The Aachen Cathedral Treasury () is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in Europe. In 1978, the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, along with Aachen Cathedral, was the first monument on German soil to be entered in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The treasury contains works from Late Antique, Carolingian, Ottonian, Staufen, and Gothic times. The exhibits are displayed in premises connected to the cathedral cloisters.
Collection and arrangement
In 1995, the Cathedral Treasury was completely refurnished in accordance with the newest conservation and pedagogical knowledge. An area of over 600 m2 contains over a hundred artworks, divided into five thematic groups.
One conceptional area is the documentation of the cathedral as the church of Charlemagne. The late gothic silver-gilt Bust of Charlemagne, a model for countless later reliquaries stands in the centre of this section. The Persephone sarcophagus, the Roman marble sarcophagus of the early third century in which Charlemagne was buried in the cathedral is also here.
Among the objects in the Cathedral Treasury which were connected with Charlemagne is an Olifant from eleventh century (Saracen) Southern Italy or the east, which was long considered the Hunting Horn of Charlemagne. There is also the so-called Hunting Knife of Charlemagne, dating to the eighth century. It and the Petrusmesser in the Bamberg Cathedral Treasury are the only known Medieval knives that were kept above ground and therefore had a special significance from the beginning. All other similar pieces have been found in archaeological contexts. The hunting knife, made of Damascus steel is classified as Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian. The associated sheath probably dates to the eleventh century and bears an Old English inscription, reading BRHTZIGE MEC FECID (Brythsige made me).
The second section contains objects connected to the liturgy, including the Cross of Lothair (still used today on special occasions), the Aachen Altar, the Carolingian Treasury Gospels, a masterpiece of medieval illumination. In addition, there is also the late gothic pieces of goldsmith Hans von Reutlingen.
Artworks which were used at Aachen at the coronations of the Holy Roman Emperor between 936 and 1531 form a third thematic category, including the masterfully produced ivory situla, a vessel for Holy water made in Trier around the year 1000 and decorated with rich reliefs, as well as the Ottonian Liuthar Gospels which are exemplary of their period.
The relics of the cathedral and the pilgrimage to Aachen (particularly the Aachen pilgrimage) and the cathedral as a church of Mary are the fourth and fifth categories. The reliquaries and the so-called Hungarian Donations, as well as pictures and sculptures of the Theotokos are displayed here. Gems which donors and patrons (often clergy) gave to the cathedral treasury are displayed in vitrines.
Items from the rich textile collection of the treasury are in constant rotation in the basement, with the coronation cloak, the Cappa Leonis (), falsely named after Pope Leo III in the centre.
History
Treasury
"Since I have seen every royal marvel, [I know that] no-one living has seen a more marvellous thing," wrote Albrecht Dürer in his travel diary, when he visited Aachen in 1520 on the occasion of the coronation of Emperor Charles V. By some miracle, the unique collection, the most important north of the Alps, has survived intact in the cathedral and its treasury to this day. Its outstanding position is due to the fact that Aachen Cathedral hosted the coronations of thirty kings of the Romans between 936 and 1531. Only after being anointed at Aachen could the ruler be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. Countless precious objects entered the collection as royal donations, others were essential parts of the coronation ceremonies.
As they grew over the centuries, the contents had a tumultuous history. They were sent away during the Thirty Years' War and again in 1794 when the French Revolutionary troops occupied Aachen and incorporated it into the département of the Roer. In August of that year the treasure was taken to the Collegium Liborianum, the Capuchin monastery in Paderborn, where the three items of Imperial Regalia hitherto in the possession of the xathedral college (the Carolingian Coronation Gospels, the Sabre of Charlemagne and St. Stephen's Purse were separated and taken to Vienna. Since then the Aachen Imperial Regalia has remained in the Imperial Treasury, Vienna. Disputes over the ownership of these items continue to this day.