Basilica of St. Castor
Encyclopedia
The Basilica of St. Castor ( or Kastorkirche) is the oldest church in Koblenz
in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. It is located near Deutsches Eck
at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle
. A fountain called Kastorbrunnen ("Castor well") was built in front of the basilica
during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812
. Pope John Paul II
raised St. Castor to a basilica minor on 30 July 1991. This church is worth seeing for the historical events that have occurred in it, its extensive Romanesque construction and its largely traditional furnishings.
Since 2002, the Basilica of St. Castor has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage
cultural landscape of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley
. In addition, it is a cultural property protected under the Hague Convention
.
, just outside the city of Confluentes (the city founded by the Romans
in the area) and dedicated on 12 November 836. As Koblenz had a Frankish royal court
, Louis was in charge of the construction of the church and it was built as a Carolingian proprietary church
. However, Louis did not come to Koblenz until after the consecration of the church. This points to the importance of the Archbishop in the building of the church, especially as the church was until the 13th century outside the city of Koblenz.
The church honours St. Castor
, who is said to have worked as a missionary on the Moselle in the 4th century and to have founded a religious community in Karden
. Rizza, the alleged daughter of Louis the Pious, is venerated in the church as a saint of the city of Koblenz and her shrine still stands in the church.
In 836 the church was ordained as a Carolingian hall with a rectangular chancel, but it was extended later in the 9th century with a transept with a semicircular apse. It had become part of the monastery of St. Castor, with its priest living a monastic life.
The monastery of St. Castor was closely connected with the history of the Holy Roman Empire
in the 9th century. In 842 provisions of the division of the Frankish kingdom were negotiated there by 110 representatives of the sons of Louis the Pious, Lothair I
, Charles the Bald
and Louis the German
, resulting in the Treaty of Verdun
signed in 843, which divided the Frankish Empire into three parts (West Francia, Middle Francia
and East Francia). The monastery of St. Castor became an important meeting place for emperors and kings and their descendants and place where disputes between emperors and kings were negotiated and settled. In June 860, talks took place to settle the Carolingian family’s internal disputes. Negotiations at the monastery of St. Castor in 862 led to further territorial changes, which was part of the evolution of the Carolingian Empire into an Eastern and a Western Empire, from which the Holy Roman Empire (and eventually Germany) and France developed.
A cella memoriae (Latin
for a small building over a grave which is dedicated to the memory of the deceased) was built in front of the choir as a chapel-like burial vault
connected with the church by a circular crypt
. In the 10th century, the enclosure was extended to the east as a choir in the form of a rotunda
. Probably originating at the same time were the two side aisles of the nave and the lower part of the west end the building (the entrance). It was flanked by two round towers, replaced in 1103 by the two towers that exist today. The towers were originally, however, only five stories high.
In 1138, Conrad III
, the first Hohenstaufen
was elected by an assembly of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire at St Castor’s. The reconstruction of the church to its present shape and size began about 1160 under Provost
Buvo. He demolished the crypt, the choir rotunda, the apse and the burial vault and built the present east wing as a square, vaulted choir space with flanking towers, a semi-circular apse, a treasury and a sanctuary. After 1200, the two western towers were each increased by one story, to make the current seven story towers.
St. Castor’s was damaged in the battle of 1199 between Otto IV
and Philip of Swabia
in the dry bed of the Moselle near Koblenz. Repairs were made and the nave needed to be reconstructed. The Archbishop of Trier John I inaugurated the renovated church, together with its altars on 27 July 1208. The building completed in 1208 had a flat ceiling, but by the end of the 13th century this had been replaced by a vaulted
roof.
In 1110, the Archbishop of Trier, Bruno of Lauffen founded a hospital in Koblenz next to St. Castor’s, one of the first institutions for nursing north of the Alps. Archbishop Theodoric of Wied in 1216 invited the Teutonic Knights
to Koblenz and gave them part of the site of St. Castor's along with the hospital of St. Nicholas located there. One motivation for the establishment of the order in Koblenz was to undertake nursing at the hospital. Soon after the Deutschherrenhaus was established close by at Deutsches Eck, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine, to manage the order’s Koblenz bailiwick
(Ballei). The bailiwick was under the direct authority of the Grand Master. This branch of the Teutonic Order was originally called the Deutscher Ordt and later the Deutsches Eck.
In 1338, the last important meeting was held at the church. Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian
and Edward III of England
swore allegiance and friendship at St. Castor’s.
From 1496 to 1499, vaulting was installed to replace the Romanesque roof. At the same time, two star vaults were erected in the nave and above the altar
.
As a result of the secularisation of church lands agreed at the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (“Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation”) of 1803, St. Castor’s became a collegiate church
with monastery buildings on its west facade and on its south side. Under the leadership of the Prussian inspector of buildings, Johann Claudius von Lassaulx a complete restoration of the interior began in 1830, which soon came to a standstill due to lack of money. As a result of a legacy of the dean Edmund Bausch and a gift of King Frederick William IV the restoration was carried out from 1848 to 1849.
