medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 7:44 am, christopher crockett wrote:
> From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
>
> > Here's an English-language website on the remains of the abbey at Lorsch
> (Kreis Bergstraße):
> > http://www.kloster-lorsch.de/lingua/englisch.html
>
> > Some views in color of the atrium (the so-called King's Hall) of the
> abbey
> church are here:
> > http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Lorsch
>
>
> i've never seen this usage of the term "atrium" and am not sure that
> it is
> defensible.
It's not. I obviously slipped a cog when I wrote that last year (and probably in haste, as most of these 'silva'-like little postings have been). And then didn't observe the blunder when I quickly re-copied last night. Thanks for noticing.
> far as i know, an "atrium" (in Latin or English) can be a (open) forecourt
> before a church (as in Early Christian basilicas) or a (covered) area
> before
> the entrance to a church (as at Vezelay) or a "churchyard" or even a cemetery,
> but not a gatehouse, which is what we have at Lorch.
I too used to think of this building as a gatehouse. But the English-language account of the monastery's building history given on the museum's present website
http://www.kloster-lorsch.de/lingua/englisch.html
says otherwise:
"With the disappearance of the first atrium the necessity came up to construct a new atrium in the west. Most probably the big courtyard with it's two big covered walks on both sides was built at that time, the last quarter of the ninth century. Together with this courtyard the famous "King’s Hall“ which has nothing to do with the monastery's gateway, was erected - probably at the same time as the funeral chapel, the so called „ecclesia varia“, which was connected somehow to the old rectangular apse. All these changes can be dated between 876, the year Louis the German died, and 882, when the next burial in the funeral chapel was mentioned. Of course the date of construction of the "King’s Hall“ remains uncertain. Since the beginning of the 19th century it is known that the building is the only remaining relic of the carolingian era.
"Because we don't know the function of the building as a whole we also cannot say anything about the use of this the room in the upper floor. We can only exclude it's utilization as a chapel in carolingian time. The neutral mural paintings don't allow such a conclusion anyway. However, it is in fact one of the monuments and places which are specially protected by the UNESCO. Originally the building had a much lower roof ridge. It was in gothic time, at the end of 14th century, that the gabled roof was made as steep as is now."
That text seems based on Dr. Hermann Schefers' German-language discussion on the same site (from the Kuratorium Weltkulturdenkmal Kloster Lorsch e.V.):
http://www.kloster-lorsch.de/kloster/bauwerk.html
especially:
"Mit der Funktionsbestimmung der „Königshalle“ sind sogar noch größere Unsicherheiten verbunden.
[Various conjectures:] Als von der Architektur römischer Triumphbögen inspiriertes Denkmal des durch Karl den Großen wiederbelebten lateinischen Kaisertums, als Stätte des Gerichts, als Ort herrscherlicher Aufenthalte ist das Gebäude ebenso diskutiert worden wie zuletzt als Bibliothek und schließlich gar als ins Architektonische übertragener Schrein für die öffentliche Ausstellung der im Kloster gehüteten Reliquien.
[Favored view:] Am meisten Plausibilität dürfte aber derzeit die von Achim Hubel erörterte Möglichkeit für sich beanspruchen, daß die Lorscher „Königshalle“ dem Beispiel einer vergleichbaren Baulichkeit in St. Emmeram (Regensburg) aus dem Umfeld Ludwigs des Deutschen für das nicht zuletzt ja auch liturgisch begangene Ereignis und Zeremoniell des Herrscherempfangs nachgebildet und ausgestattet worden sein dürfte. Damit gewinnt die Vorstellung einer dem Herrscher zugedachten Baulichkeit inmitten des „Prozessionsweges“ zur Klosterkirche zusätzliches Gewicht. Nur eben die Kennzeichnung als profanes Bauwerk müßte dann revidiert werden."
Has someone on the list visited this monument since its latest restoration? It's been many years since I was last there.
Best again,
John Dillon
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