen, and Gothic times. The exhibits are displayed in premises connected to the cathedral cloisters
.

Collection and arrangement

In 1995, the Cathedral Treasury was completely refurnished in accordance with the newest conservation and pedagogical knowledge. An area of over 600 m2 contains over a hundred artworks, divided into five thematic groups.

One conceptional area is the documentation of the cathedral as the church of

Persephone sarcophagus, the Roman
marble sarcophagus of the early third century in which Charlemagne was buried in the cathedral is also here.

Olifant and the so-called Hunting Knife of Charlemagne (with sheath)

Among the objects in the Cathedral Treasury which were connected with Charlemagne is an

Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian. The associated sheath probably dates to the eleventh century and bears an Old English inscription, reading BRHTZIGE MEC FECID (Brythsige made me).[2]

The second section contains objects connected to the liturgy, including the

Treasury Gospels, a masterpiece of medieval illumination. In addition, there is also the late gothic pieces of goldsmith Hans von Reutlingen
.

Artworks which were used at Aachen at the

Ottonian Liuthar Gospels
which are exemplary of their period.

Reliquaries
containing the so-called 'three small relics' of Aachen Cathedral Treasury

The

Mary are the fourth and fifth categories. The reliquaries and the so-called Hungarian Donations, as well as pictures and sculptures of the Theotokos are displayed here. Gems
which donors and patrons (often clergy) gave to the cathedral treasury are displayed in vitrines.

Items from the rich textile collection of the treasury are in constant rotation in the basement, with the coronation cloak, the Cappa Leonis (c. 1520), falsely named after Pope Leo III in the centre.

History

Treasury

"Since I have seen every royal marvel, [I know that] no-one living has seen a more marvellous thing," wrote Albrecht Dürer in his travel diary, when he visited Aachen in 1520 on the occasion of the coronation of Emperor Charles V. By some miracle, the unique collection, the most important north of the Alps, has survived intact in the cathedral and its treasury to this day. Its outstanding position is due to the fact that Aachen Cathedral hosted the coronations of thirty kings of the Romans between 936 and 1531. Only after being anointed at Aachen could the ruler be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. Countless precious objects entered the collection as royal donations, others were essential parts of the coronation ceremonies.

As they grew over the centuries, the contents had a tumultuous history. They were sent away during the

département of the Roer. In August of that year the treasure was taken to the Collegium Liborianum, the Capuchin monastery in Paderborn, where the three items of Imperial Regalia hitherto in the possession of the xathedral college (the Carolingian Coronation Gospels, the Sabre of Charlemagne and St. Stephen's Purse were separated and taken to Vienna. Since then the Aachen Imperial Regalia has remained in the Imperial Treasury, Vienna
. Disputes over the ownership of these items continue to this day.

In 1804

the Louvre in Paris and the Talisman of Charlemagne is in the treasury of Reims Cathedral.[4]

Towards the end of the

First World War the treasure was once again taken to Paderborn on account of imminent air raids
. It was returned in 1922.

At the beginning of the

Hain Tunnel, along with the Essen Cathedral Treasury, the Trier Cathedral Treasury, the most valuable items of the Rheinish Museums and the wooden doors of St. Maria im Kapitol
.

On Easter Monday 1945, the young vicar Erich Stephany, accompanied by the American art protection officer Walker Hancock, set out for Siegen, to inspect the six boxes of stored treasure. On 7 May he left for Siegen again, to bring the treasure back to Aachen. However, the delivery was delayed by the Capitulation of the Wehrmacht signed the same day. The collection was only returned on 26 May thanks to Hancock, who prevented their transfer to Marburg, loaded the treasure, copies of the Imperial Regalia, and the wooden doors of St Maria in a lorry without authorisation and transported them to Aachen and Cologne.

Treasury Chamber

Until 1979, the treasure was housed in a 90 m2 room from Carolingian times on the east side of the cloisters. In 1975, on account of the significance of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, the

Federal Ministry of Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development decided to erect a Test Bunker for the Protection of Artefacts. Because only a short journey could guarantee a safe transfer in an emergency, the cathedral chapter decided to build a new treasury on the west side of the cloisters in the immediate proximity of the bunker. Planning and construction took place from 1975 to 1979. In 1979 the new exhibition room came into service. The items were exhibited to the public in chronological order in three rooms with a floorspace of 490 m2. In time, however, technical shortcomings presented themselves, which endangered the masterpieces. Therefore, a new arrangement was organised in 1995, to meet conservation, technical, and safety requirements.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Entry in the UNESCO list
  2. ISBN 3-923773-16-1
    , p. 21.
  3. ISBN 3-86582-284-3
    .
  4. ^ Franz Kaufmann, Vom Talisman Karls des Großen: Kanonikus Anton Joseph Blees und der Aachener Münsterschatz zur Zeit der französischen Revolution: Zwei Abhandlungen zur Geschichte des Münsterschatzes. Aachen: Creutzer, 1920.
  5. ISBN 978-3-7954-2827-3
    , p. 124.

Bibliography

External links

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