Between 1840 and 1860, the interior was provided with frescoes. The final appearance of St. Castor’s was restored between 1890 and 1894, when the entire church was provided with a veneer of tuff
. At the same time, the brickwork of the south aisle was renewed.
On 6 November 1944 St. Castor’s was damaged by a British air raid. In March 1945 the outer walls were also damaged by artillery. The stone material including the vault, however, remained largely intact. In 1948 enough money was raised for its reconstruction and a 25-year renovation began. Extensive renovation and restoration work was carried out on the towers in 1979 to 1990. The restoration omitted the western gallery and of the organ of 1728. A new organ was built in the transept in 1962.
Pope John Paul II raised St. Castor's to a basilica minor on 30 July 1991.
Above the entrance is a chapel of St. Michael. A war memorial erected in 1963 in the lobby is also dedicated to St. Michael.
The steep gables of the rhomboid roof (rhombendach) on the western towers were installed at the beginning of the 13th century. Only two simply structured pilaster
s in the basement of the western towers date from the Carolingian period. The church including the entrance hall is 58.25 m long and its overall width is 25.3 m. The towers are 44 m high, 6 m wide and 6.8 m deep.
there was a hut here deepened with two fireplaces. A Gallo-Roman temple was built around 100 and stood there until the beginning of the 7th century, when a memorial was created with a Christian cemetery.
The square in front of St. Castor’s has been the location since 1812 of a fountain called Kastorbrunnen, which has a humorous comment referring to the Napoleonic wars, which also affected Koblenz.
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. It is located near Deutsches Eck
Deutsches Eck
Deutsches Eck is the name of a headland in Koblenz where the Moselle joins the Rhine. In 1897, nine years after the death of the German Emperor William I, the former emperor was honoured with a giant equestrian statue bearing an inscription quoting a German poem: "Nimmer wird das Reich zerstöret,...
at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. A fountain called Kastorbrunnen ("Castor well") was built in front of the basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
raised St. Castor to a basilica minor on 30 July 1991. This church is worth seeing for the historical events that have occurred in it, its extensive Romanesque construction and its largely traditional furnishings.
Since 2002, the Basilica of St. Castor has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
cultural landscape of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the River Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen in Germany...
. In addition, it is a cultural property protected under the Hague Convention
Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is an international treaty that requires its signatories to protect cultural property in war. It was signed at The Hague, Netherlands, on May 14, 1954, and entered into force August 7, 1956...
.
History
The church of St. Castor was built between 817 and 836 by Hetto, the Archbishop of Trier with the support of Emperor Louis the PiousLouis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
, just outside the city of Confluentes (the city founded by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in the area) and dedicated on 12 November 836. As Koblenz had a Frankish royal court
Kaiserpfalz
The term Kaiserpfalz or Königspfalz refers to a number of castles across the Holy Roman Empire which served as temporary, secondary seats of power for the Holy Roman Emperor in the Early and High Middle Ages...
, Louis was in charge of the construction of the church and it was built as a Carolingian proprietary church
Proprietary church
During the Middle Ages, the proprietary church was a church, abbey or cloister built on private ground by a feudal lord, over which he retained proprietary interests, especially the right of what in English law is "advowson", that of nominating the ecclesiastic personnel...
. However, Louis did not come to Koblenz until after the consecration of the church. This points to the importance of the Archbishop in the building of the church, especially as the church was until the 13th century outside the city of Koblenz.
The church honours St. Castor
Castor of Karden
Saint Castor of Karden was a priest and hermit of the 4th century who is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. Castor was a pupil of Maximinus of Trier around 345 AD, and was ordained as a priest by Maximinus. Like his teacher, Castor may have come from the region of Aquitaine...
, who is said to have worked as a missionary on the Moselle in the 4th century and to have founded a religious community in Karden
Treis-Karden
Treis-Karden is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde to which it also belongs...
. Rizza, the alleged daughter of Louis the Pious, is venerated in the church as a saint of the city of Koblenz and her shrine still stands in the church.
In 836 the church was ordained as a Carolingian hall with a rectangular chancel, but it was extended later in the 9th century with a transept with a semicircular apse. It had become part of the monastery of St. Castor, with its priest living a monastic life.
The monastery of St. Castor was closely connected with the history of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in the 9th century. In 842 provisions of the division of the Frankish kingdom were negotiated there by 110 representatives of the sons of Louis the Pious, Lothair I
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I was the Emperor of the Romans , co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria , Italy and Middle Francia...
, Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...
and Louis the German
Louis the German
Louis the German , also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact...
, resulting in the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun was a treaty between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms...
signed in 843, which divided the Frankish Empire into three parts (West Francia, Middle Francia
Middle Francia
Middle Francia was an ephemeral Frankish kingdom created by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire among the sons of Louis the Pious...
and East Francia). The monastery of St. Castor became an important meeting place for emperors and kings and their descendants and place where disputes between emperors and kings were negotiated and settled. In June 860, talks took place to settle the Carolingian family’s internal disputes. Negotiations at the monastery of St. Castor in 862 led to further territorial changes, which was part of the evolution of the Carolingian Empire into an Eastern and a Western Empire, from which the Holy Roman Empire (and eventually Germany) and France developed.
