The Bamberg Cathedral

The Bamberg Cathedral Toads (Domkröte)

During the Bamberg cathedral's construction the Devil was said to have sent two terrible beasts, half lion and half toad, who worked during the nighthours to burrow beneath the cathedral and bring about its collapse. At some point they were turned to stone and now stand to the left and right of Adam's Door (Adamspforte).

The four tower cathedral (Dom in German) is mainly Gothic but with strong Romanesque influences -- the plans were changed twenty times during construction as traditionalists argued with progressives over the suitability of the new French Gothic style. The result is one of the most impressive medieval buildings in Germany.

Bamberg was especially important during the Ottonian through Gothic periods. A small settlement seems to have existed on the site since the seventh century, but Bamberg was essentially founded in the early 11th century (that is the 1000's) when the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II (Heinrich II) and his wife, the Empress Kunigunde (Kunegunde, Cunigunde), established a bishopric there in 1007, as the ecclesiastical heart of Germany and the base of operations for many of his activities. That meant that the church in the community gained the status of becoming a "cathedral" - Dom in German. This made Bamberg one of the last cathedrals to be founded in the early middle ages. Emperor Henry II (Heinrich II) hoped to create a "new Rome" in the eastern part of his domain, and to this end a cathedral, palace, markets, and settlement were built, forming a center of imperial power. Bamberg furnishes the best example of what the 10th and 11th centuries understood by functional city. Heinrich II (Henry II) had determined the whole plan between 1007 and 1024, the year of his death.

The starting point for the development was his own ancestral castle, which he offered to the new city. At the base of the castle, on the Regnitz river, was a settlement of fishermen which was also visited by merchants. This castle, called Castrum Babenberg, had previously belonged to the Babenbergs and gave its name to the new settlement. The castle's fortifications were preserved for the defense of the cathedral precinct that was built at the top of the hill. These fortifications had two gates, in whose upper stories chapels were later built, one led up to the Steigerwald forest and one down to the ford across the river.

Construction on the cathedral started in 1004 and finished eight years later. On his 40th birthday, on May 12, 1012, Emperor Heinrich II (Henry II) presided over the consecration of the great cathedral and dedicated the principal altar in the eastern choir to the Virgin Mary and the Saints Michael and George. He himself was a cannon there and would eventually be buried in the structure. Virtually the entire royal church was present at the consecration of the Bamberg Cathedral. Thirty-six bishops attended and in addition "an unbelievable crowd of clerics and laity" were there assembled; many who had been in disfavor with the king returned to his grace. The cathedral quickly became well known not for any monumentality of its construction, but for the beautiful paintings that decorated its interior.

Bamberg served the Emperor as the home of the sacred imperial images and Henry II (Heinrich II) showed his devotion to his foundation by lavishing gifts on Bamberg cathedral, including vestments, especially an embroidered cloak known as the Sternenmantel - the Star Cloak - for its unique star design (on display in Bamberg, in the Diözesanmuseum), ivory book covers, and manuscripts. The manuscripts were prepared in some of the greatest artistic foci of the Empire during the reigns of his predecessor and his own. In particular the Gospel Book of Otto III, regarded by some as the culminating achievement of Ottonian book art; the Pericopes Book of Heinrich II, which Henry Mayr-Harting has called "the apogee of angelic power in Ottonian art"; and the extraordinary Bamberg Apocalypse, prepared circa 1000. The Bamberg Apocalypse shows Otto III or Heinrich II witnessing the events of the end of time and is accompanied by the "Triumph of the Virtues over the Vices." It is a work of intense apocalyptic foreboding that some regard as "the first great German work of Art". The codex of the Bamberg Apocalypse contains the oldest depiction of the Antichrist outside the beatus tradition. All three manuscripts were prepared at Reichenau, and were leading examples of manuscript illustration.

Along with donating the cathedral and scattered lands, the Emperor gave the new town a Benedictine monastery, St. Michael's (Michelskirche), the canonry of St. Steffens (the dormitory for the priests serving in the cathedral), and probably the "upper parish church" as well. Later, St. Gangolf and St. Jacob's were added. from the beginning, the plan was to create a crown of churches up along the rise in the hill, and in later centuries the plan was continually renewed but never altered. Down through the centuries, the castle hill preserve the essential parts of the architectural order it had had from the beginning.

The cathedral we see today in Bamberg bears little relation to the building that was finished in 1012, instead today's cathedral is the work of a time two hundred years later. This first cathedral burned down in a great fire in 1081, that left only the walls standing. (A synod was able to be held in the cathedral in 1087). The new cathedral that was built in its place, was completed in 1111. It was finished under the direction of Bishop Otto (see side panel), who as Emperor Henry IV's chancellor, had gained experience in building cathedrals after directing, and probably working as artistic consultant for, the construction of the cathedral then being built in Speyer. The Speyer cathedral was the first in Germany to be built with a vaulted ceiling. But in Bamberg, Bishop Otto returned to the flat ceiling. Perhaps he was incorporating parts of the previous building into the new cathedral, and these would not support a vaulted ceiling, or perhaps he simply couldn't find qualified workers who had the knowledge to carry out such innovative construction. Bishop Otto is said to have covered the inside walls of the new cathedral with paintings that were in no way inferior to the first. Under his direction, artisans also added plaster (stucco) details to the inside columns, covered the entire roof in copper (not before 1128), and raised the flooring of St. George's choir. But this cathedral too was badly damaged in a second fire in 1185 that raced through the entire hilltop district, although once again the outside walls seem to have survived.

