Aachen city hall Imperial Regalia replicas

The so-called Sabre of Charlemagne (

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 ...

: ''Säbel Karls des Großen'') is an early sabre of Hungarian (Magyar) type (presumably made in the early 10th century) which has exceptionally been preserved (as opposed to recovered from the archaeological record) as part of the Aachen regalia of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. Along with the rest of the imperial regalia from both

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

and

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, it is now kept in the

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

, Vienna. The Sabre of Charlemagne is not to be confused with

Joyeuse Joyeuse (; fro, Joiuse; meaning "joyous, joyful") was, in medieval legend, the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. A sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now ...

, another sword claimed to have been

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's personal weapon and used as

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...

, but associated with the

coronation of the French monarch The accession of the King of France to the royal throne was legitimized by a ceremony performed with the Crown of Charlemagne at the Reims Cathedral. In late medieval and early modern times, the new king did not need to be anointed in order to b ...

rather than the Holy Roman Emperor. Übergabe der Reichskleinodien durch die amerikaner in wien

History

The sabre is of the Eastern European type and most likely dates to the first half of the 10th century. According to tradition,

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

recovered the weapon when he opened Charlemagne's grave in AD 1000. 19th-century antiquarian scholarship was prepared to accept the weapon's Carolingian age,"perhaps from the gifts brought by

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

". Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, ''Beschreibung der ehemals zu Aachen aufbewahrten drey kaiserlichen Krönungs-Zierden'' (1801)
p. 22
but the modern estimate, while compatible with its association with Otto III, rules out any direct connection with Charlemagne. When

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

troops approached Aachen in

1794 Events January–March * January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). * January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States ...

the Imperial regalia located there were taken to the Capuchin abbey at

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, then 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 1798 and finally to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1801. The sabre was stored in the Treasury of the

in Vienna. On the orders of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, the imperial relics were brought to

in 1938, where they were displayed in the Katharinenkloster. 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 ...

they were stored in the

Historischer Kunstbunker The Historische Kunstbunker (Historic art bunker) is a tunnel complex under Nuremberg Castle in the old city of Nuremberg, southern Germany. It forms part of the Nuremberg Historic Mile. In the Middle Ages, a network of rock passages was built ...

to protect them from aerial bombardment. The Imperial regalia were found there by American soldiers in 1945 and returned to the Hofburg in 1946.

References

* Hermann Fillitz. ''Die Insignien und Kleinodien des Heiligen Römischen Reiches''. Schroll, Wien und München 1954. * Wilhelm Schwemmer. "Die Reichskleinodien in Nürnberg 1938–1945" in ''Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg'', Vol. 65, 1978, pp. 397–413
online
*

Sabine Haag Sabine Haag (born 28 February 1962 in Bregenz) is an Austrian art historian, who has served as the director general of the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 2009. She specialises in art made from amber and ivory Ivory is a hard, white materia ...

(ed.). ''Meisterwerke der Weltlichen Schatzkammer'', Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien, 2009, . * Jan Keupp et al. (eds.). ''„… die keyserlichen zeychen …“ Die Reichskleinodien – Herrschaftszeichen des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'', Regensburg 2009, . * Ernst Kubin. ''Die Reichskleinodien. Ihr tausendjähriger Weg''. Amalthea, Wien und München 1991, {{ISBN, 3-85002-304-4.

External links

*
Säbel Karls des Großen
' in the image database of the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

, Vienna. Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne Sabres Medieval European swords Individual weapons

History

See also

References

External links