Visiting Bamberg, Germany's Cathedral in Bavaria with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
The tomb of Pope Clement II (1005 – 1047) in Bamberg’s Saint Pierre and Saint George Cathedral has made it a pilgrimage site for Germans and tourists of many countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Russia as one can see from tourist guides available in these languages in the cathedral.
Unlike most
popes, who are buried in Rome, Clement II made it his express desire to be
buried in Bamberg, which he described as “…my friend, my sister, my bride, my
dove” according to Bamberg for old and
new friends: A guide through the town by Karin Dengler-Schreiber (ISBN:
978-3-89889-182-0). Today it is possible
to view Clement II’s effigy as you enter the cathedral while his tomb is in the
west choir of the cathedral. (It is not
possible to visit the area around the tomb.)
To the left of the altar, you can walk down to the crypt to view tombs under the floor. A towering black Madonna sculpture sits in the corner. Her eyes are slits. Her angular face offers no comfort as you would normally expect from a Madonna, who usually intercedes on man's behalf before Heaven.
The black Madonna's responsibility is judgment on earth. Her color is black not from aging, but from selection to reflect soil. The black Madonna deals with death, and Christian burial is in soil. The black Madonna's role is one of judgment upon death.
Despite the prevalence of black Madonnas in Catholic Churches in Europe, the only other ones I have seen in Europe are at Chartres Cathedral in France. The black Madonna in the crypt there functions like the one in Bamberg.
Upstairs the black Madonna glass window and the black Madonna sculpture both have infant Jesus on the knees. Their black color presages Christ's death. Women pray around the black Madonna sculpture, but this probably comes more from the fact that the shawl of Mary is with her more from worship of a graven image.
Both Mary as the intercessor of man before heaven and the black Madonna as judge of life lived on earth are accepted by the Catholic Church for believers.
However, Bamberg cathedral’s most famous artwork, the Bamberg Rider (after 1225), is on view overhead by the cathedral entryway. The light streaming in through the window to the left of the equestrian statue makes the sculpture appear to emerge from the pillar it rests on. No one knows the identity of the Bamberg Rider, but all agree he is the epitome of a feudal knight. The Bamberg Rider is a famous symbol of the city, but Bamberg is important to German culture for more than its art alone.
The black Madonna's responsibility is judgment on earth. Her color is black not from aging, but from selection to reflect soil. The black Madonna deals with death, and Christian burial is in soil. The black Madonna's role is one of judgment upon death.
Despite the prevalence of black Madonnas in Catholic Churches in Europe, the only other ones I have seen in Europe are at Chartres Cathedral in France. The black Madonna in the crypt there functions like the one in Bamberg.
Upstairs the black Madonna glass window and the black Madonna sculpture both have infant Jesus on the knees. Their black color presages Christ's death. Women pray around the black Madonna sculpture, but this probably comes more from the fact that the shawl of Mary is with her more from worship of a graven image.
Both Mary as the intercessor of man before heaven and the black Madonna as judge of life lived on earth are accepted by the Catholic Church for believers.
However, Bamberg cathedral’s most famous artwork, the Bamberg Rider (after 1225), is on view overhead by the cathedral entryway. The light streaming in through the window to the left of the equestrian statue makes the sculpture appear to emerge from the pillar it rests on. No one knows the identity of the Bamberg Rider, but all agree he is the epitome of a feudal knight. The Bamberg Rider is a famous symbol of the city, but Bamberg is important to German culture for more than its art alone.
According to
Dengler-Schreiber, Bamberg became the school of the Empire, which focused on
classical and Christian literature. This
approach to education was not business-oriented, yet Bamberg’s most popular
saint, Otto 1 (1102- 1139), was masterful at organization and finance. Six black plaques on the entry wall to the
Alte Hofhaltung (Old Residence) next to the cathedral recount Otto’s life.
Directly
across from the Alte Hofhaltung is the majestic Neue Residenz (New Palace)
whose rose garden allows one to look out over red rooftops in the town and take
pictures of Saint Michael’s Church on a neighboring hill with vineyards running
up to its chapel.
At the
bottom of Cathedral Hill, the bourgeois town developed steadily in the 13th
and 14th centuries. The new
town citizens wanted to be part of the intellectual and cultural life of the
town along with the bishops. According
to Dengler – Schreiber, Hugo von Trimberg wrote The Runner in 1300 and told his readers that only a reader who can
“compose poetry in Latin and German, as well as read and write both, is a real
man.”
Trimberg’s
opinion of 1300 predates Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) who is usually credited
with holding up German as equal to Latin by translating the Bible into
German. Bamberg invites speculations
such as this one.
By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
 |
| Ruth Paget Selfie |
