Imperial Palace of Goslar
Encyclopedia
Goslar
Goslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.-Geography:Goslar is situated at the...
north of the Harz mountains, central Germany. It covers an area of about 340 by 180 metres and stands. The palace grounds originally included the Kaiserhaus, the old collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
of St. Simon and St. Jude, the palace chapel of St. Ulrich and the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche). The Kaiserhaus is the greatest, oldest and best-preserved secular building of the 11th century in Germany. It was a favourite imperial residence, especially for the Salian emperors. As early as the 11th century, the buildings of the imperial palace had already so impressed the chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld
Lambert of Hersfeld
Lambert of Hersfeld was a medieval chronicler, probably a Thuringian by birth. His work represents a major source for the history of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire in the eleventh century....
that he described it as the "most famous residence in the empire". Since 1992, the palace site, together with the Goslar's Old Town and the Rammelsberg has been a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
world heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Location
The palace district is located in the southern part of the town of Goslar. The area is dominated on the west by the north-south oriented Kaiserhaus, the central building of the whole complex. To the north, it was once joined at right angles by the Church of Our Lady, separated by a small courtyard, but there is nothing left of the church today. Its foundations are under the path leading up to the Kaiserhaus. To the south, now connected by a 19th century arcade to the Kaiserhaus, is the Chapel of St. Ulrich. To the east, opposite the Kaiserhaus stood the east-west aligned collegiate churchCollegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
of St. Simon and St. Jude, of which only the north porch remains. The plan of the church is, however, incorporated into the surface of the present-day car park. To the palace grounds belonged also the residential and working buildings of the canons, the houses of the ministeriales and the imperial entourage, the stables and storehouses. In addition, the whole area was surrounded by a wall.
Individual buildings in the palace district
The earliest origins of the imperial palace are probably in a royal hunting lodge, as Adam of BremenAdam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
mentioned for the Ottonian period. In 1005 Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
erected a first imperial mansion in Goslar, which, due to the rich ore deposits under the nearby Rammelsberg, soon outstripped the nearby palace of Werla. In the 1030s Conrad II
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...
began to expand the site by laying the foundation stone for the Church of Our Lady. The district was completed and enjoyed its heyday under his son, Henry III
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors...
. In 1048 he called to Goslar one of the foremost architects of his day, someone who later became Bishop of Osnabrück, Benno II
Benno II of Osnabrück
Benno II, Bishop of Osnabrück was born at Luningen in Swabia and died 27 July 1088, in the Benedictine monastery of Iburg near Osnabrück.His parents sent him at an early age to the monastic school of Strasburg where the learned Herman Contractus of Reichenau was then teaching...
. Under his expert guidance the buildings that had been worked on since the 1040s were completed in the first half of the 1050s: a new Kaiserhaus, the one that we know today, and the Collegiate Church of St. Simon and St. Jude. Uncertain, however, is the date of the chapel dedicated to Saint Ulrich
Ulrich of Augsburg
Saint Ulrich , sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Bishop of Augsburg and a leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. He was the first saint to be canonized.-Family:...
. It is believed to have been built either during the time of Henry III, Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
or even Lothar III (from Süpplingenburg).
The Kaiserhaus
The Kaiserhaus is 54 metres long and 18 metres wide and is the largest secular building of its time. The centre of the building is its two-storey hall. This contains two rooms on each floor of 47 metres long and 15 metres wide. Both had a beam ceiling, which was supported in the middle by a row of columns. The upper of the two rooms was reserved for the emperor and his immediate entourage, the lower room for courtiers of lesser rank.The imperial throne was set in the seven-metre high upper storey in the middle of the closed, rear, west wall. The east wall was pierced by a row of windows and gave a view of almost the entire palace district and the cathedral opposite. The central window of the upper floor also led to a columned balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
, either side of which were three arched windows. Incidentally, none of the window was glazed, as they were on the generally leeward side of the building.
To the north, the hall building was adjoined by another, two-storey residential building. Again, the upper floor was probably reserved for the imperial family. There was direct access from the upper room to the neighbouring Church of Our Lady. The church was probably accessible through a gallery as well.
Under Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
more structural changes were made to the Kaiserhaus at the beginning of the 12th century. He added the older, almost identical, second living quarters at the southern end of the building. In 1132 the hall collapsed, but was immediately rebuilt. At the same time a cross-section (Quertrakt) was added centrally over the entire height of building, and a porch was built in front of the centre door on the ground floor that served as the first floor balcony. A gable now protruded from the hitherto slate-covered, steeply pitched roof. In addition, some windows were made closable and made a type of floor heating was installed. The window arches of the basement were replaced with rectangular windows.
