The Krodo Altar (german: Krodoaltar) in

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') 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 ...

, Germany, is an altar made entirely of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and is the only surviving metal church altar from the Romanesque period. It was probably made in the late 11th century. About 1600 it was popularly named after a deity

Krodo Krodo according to the 1492 ''Saxon Chronicle'' incunable, probably written by the Brunswick goldsmith Conrad Bothe (c. 1475 – c. 1501) and printed in the studio of Peter Schöffer at Mainz, was a Germanic god of the Saxons. He is suppo ...

which is known only from the description and drawing by ''Cord Bote'' in his ''Sassenchronik'' ("History of the Saxons", 1492). It was originally in the

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 ...

of St. Simon and St. Jude (''Goslar Cathedral''; built 1047), which was part of the

Imperial Palace of Goslar The Imperial Palace of Goslar (german: link=no, Kaiserpfalz Goslar) is a historical building complex at the foot of the Rammelsberg hill in the south of the town of Goslar north of the Harz mountains, central Germany. It covers an area of about ...

. The altar had been removed by the time the church was demolished (1819–1822) and is now on exhibition in Goslar's Town Museum (''Stadtmuseum'').

Sources

* Reinhard Roseneck: ''Der Rammelsberg''. Verlag Goslarsche Zeitung, Goslar 2001, * Ursula Müller, Hans-Günther Griep, Volker Schadach: ''Kaiserstadt Goslar''. Verlag Volker Schadach, Goslar 2000, * Christopf Gutmann, Volker Schadach: ''Kaiserpfalz Goslar''. Verlag Volker Schadach, Goslar 2002,

References

Altars Goslar {{Church-architecture-stub