A cella memoriae (Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for a small building over a grave which is dedicated to the memory of the deceased) was built in front of the choir as a chapel-like burial vault
Burial vault (tomb)
A burial vault is a structural underground tomb.It is a stone or brick-lined underground space or 'burial' chamber for the interment of a dead body or bodies. They were originally and are still often vaulted and usually have stone slab entrances...
connected with the church by a circular crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
. In the 10th century, the enclosure was extended to the east as a choir in the form of a rotunda
Rotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
. Probably originating at the same time were the two side aisles of the nave and the lower part of the west end the building (the entrance). It was flanked by two round towers, replaced in 1103 by the two towers that exist today. The towers were originally, however, only five stories high.
In 1138, Conrad III
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
, the first Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
was elected by an assembly of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire at St Castor’s. The reconstruction of the church to its present shape and size began about 1160 under Provost
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...
Buvo. He demolished the crypt, the choir rotunda, the apse and the burial vault and built the present east wing as a square, vaulted choir space with flanking towers, a semi-circular apse, a treasury and a sanctuary. After 1200, the two western towers were each increased by one story, to make the current seven story towers.
St. Castor’s was damaged in the battle of 1199 between Otto IV
Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV of Brunswick was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215.-Early life:Otto was the third son of Henry the...
and Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia was king of Germany and duke of Swabia, the rival of the emperor Otto IV.-Biography:Philip was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, count of Burgundy, and brother of the emperor Henry VI...
in the dry bed of the Moselle near Koblenz. Repairs were made and the nave needed to be reconstructed. The Archbishop of Trier John I inaugurated the renovated church, together with its altars on 27 July 1208. The building completed in 1208 had a flat ceiling, but by the end of the 13th century this had been replaced by a vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
roof.
In 1110, the Archbishop of Trier, Bruno of Lauffen founded a hospital in Koblenz next to St. Castor’s, one of the first institutions for nursing north of the Alps. Archbishop Theodoric of Wied in 1216 invited the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
to Koblenz and gave them part of the site of St. Castor's along with the hospital of St. Nicholas located there. One motivation for the establishment of the order in Koblenz was to undertake nursing at the hospital. Soon after the Deutschherrenhaus was established close by at Deutsches Eck, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine, to manage the order’s Koblenz bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...
(Ballei). The bailiwick was under the direct authority of the Grand Master. This branch of the Teutonic Order was originally called the Deutscher Ordt and later the Deutsches Eck.
In 1338, the last important meeting was held at the church. Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
and Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
swore allegiance and friendship at St. Castor’s.
From 1496 to 1499, vaulting was installed to replace the Romanesque roof. At the same time, two star vaults were erected in the nave and above the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
.
As a result of the secularisation of church lands agreed at the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (“Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation”) of 1803, St. Castor’s became a collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
with monastery buildings on its west facade and on its south side. Under the leadership of the Prussian inspector of buildings, Johann Claudius von Lassaulx a complete restoration of the interior began in 1830, which soon came to a standstill due to lack of money. As a result of a legacy of the dean Edmund Bausch and a gift of King Frederick William IV the restoration was carried out from 1848 to 1849.
Between 1840 and 1860, the interior was provided with frescoes. The final appearance of St. Castor’s was restored between 1890 and 1894, when the entire church was provided with a veneer of tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
. At the same time, the brickwork of the south aisle was renewed.
On 6 November 1944 St. Castor’s was damaged by a British air raid. In March 1945 the outer walls were also damaged by artillery. The stone material including the vault, however, remained largely intact. In 1948 enough money was raised for its reconstruction and a 25-year renovation began. Extensive renovation and restoration work was carried out on the towers in 1979 to 1990. The restoration omitted the western gallery and of the organ of 1728. A new organ was built in the transept in 1962.
Pope John Paul II raised St. Castor's to a basilica minor on 30 July 1991.
Construction
The church is built as a three-aisled basilica. The narrow eastern transept towers over the aisles. The choir, which was built around 1160, with a round, three-story apse flanked on both sides by a five-story tower. The third floor of the apse is a dwarf gallery with 21 arches. Some of the columns around the windows carry a lion as a symbol of Christ.Above the entrance is a chapel of St. Michael. A war memorial erected in 1963 in the lobby is also dedicated to St. Michael.
The steep gables of the rhomboid roof (rhombendach) on the western towers were installed at the beginning of the 13th century. Only two simply structured pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s in the basement of the western towers date from the Carolingian period. The church including the entrance hall is 58.25 m long and its overall width is 25.3 m. The towers are 44 m high, 6 m wide and 6.8 m deep.
Forecourt
Archaeological investigations in 1990 have shown that the place has been used since the first century for religious purposes. In the La Tene periodLa Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
there was a hut here deepened with two fireplaces. A Gallo-Roman temple was built around 100 and stood there until the beginning of the 7th century, when a memorial was created with a Christian cemetery.
The square in front of St. Castor’s has been the location since 1812 of a fountain called Kastorbrunnen, which has a humorous comment referring to the Napoleonic wars, which also affected Koblenz.