At the foot of the southern staircase, there are the remains of foundations, that probably belong to the first imperial mansion (Pfalzbau) built by Henry II.
Collegiate Church of St. Simon and St. Jude
The canons used to celebrate their servicesChurch service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
in a three-nave basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
with a transept, three east apses
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
and westwork
Westwork
A westwork is the monumental, west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interior includes an entrance vestibule, a chapel, and a series of galleries overlooking the nave...
with two octagonal towers with a bell chamber between them, and a simple narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
. Under the choir was a crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
, and over the intersection was another tower. The church was consecrated on 2 July 1051, by Archbishop Hermann of Cologne and dedicated to Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot
The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name...
and Jude the Apostle, whose saint's day coincided with Henry III's birthday.
At this time, the basilica was the largest Romanesque church east of the Rhine and became the model for many similar buildings in northern Germany, for example, the Brunswick Cathedral. A number of important religious dignitaries of the empire went out from this church.
In 1819, the church, often called Goslar Cathedral
Goslar Cathedral
The church known as Goslar Cathedral was the Collegiate Church of St. Simon and St. Jude in the town of Goslar in central Germany. It was built between 1040 and 1050 and stood in the district of the Imperial Palace of Goslar. It was demolished in 1819–1822. Today only the porch of the north portal...
, was sold for demolition.
So-called Cathedral Porch
Around 1150 a porch was added in front of the north portal of the church, which remains the only part of the church preserved to this day. The former north door of the cathedral is now the back wall of the porch. The front of the lobby is decorated with two rows of niches with plaster sculptures that were originally coloured. The top row portrays Madonna with child in the middle, surrounded on both sides by chandeliers and angels, the original figures of angels having been lost and replaced by paintings. The bottom row shows, from left to right, Emperor Henry III, the patron saint of the cathedral, Simon, Matthew and Jude, as well as another, not clearly identifiable, imperial figure.In this hall today is a replica of the imperial throne (Kaiserstuhl), which was originally in the church. The original is in the vaults of the palace. The bronze side arms and backrest, which are ornamented with tendrils, date to the second half of the 11th century, whilst the sandstone plinths surrounding the actual seat are somewhat more recent. They are decorated by Romanesque animal figures and mythical creatures. The imperial throne was probably used by Henry IV. Apart from the throne of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in Aachen, it is the only surviving throne of a Holy Roman emperor from the Middle Ages. It was purchased in the 1840s by Prince Charles of Prussia and placed in the medieval-style monastery (Klosterhof) of Glienicke Palace
Glienicke Palace
Glienicke Palace is located on the Island of Berlin-Wannsee, near the Glienicke Bridge, on the B1 across from the Glienicke Hunting Lodge. It was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for Prince Carl of Prussia in 1826, The building, originally merely a cottage, was turned into a summer palace in...
in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
. It subsequently came into the possession of the Hohenzollerns and was used as the imperial chair for Emperor William I
William I, German Emperor
William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
at the opening of the first German Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
on 21 March 1871.
Palace Chapel of St. Ulrich
The plan of the double chapel of St. Ulrich forms a so-called Greek cross, with equal arms and three east apseApse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
s in the lower chapel. The upper chapel, however, is octagonal with only one eastern apse. Such a design is unique in Germany. A square opening above the cross connects the lower chapel with the upper one that was originally reserved for the imperial family. The two chapels are also connected by a stair tower that is nearly in between the north and the west arm of the cross. From this tower was the chapel Ulrich also by a walkway to the southern, younger, connected living room of the imperial family.
Today a sarcophagus stands right in the centre of the cross in the lower chapel, whose cover slab has a sculpture dating to about the middle of the 13th century. This is a life-size, horizontal figure of Henry III, his head on a pillow, a dog lying at his feet, in his right hand the sceptre
Sceptre
A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...
, in his left, the model of a church. The sarcophagus contains (in an octagonal gold capsule) the heart of Henry III
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors...
, which was interred in Goslar at his own request, and has been kept since 1884 in the Chapel of St. Ulrich.