From the beginning, Henry II's plan was to create a crown of churches up along the ascent of the hill, and in later centuries this plan was continually renewed and altered. Down through the centuries, this fortified hill area has maintained the essential parts of the architectural order it had from the beginning. The contours of today's "Old Palace" (the complex of buildings Alte Hofhaltung that stands between the Cathedral and the Neue Residenz Palace today) still follow the layout of the first ducal palace. The original palace was not torn down until 1577. Most of the present-day buildings visible have Gothic and Renaissance origins. From the original ducal palace, one used the side entrance to the cathedral, the present-day "Royal Portal" or "Prince's Portal" in English;- the Fürstenpforte (pictured at left), facing Cathedral Square (Domplatz). It has ten recessed arches and an interesting sculpture of the last judgment.

The Last Judgement above the door in the Prince's Portal (Fürstenpforte)
 The Blessed on the left; The Damned on the right.

The Adamspforte Entrance

Adam's Door (Adamspforte) on the south side, was the main entrance to the cathedral in the middle ages for worshippers coming from the city. The Blessings Door (Gnadenpforte) was the entrance for clerics, and as such, originally it was the more highly decorated entrance. The impressive six statues and niches of Adam's Door (Adamspforte) were only added later. Looking at the figures, outermost first, on the right are Eve, Adam and Peter. The statues of Adam and Eve, which decorated the Adamspforte were the first monumental nude sculptures in German art. On the left side, the three statues are St. Stephan, Empress Kunigunde (Kunegunde, Cunigundis), and Emperor Heinrich II.

After World War II the statues were removed. In 1993 they, along with the stone canopies above them, were put on display inside the cathedral. The pedestals and niches to the sides of the entrance remained empty. But during the State Fair in 2002, copies were made of the figures and placed back outside.

The thought that the number of relics increased the power and honor of the church in which they were guarded appears frequently in the Middle Ages. For the eight altars of the Bamberg Cathedral there were not just eight but 132 relics, including a piece of Peter's chains, blood of St. Paul, a piece of the sudarium of Christ (the headcloth used for his corpse), the head of St. Damian, as well as whole skeletons are individual bones of many of the saints. Thus Bamberg Cathedral was a sort of relic museum, and it was not the only one. Starting in the Carolingian, and especially in the late Middle Ages, relics were a favorite object of high-ranking collectors, and people thought about how to acquire very rare pieces which would particularly impress visitors.

The status of Bamberg was enhanced by the burial of the imperial couple in the cathedral that they had founded. An additional consequential figure associated with Ottonian Bamberg was Pope Clement II (1046 -- 1047), who was bishop of Bamberg before his elevation and was also buried in Bamberg Cathedral.

Bamberg Cathedral's connections with both the Holy Roman Emperor and a Pope gave the church a unique character that continued to be reflected in the buildings decorative programs through the Middle Ages. The importance of the emperor and his wife was heightened by Henry's canonization in 1146 and Kunigunde's in 1200.

The Tomb of Heinrich II and Kunigunde (Kunegunde, Cunigunde)

The tomb in the Bamberg Cathedral where their remains are preserved was designed and executed by Hans Thielmann (circa 1500). Scenes in bas-relief on the sides of the sarcophagus represent St. Kunigunde (Kunegunde, Cunigunde) distributing alms to the poor, paying the architects and masons who built the cathedral, and undergoing the ordeal by fire. The death of Henry II is depicted, as also the supposed rescue of his soul by St. Lawrence. Here Henry and Kunigunde (Kunegunde,Cunigunde) are represented lying side-by-side - a tight fit one might think, and in fact there is a legend about this. This is the way they are normally represented, wearing imperial robes and a crown and holding a lily or a model of a church between them. This was no mere artistic device, for the Ottonian Dynasty ranked the empresses as co-regents of the Empire. When depicted alone, St. Kunigunde (Kunegunde) sometimes holds a church, representing that of Kaufungen, or walks on the red hot plowshares (the cutting blade of a plough), a reference to the legend that she had undergone this ordeal by fire when her chastity had been impugned.

see also:
How Heinrich II and Kunigunde (Kunegunde) became Saints and more about their Tomb

The present cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter and St. George, was built after a fire in 1183 under Bishop Ekbert von Andechs (1203-1237) and consecrated once again on Henry II's birthday, on May 6, 1237. This church follows the general plan of the early Ottonian churches with two choirs. In fact, recent excavations show that the first cathedral was almost the same size as the one we see today. Bishop Ekbert followed the original layout but refined them. There is a transept on the western end of the building and four exterior towers. Because of the double choir, the main entrance to the cathedral, the Prince's Portal (Fürstenpforte) is located in the middle of the nave's north side. The cathedral's interior exhibits the heavy mural surface and regular spatial organization typical of the German interpretation of Gothic architecture. In the Gothic style, through the breaking up of wall surfaces, and the high relief of peers and moldings, the painter tended more and more to resign his task to the sculptor: innumerable niches had to be filled with freestanding examples of the plastic art. Inspired by that joyous acceptance of life in its entirety which was characteristic of the time, the sculptors threw themselves with devotion into the new task. The apostles on the choir screen of the Bamberg Cathedral are no longer ranked side by side in monumental peace, as in the representations of earlier times. One turns to the other in animated conversation. The artist tries to render the diversity of character and the conflict of opinion. He is not content with the play of gestures and of hands.

