![Agraffe Essener Domschatz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Agraffe_Essener_Domschatz.JPG)
The Essen Cathedral Treasury (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: Essener Domschatz) is one of the most significant collections of religious artworks in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. A great number of items of treasure are accessible to the public in the treasury chamber of
Essen Minster
Essen Minster (German: ), since 1958 also Essen Cathedral () is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands o ...
. The
cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
manages the treasury chamber, not as a museum as in some places, but as the place in which liturgical implements and objects are kept, which continued to be used to this day in the service of God, so far as their conservation requirements allow.
History
The Cathedral Treasury derives from the treasury of the former
Canonesses of Essen, which passed to
St Johann Baptist after the
secularisation
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
of the order in 1803.
During the
Ruhr Uprising in 1920, the entire treasury was smuggled out to
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
in secret, from which it was returned in 1925.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the Treasury was taken first to
Warstein
Warstein () is a municipality with town status in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of Sauerland.
Geography
Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest) at a brook called Wäs ...
, then to
Albrechtsburg
The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic and early Renaissance castle erected from 1471 till about 1495. It is located in the town centre of Meissen in the German state of Saxony. It is situated on a hill above the river Elbe, adjacent to the Meissen ...
in
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
and from there to
Siegen
Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...
, where it was sealed in Hain tunnel to protect it from
aerial bombing
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, Fighter aircraft, fighters, bomber, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopter ...
. After the end of the war it was found there by American troops and brought to the State Museum in
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...
, and later to a collection of displaced artworks in
Schloss Dyck
Castle Dyck (german: Schloss Dyck) is a moated castle in the Rhineland region of Germany. It is located in the municipality of Jüchen in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, between Grevenbroich and Mönchengladbach.
History
The h ...
,
Rheydt
Rheydt () is a borough of the Germany, German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 1918 and then again from 1933 (due to a split from Mönchengladbach arranged by Joseph Goebbels, who was born there) through ...
. From April to October 1949, the Essen Cathedral Treasury was displayed in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and after that it was brought back to Essen.
In 1953 the Treasure was displayed in an exhibition in the
Villa Hügel
The Villa Hügel is a 19th-century mansion in Bredeney, now part of Essen, Germany. It was built by the industrialist Alfred Krupp in 1870-1873 as his main residence and was the home of the Krupp family until after World War II. More recently, th ...
. In 1957 the Treasure became the property of the then newly established
Diocese of Essen
The Diocese of Essen is a bishopric of the Catholic Church in Germany, founded on 1 January 1958. The Bishop of Essen is seated in Essen Cathedral (''Essener Dom'' or ''Essener Münster''), once the church of Essen Abbey, and over one thousand yea ...
. The Treasury Chamber was first made accessible to the public without charge in 1958 at the wish of the first Bishop of Essen,
Franz Hengsbach
Franz Hengsbach (10 September 1910 – 24 June 1991) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Essen from 1957 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988.
Biography
Franz Hengsbach was born in ...
.
The Treasury had to be closed from 15 September 2008 until 15 May 2009 for a structural extension. The Treasure was displayed as the opening exhibit of the
Ruhr Museum
The Ruhr Museum, formerly the Ruhrland Museum, is a diverse natural history and cultural history museum for the Ruhrgebiet in Essen, Germany. The sponsor is the ''Stiftung Ruhr Museum'' (''Ruhr Museum Foundation''). Director since 2012 is the his ...
in the former coal washery of the
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German Zeche Zollverein) is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, and mining activities took plac ...
from 20 October 2008 until 8 February 2009 with the tagline ''Gold vor Schwarz'' (“Gold in Black”). The new display of the Cathedral Treasure was opened on 15 May 2009, which was over seventy percent larger than the previous space and improved in line with the latest ideas in
museum education
Museum education is a specialized field devoted to developing and strengthening the education role of informal education spaces and institutions such as museums.
In a critical report called ''Excellence and Equity'' published in 1992 by the Ameri ...
.
Collection
The collection is exceptional in its completeness because only a few pieces of the Abbey's Treasure, such as the golden shrine of
St Marsus
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...
have been lost in the course of time, and particularly because the ''liber ordinarius'' survives, in which the
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
use of the objects is laid out. The Essen Cathedral Treasury contains several artistically significant works, particularly from the
Ottonian period, such as:
* Four
processional cross
A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to ...
es from Ottonian times: the
Cross of Otto and Mathilde
The Cross of Otto and Mathilde, Otto-Mathilda Cross, or First Cross of Mathilde (German: ) is a medieval ''crux gemmata'' (jewelled cross) processional cross in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. It was created in the late tenth century and was used on ...
, the
Senkshmelz Cross, the
Cross of Theophanu and the
Cross of Mathilde
The Cross of Mathilde (german: Mathildenkreuz; la, Crux Matildae) is an Ottonian processional cross in the ''crux gemmata'' style which has been in Essen in Germany since it was made in the 11th century. It is named after Abbess Mathilde (died i ...
* A golden crown, which is claimed to be the
Childhood Crown of Otto III
The Essen Crown (German language, German: ''Essener Krone'') is an Ottonian golden crown in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. It was formerly claimed that it might have been the crown with which the three-year-old Otto III was Coronation of the Hol ...
, but is generally dated to the eleventh century. It is, at any rate, the oldest surviving
lily crown.