Church of Our Lady
The Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche), actually the Palace Chapel of "Sanctae Mariae Virginis", or just St. Mary's Chapel (Marienkapelle) consisted of a central square building of about 10 metres length, onto which were joined the three eastern apses and, on the opposite side, of a westwork with two round towers. The building was two storeys high. The ground floor, with access on the south side, was for the "ordinary staff". The upper storey, probably designed with marble floor, was reserved, once again, for the imperial family and had a direct connection to the Kaiserhaus from the westwork.Curia buildings
CuriaEcclesiastical court
An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...
buildings also belonged to the palace district. They were like, for example, the Vicariate Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
in the "Domburg," the closer collegiate church grounds that were surrounded by a wall. Other curia buildings, such as the "von Steinberg" and "Herlinberg" bordered the square known as the Kaiserbleek to the north and south of between the collegiate church and the Kaiserhaus.
Parish church of St. Thomas
In the northeastern corner of the Domburg was St. Thomas' Church, built in the 11th century. It was the parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of the palace district.
Historical events
A number of significant historical events have taken place in the palace district including:- On 11 November 1050 Henry IVHenry IV, Holy Roman EmperorHenry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
was born here. - In the late summer of 1056 Pope Victor II was the guest of Henry III for several weeks in the Imperial Palace. He was present at his death in BodfeldBodfeldBodfeld was a small royal palace or lodge that was primarily established for hunting purposes and, when the town of Elbingerode was emerged, for the administration of ore mining in the central Harz that underpinned the power of the Ottonian and Salian kings and emperors in medieval Europe...
in the Harz and then organized the transfer of power to Henry's widow, Empress Agnes. - At Pentecost in 1063, the Goslar Precedence DisputeGoslar Precedence DisputeThe Goslar Precedence Dispute escalated at Pentecost in 1063 in the Goslar Collegiate Church of St. Simon and St. Jude from a dispute over the order of seating into an armed confrontation which resulted in several deaths...
led to a bloodbath in the cathedral, which was witnessed by the young Henry IV. A dispute broke out between Bishop Hezel of HildesheimHezel of HildesheimHezel of Hildesheim, also known as Hezilo, Hezelo, Hettilo or Ethilo , was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1054 to 1079.- Life :...
, and the Abbot of Fulda, Widerad, over the seating arrangements, which ended in a half-day long, bloody carnage. - In summer 1073 Henry IV had to escape from the Imperial Palace to the nearby castle of HarzburgHarzburgThe Harzburg, also called Großer Harzburg, is a former imperial castle on the edge of the Harz mountains directly above the spa resort of Bad Harzburg in Goslar district in the German state of Lower Saxony....
to flee the Saxon rebelsSaxon RebellionThe Saxon Rebellion or Rebellion of the Saxons refers to the struggle between the Salian royal family and the rebel Saxons during the reign of King Henry IV. This reached its climax in the period from summer 1073 until the end of 1075, in a rebellion that involved armed conflict...
. - At Christmas 1075 Henry IV received in Goslar a letter from Pope Gregory VIIPope Gregory VIIPope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
, in which he threatened him with excommunication, thus starting the Investiture ControversyInvestiture ControversyThe Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
. - In 1081 the antikingAntikingAn Antiking is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. Antikings are more often found in elected monarchies than in hereditary monarchies like those of England and France; such figures in hereditary...
to Henry IV, Hermann of SalmHermann of SalmHerman of Salm , also known as Herman of Luxembourg, was a count of Salm and German anti-king of the Holy Roman Empire who ruled from 1081 until his death...
, was crowned and anointed in the palace. - Between 1152 and 1188, the Imperial Palace was at times both the venue for, and at times the cause of, the dispute between Emperor Frederick IFrederick I, Holy Roman EmperorFrederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
and Duke Henry the LionHenry the LionHenry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
. - In July 1219 Frederick II held an imperial diet (ReichstagReichstag (Holy Roman Empire)The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
) at the Imperial Palace and on that occasion received the Imperial RegaliaImperial RegaliaThe Imperial Regalia, insignia, or crown jewels are the regalia of the Emperors and Kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance and the Imperial Sword...
, that Otto IV had kept at the Harzburg.