The view of the Jews as blind to the truth and of the Christian church as superseding the synagogue is graphically expressed and symbolically condensed in a pair of 13th century statues representing the church and the synagogue outside of the Bamberg cathedral. The church is represented as a noble and proud maiden. She is crowned and holds the ecclesia in one hand and a staff in the other. In contrast the synagogue is portrayed as blindfolded, her crown fallen and her staff broken. Victory swells the robe of the triumphant Church, while that of the vanquished synagogue hangs smoothly down (pictured at left).

The sculpture at Bamberg Cathedral represents one of the finest ensembles in any German cathedral. The work consists of three sculpted portals: the Mercy Portal (Gnadenpforte), next to the east choir on the north side; the Adam Portal (Adamspforte), also next to the east choir but on the south side; and the already mentioned Prince's Portal on the north side of the nave. Additional sculpture is found in the interior of the building, including the choir screen, figures placed against interior columns, and tombs. Of the three portals, the work on the Mercy Portal is the earliest. It has a semicircular tympanum (arch above doorway) showing the Virgin and Child surrounded by the cathedral's patron saints, Peter and George, and it's builders, Henry II and Kunigunde (Kunegunde), with two smaller scale ecclesiastics in the outer corners. The only other sculpted adornment on this portal is a capital frieze of marchers.

The interior sculpture at the cathedral includes a visitation group, the renowned Bamberg Rider (Bamberger Reiter), and several other figures associated with the Bamberg/Reims workshop. There are considerable problems with the original placement of much of the interior sculpture.

The Bamberg Rider (Bamberger Reiter)

The Bamberg Rider has become one of the popular icons of German medieval art. The figure, horse, and plinth (base) are made of seven pieces of sandstone and represent a considerable technical achievement, although the rider's specific identity is uncertain. The original coloring was purposefully removed in the early 1800's on the orders of the Bavarian King, Ludwig I. Originally, the Bamberg Rider sat on a white-gray horse; the harness was gilded in gold. His robe was basically yellow, and over this his cloak had a alternating orange and dark red pattern enhanced by silver colored tin foil. The hem of the cloak and robe, the crown, belt and stirrup belts were gold leaf. The face was very light skinned, and in the eyes the pupils and borders of the iris were painted black.

Stylistically the figure resembles the figure of Philip Augustus at Reims, and proposed identifications include Henry II or another German ruler, Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and King Stephen of Hungary (997-1038), who was married to Henrich II's sister Gisela. In addition to the dynastic connections, the original coloring of the statue, which gave a dark brown or black color to the rider's hair, suggests it might be King Stephan as well.

King Stephan is also represented standing larger than life next to the statues of Heinrich and Kunigunde (Kunegunde), at the left side of the entrance to the cathedral, the Adamspforte. King Stephan later became Saint Stephan in 1083, and most of the identifications of the Bamberg Rider suggest the concepts of saintly ruler, church foundation, an association of secular and religious power, so important in the imagery at Bamberg Cathedral. There are significant parallels between the Bamberg Rider and a slightly later Magdeburg Rider. But unlike the Magdeburg Rider, the Bamberg Rider is not freestanding and may have always had an interior placement.

The Bamberg Rider is presently positioned on the north pier in the entrance to the east choir. He sits firmly on his horse looking away from the wall with the reins in one hand and the strings of his mantle and the other and seems to embody the knightly virtues so important in the medieval domestication of those who fight.

Bamberg Cathedral continued to receive sculptural embellishments during the later Middle Ages.  Wooden sculpted choir stalls dating from around 1380 were originally present in both the east and the west choirs of the cathedral.  A frieze of Henry II and Kunigunde (Kunegunde) appear in the decorative program of the choir stalls along with saints, profits, and a collection of hybrid creatures.  Tillman Riemannschneider sculpted the tomb of Henry II and Kunigunde (Kunegunde) between 1499 and 1513.  Originally located in the east end of the nave, it consists of effigies of the emperor and sat on a tomb chest decorated with narrative panels of their lives, drawn mostly from the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Vorragine. A virgin altarpiece of 1523 by Veit Stoss, originally made for a Carmelite convent in Nuremberg, was subsequently transferred to Bamberg by Stoss' son during the reformation.

Most of the interior walls are bare today, because the Bavarian King Ludwig I stripped off the medieval paintwork in the 19th century.

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