* The
Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian, the gold-sheathed ceremonial sword of the abbesses since Ottonian times
* The
Theophanu Gospels, an eleventh-century manuscript with a gilt cover and carved
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
plate in the middle.
* A cross-shaped reliquary for a
Holy Nail
Relics that are claimed to be the Holy Nails with which Jesus was crucified are objects of veneration among some Christians, particularly Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. In Christian symbolism and art, they figure among the ''Arma ...
, gifted by Theophanu.
* The
Golden Madonna
''Golden Madonna'' (Italian: ''La madonnina d'oro'') is a 1949 British-Italian drama film directed by Luigi Carpentieri and Ladislao Vajda and starring Phyllis Calvert, Tullio Carminati and Michael Rennie. It was considered a lost film and was o ...
, the oldest sculpture of
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
in western art (Kept in the Minster).
* A two metre tall
Seven-armed candelabrum from Ottonian times (Kept in the Minster)
In addition to the Ottonian artworks, valuable objects from later times also belong to the Cathedral Treasury, such as the
Bust of Marsus and sixteen
Burgundian fibula
The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...
e from the fourteenth century.
[Birgitta Falk, "Die sechzehn französisch-burgundischen Agraffen im Essener Domschatz," in Birgitta Falk, Thomas Schilp, Michael Schlagheck (edd.): ''... wie das Gold den Augen leuchtet. Schätze aus dem Essener Frauenstift'' (= ''Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift.'' Bd. 5). Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2007, , pp. 215–241; Susanne Conrad, "16 Agraffen aus dem Essener Domschatz," in ''Jahrbuch der rheinischen Denkmalpflege'' 42, 2011, pp. 240–243.] Several manuscripts also belong to the Cathedral Treasury, including the
Great Carolingian Gospels (Ms. 1) of linguistical and artistic significance, the ''Liber Ordinarius'' of Essen (Ms. 19), and the Necrology of Essen (Ms. 20).
There is also a vitrine in the Treasury with loaned items from the Diocesan Museum, such as the
crosier
A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...
,
mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
s,
pectoral cross
A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin ''pectoralis'', "of the chest") is a cross that is worn on the chest, usually suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. In ancient and medieval times pectoral crosses were worn by both clergy and ...
es and rings of the deceased Bishops of Essen.
See also
*
Aachen Cathedral Treasury
The Aachen Cathedral Treasury (german: Aachener Domschatzkammer) is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in E ...
*
Trier Cathedral Treasury
Bibliography
*
Georg Humann
Georg Humann (8 December 1847, in Essen-Rellinghausen, Rellinghausen (now a suburb of Essen) – 18 January 1932, in Aachen) was a German art historian.
Life
Humann belong to a long-established Essen family, his father was Steward (office), ste ...
. ''Die Kunstwerke der Münsterkirche zu Essen.'' Schwann, Düsseldorf 1904.
* Heinz Köhn. ''Der Essener Münsterschatz. Eine Einführung'', Essen 1953.
*
Victor H. Elbern. ''Der Münsterschatz von Essen.'' Kühlen, Mönchengladbach 1959.
*
Leonhard Küppers and
Paul Mikat
Paul Mikat (10 December 1924 – 24 September 2011) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only ...
. ''Der Essener Münsterschatz.'' Fredebeul u. Koenen, Essen 1966.
*
Alfred Pothmann. "Der Essener Kirchenschatz aus der Frühzeit der Stiftsgeschichte." In Günter Berghaus (ed.): ''Herrschaft, Bildung und Gebet. Gründung und Anfänge des Frauenstifts Essen.'' Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2000, , pp. 135–153.
*
Jan Gerschow. "Der Schatz des Essener Frauenstifts bis zum 15. Jahrhundert. Zur Geschichte der Institution." In ''Das Münster am Hellweg'' 56, 2003, pp. 79–110.
*
Klaus Gereon Beuckers and Ulrich Knapp. ''Farbiges Gold. Die ottonischen Kreuze in der Domschatzkammer Essen und ihre Emails.'' Domschatzkammer Essen, Essen 2006, .
*
Birgitta Falk
Birgitta is the Swedish and Icelandic form of the Irish Gaelic female name ''Brighid''. Brighid or Brigid was the name of an ancient Celtic goddess, and its English form is Bridget. Birgitta and its alternate forms Birgit and Britta became common n ...
, Thomas Schilp, and Michael Schlagheck (edd.). ''... wie das Gold den Augen leuchtet. Schätze aus dem Essener Frauenstift'' (= ''Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift.'' Bd. 5). Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2007, .
* Birgitta Falk (ed.). ''Gold vor Schwarz. Der Essener Domschatz auf Zollverein.'' Catalogue of the exhibition in the Ruhr Museum, Essen (20 October 2008 - 11 January 2009). Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2008, .
* Birgitta Falk (ed.). ''Der Essener Domschatz.'' Klartext Verlag, Essen 2009, .
* Ina Germes-Dohmen. "Nach Umbau und Erweiterung. Der Essener Domschatz präsentiert sich mit neuem Konzept und Design." In ''Das Münster am Hellweg'' 62, 2009, pp. 150–155.
External links
Website of the Essen Cathedral TreasuryThe Essen Cathedral Treasury on the homepage of the Association of Church Museums and Treasuries of the German Speaking World
References
{{coord, 51.4557, N, 7.0141, E, source:wikidata, display=title, format=dms
Essen Minster
Museums in North Rhine-Westphalia
Religious museums in Germany
Ottonian metalwork
Church treasuries