FRANKFURT ST BARTHOLOMEW CATHEDRAL
Emperor's Coronation Church and the Dom Museum
The Frankfurter Dom St. Bartholomäus is the gothic era main cathedral
of Frankfurt built from about 1356 to 1425. The bustling city known as
Germany’s business center rose to prominence in the late middle
ages and early Renaissance over-taking nearby Mainz. It was from 1562
to about 1800 that the kings of Germany’s Holy Roman Empire were
elected (see Aachen Imperial Cathedral). That particular form of feudal monarchy which brought together
all the princes of small dukedoms in a process where the king or emperor
(kaiser) was elected by his fellow princes. Not exactly democracy, but
a process which kept all the noble families from killing each other,
left to fight wars with other royal nation states and lands. That is
why the royal personages you’ll find at castles and palaces in
the history records, all those Fredericks and Karls are referred to as
Electors or Prince Electors.
The imperial elections college consisting of three Archbishops and four
Prince-Electors, principally the Palatine Electors (later more were added)
was convened in the Wahlkappel, the chapel on the south side built for
these occasions. After a great deal of squabbling, threating and agreements
to marry off relatives Holy Roman Emperor was chosen. The coronation
of the emperor-elect as king of all of Germany would be held in the main
nave of the cathedral with the Kaiser crowned before the central altar,
which was claimed to contain the relic of the severed head of St Bartholomew.
But as with many such relics hadn’t been seen for some time. The
last coronation was in 1792. The last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II,
dissolved the Holy Roman Empire under pressure from Napoleon who swept
across the region and made deals with a handful of powerful princes which
would pave way for the French soldier to make himself an Emperor.
The
cathedral of St Batholomew Frankfurt am Main is the largest church in
the city, though not the oldest, and others in the region are larger
and
more architecturally
significant. The people of Frankfurt refer to it as an imperial church
for its role in the imperial story, but generally not considered one
of the “Kaiser Doms” the older cathedrals at Mainz (see Mainz
Romanesque Cathedral), Speyer (see Speyer
Cathedral) and Worms (see Martin
Luther at Worms), more important
in the early part of the empire.
The Frankfurt
Cathedral was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1867, when it was rebuilt
in its current form. It also suffered
during the heavy bombing of Frankfurt during WWII with the interior
badly burnt and reconstructed again in 1950, which gives its high reaching
gothic arches a rather clean, pristine and thoroughly recent feeling,
with the interior stonework painted red to approximate the original
sandstone
coloration. The church's interior has some elaborate surviving tombs
and coats of arms of the Palatine royal families hung on the walls.
Frankfurt Cathedral Museum
Perhaps
most interesting at the Frankfurt Dom is the Cathedral Museum. In a separate
entrance from the main cathedral, set up in the former
medieval era cloisters the museum at Frankfurt presents artifacts
from the history of the cathedral, both as the site of the elections
of
German Emperor kings, established by the “Golden Bull” of
1356 - not an animal but a document when Emperor Charles IV decreed
that Frankfurt
and Aachen would be the sole cities of the imperial elections, with
all but three held at Frankfurt.
The
museum has on display the magnificent liturgical vestments of the Roman
Catholic Church including the elaborate
robes (though Frankfurt never had a Bishop). Most of the museum's exhibits
come from the Cathedral's treasure house of gold and silver altar utensils
and reliquaries, as well as items found in the discovery of a grave
under dating from the 7th Century. The location of the grave is marked
by a
floor slab just as you enter the Cathedral nave.
As you travel about Frankfurt, in souvenir shops and other locations
you may see paper hats or other representative images of the crown
of the Holy Roman Emperor, one of the symbols of Frankfurt from his
days
as the coronation seat. While the Frankfurt History Museum is undergoing
some reconstruction, in the Cathedral Museum you can view the Imperial
Crown, first made for Emperor Otto I in the 10th Century, along with
the Orb and Sceptor. These are replicas made in 1913 for a commemoration
ceremony before the outcome of WWI permanently did away with the empire.
The real imperial jewels are in Vienna (see Imperial Treasure Chamber).
Visiting the Frankfurt Cathedral and Museum
The cathedral is open daily, with active services. The Cathedral museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 5pm and weekends 11am to 5pm, Admission is €3. The cathedral is a stop on the Frankfurt tram. Nearby are the roman ruins of Frankfurt’s early days as an outpost on the Roman Empire’s northern border. Surrounding the cathedral is a district of eclectic art stores and galleries in the neighborhood of the Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art and across the street is the Frankfurt Caricature Museum of satirical cartoon art (see Caricatura Museum). © Bargain Travel Europe
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Dom Museum
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See Also:
ST PETER AND ALEXANDER TREASURY
DRESDEN'S OUR LADY FRAUENKIRCHE
