AACHEN CATHEDRAL
Imperial Coronation Church of Charlemagne
When you see images of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (Charles the Great, Karl der Gross) especially in the region of western Germany he may often be holding a building in his hand, the Imperial Cathedral of Aachen, the oldest Cathedral in Northern Europe and relatively rare in its form. The cathedral as it stands today is the result of later additions but the core building, the Carolingian Palatine Chapel, originally the Royal Church of St Mary was ordered built in Aachen by the king who first united much of the continent into an empire. Beginning in 936, until 1531, for 595 years, the cathedral at Aachen was the site of Coronation of thirty German kings of the Holy Roman Empire and a dozen queens and it is where the “great” Charles I is buried.
Charlemagne was crowned as King of Franconia in 768 and as Emperor of Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800 by Pope Leo III, the first emperor sanctioned by now Catholic Rome in 300 hundred years. Charlemagne’s rule of the Frankish state referred to as the Carolingian Empire marked the beginning of the Middle-Ages. Charles didn’t come to power through kindness. He was co-ruler with his brother, until his brother died under mysterious circumstance. He was responsible for massacres in bringing Catholicism to regions he conquered, but united most of Western Europe under one flag for the first time since the end of the Roman Empire. His reign of brought the Carolingian Renaissance, spurring a revival of cultural and creative awakening.
Palatine Church
The design of the Palatine Church at Aachen is credited to Odo of Metz, who may have been Armenian, and influenced by Byzantine architecture when can be seen in the octagonal shape of the original church, quite different than other “Romanesque” churches, but seen in the Templar Chapel in Metz (see Templar Chapel Metz), with a design inspired by the San Vitale Church in Ravenna, Italy, built under the Roman Emperor Justinian, with some of the architectural elements brought to Aachen from the Italian church. The St Mary’s Chapel suffered damage during incursions in the region by the Normans, the Vikings who made permanent settlements in coastal France, eventually supplanting the Carolingians in Normandy and England.
Aachen was founded as a spa town for its rather sulfuric aromatic spring waters. It gained importance between 798 and 802 as Charles brought a number of significant relics from the Constantinople and Jerusalem to Aachen, making the city and its church a major pilgrimage site. Charlemagne chose it as his capital because of its central location between three of his major territories, and in his death in 814, he was laid to rest there, with his gold reliquary still gleaming in the center of the chapel.
Barbarossa and Charlemagne
Frederick Barbarossa (see Imperial Ruins Kaiserswerth) tried to have Charlemagne canonized. The idea wasn’t recognized by the Vatican, but the move brought more pilgrims and the addition of the Shrine for Charlemagne and the Shrine for the Holy Relics in 1215 and 1228, with the church established as a Cathedral. Further constructions came in the 13th and 14th Centuries, with the Gothic Choir Hall begun in 1355 and consecrated in 1414 on the 600th Anniversary of the death of Charlemagne, just celebrating another 600 years in 2014 (see Charlemagne Anniversary Exhibits). Further additions were made over time with the bell tower steeple added in 1884. The Aachen Cathedral was the first building in Germany listed a a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The eight corner pillars of the St Mary’s Chapel rise high above the octagon chamber on ornate marble and gold, with the Barbarossa Candelabrum hanging above the floor,. In the gallery, in medieval times only accessible by the king and his royal retinue, is where the coronation throne of the Charlemagne still stands, and where the Holy Roman Emperor German kings were crowned for six centuries, beginning with Otto I in 936 until Maximillian II was crowned in Frankfurt in 1562 (see Imperial Dom Museum Frankfurt). The Choir Hall was known in the middle ages as the “glass house” of Aachen for its stained glass windows surrounding the repository of the Holy Relics. The original glass and much of the choir and shrines were destroyed in the heavy bombing of World War II which reduced much of historic Aachen to rubble. The gold and precious stone Evangelical Pulpit was added to the church by Henry II. Other treasures of the cathedral are held in the Cathedral Treasure Chamber in a separate building.
Visiting the Imperial Cathedral of Aachen
The Cathedral is open daily from 7am to 7pm April to December and 7am to 6pm January to March, closed during services. It is free to enter, with photography allowed with the purchase of a permit for 3 Euros. The Cathedral Treasure Chamber is open 10am to 1 pm on Mondays and 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday from April to December, closing at 5 pm January to March. Admission for the treasure chamber is €5 adults, €4 students and seniors, with a family tickets for €10. Choir Concerts are sometimes held in the Cathedral throughout the year. Look for statues of Charlemagne in the square between the Cathedral and the old Town Hall built in 1349 for the coronation of Charles IV, and inside the Town Hall in the Coronation Hall where celebrations were held following the crowning ceremonies and events are still held. The Town Hall is open daily from 10am to 6pm, occasionally closed for special events. © Bargain
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See Also:
GROSSMÜNSTER CATHEDRAL – ZURICH
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CATHEDRAL - EMPEROR'S SPIRES