Ruin and restoration
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In 1865 walls in the Kaiserhaus again fell down and the possibility of demolition was on the agenda of Goslar's Town Council. This was averted and, instead, a state commission recommended that the building was restore. Construction work began on 14 August 1868. On 15 August 1875 Emperor William I paid a visit to the site and gave the project in effect a "national blessing". In 1879 the restoration of the building was completed, but the result went over the top from today's perspective. The nationalistic enthusiasm of the times was being expressed in the building of monuments and various architectural sins were committed. The arcade from the Kaiserhaus to the Chapel of St. Ulrich, the open stairway in front of the eastern face, the two replicas of Brunswick Lion
Brunswick Lion
The Brunswick Lion is a monument and probably the best-known landmark in the city of Brunswick . It stands on the Burgplatz square in front of Dankwarderode Castle and Brunswick Cathedral...
s and the equestrian statues of the Emperor Barbarossa and William I (built 1900-01), are the most obvious visual examples. Even inside the building, the monumental, historicised murals created by Professor Hermann Wislicenus
Hermann Wislicenus
Hermann Wislicenus was a German historical painter.-Biography:He studied art at Academy of Dresden and later became a student of Eduard Bendemann and Julius Schnorr. His first art work, “Abundance and Destitution,” was purchased by the Dresden Gallery in 1853...
in the period 1879-1897 testify to the national feeling of exuberance of that time.
In the years 1913/14 and again in 1922 archaeological investigations in the palace district were carried out by Professor Uvo Hölscher, thanks to which the foundations of the Church of Our Lady were re-discovered.
The palace today
The Imperial Palace is one of the most outstanding tourist attractions in the town of Goslar and the Harz region. The Kaiserhaus may be visited daily and guided tours are available, whilst, the old quarters are used for administrative purposes and exhibitions. In addition, in the Goslar Museum (town museum), there are exhibits from the palace district, especially from the Monastery of St. Simon and St. Jude, for example, the Krodo AltarKrodo Altar
The Krodo Altar in Goslar, Germany, is an altar made entirely of bronze and is the only surviving metal church altar from the Romanesque period. It was probably made in the late 11th century and is named after the Germanic "pseudo-god", Krodo. It was originally in the Collegiate Church of St....
and a number of stained glass windows.
Since 1992, the palace district, together with Goslar's Old Town and the Rammelsberg Mine have been designated as a world heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. A sculpture, "Goslar Warrior", Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, a winner of the Goslarer Kaiserring art prize, has stood in the palace garden behind the Kaiserhaus since 1975. On warmer summer evenings the large meadow around the two statues in front of the Imperial Palace used to be a popular meeting place for all kinds of people. Today there is a ban on alcohol and assembly anywhere in the palace grounds.
Sources
- Carl Wolff (Hrsg.): Die Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Hannover. Bd. II, 1 u. 2, Stadt Goslar, Hannover 1901
- Hans-Georg Uhl: Die Kaiserpfalz Goslar. 2. Auflage. Stadtverwaltung, Goslar 1958
- Uvo Hölscher: Die Kaiserpfalz zu Goslar (Kleine Kunstführer für Niedersachsen, Heft 14). 3. Auflage. Musterschmidt, Göttingen 1969. [Nachdruck von 1996, ISBN 3-89534-175-4]
- Monika Arndt: Die Goslarer Kaiserpfalz als Nationaldenkmal. Eine ikonographische Untersuchung. Lax, Hildesheim 1976, ISBN 3-7848-4011-6
- Monika Arndt: Der Weißbart auf des Rotbarts Throne. Mittelalterliches und preußisches Kaisertum in den Wandbildern des Goslarer Kaiserhauses. Goltze, Göttingen 1977
- Domkirche – Ehemalige Stiftskirche St. Simon und Juda. In: Helga Wäß: Form und Wahrnehmung mitteldeutscher Gedächtnisskulptur im 14. Jahrhundert. 2 Bde., Tenea, Berlin 2006. Band 2: Katalog ausgewählter Objekte vom Hohen Mittelalter bis zum Anfang des 15. Jahrhunderts. ISBN 3-86504-159-0
- Hans-Günther Griep: Goslars Pfalzbezirk und die Domkurien, Manuskript für Mitglieder des Museumsvereins Goslar e.V., Goslar, 1967
External links
- http://www.Goslar.de
- http://www.schaetze-der-welt.de/denkmal.php?id=103
- Video: Virtual reconstruction of Goslar Dome
- Artikel Tagungshotel gekrönter Häupter in Hannoversche Allgemeine ZeitungHannoversche Allgemeine ZeitungHannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung is a German newspaper with a circulation of 158.000 and a widespread resonance all over Germany. It is distributed in Hanover and in all Lower Saxony.Ulrich Neufert leads the HAZ as chief journalist...