Baptismal font of the Ottonian dynasty discovered in the crypt of the collegiate church of St. Servatii in Quedlinburg
With a history stretching back more than a thousand years, the buildings on the Stiftsberg in Quedlinburg are of considerable importance far beyond the borders of Saxony-Anhalt, as demonstrated not least by their status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During current archaeological investigations in the crypt of the collegiate church, the location of a baptismal font was identified, which is not only the oldest evidence of a quatrefoil-shaped baptismal font north of the Alps, but also very likely the place where various well-known members of the ruling family the Ottonians received the sacrament of baptism.
A baptismal font from the Ottonian period
In the western area of the crypt of the Quedlinburg Collegiate Church, archaeological investigations uncovered a quatrefoil cut into the sandstone in the central axis of the room, about 0.5 meters deep and 2.0 meters wide. As a result of joint investigations by archaeology, building research, art history and restoration science using up-to-date documentation and analysis methods, the feature was identified as the location of a baptismal font. The walls of the depression, which was created in the 10th century before the crypt was built, were elaborately lined with pieces of plaster from a previous floor. This bedding held a baptismal font, which has not survived but was presumably made of high-quality material. Later, but also in the 10th century, the base was increased in height for reasons that are still unknown.
The fact that this finding is the oldest evidence of a quatrefoil-shaped baptismal font north of the Alps is of great importance in terms of art and architectural history. In addition, its location is also crucial for the reconstruction of the architectural history of the buildings on the Stiftsberg. The room in which the baptismal font originally stood must have been the laity room of a sacred building. There is no evidence that a palatium (prestigious residential building) existed at the site in this period. The baptismal font belonged to a church and also dates from the oldest decades of the Stiftsberg's medieval history in the Ottonian period, about which little is known so far.
Places and dates of death of members of the ruling families are mentioned frequently in contemporary written sources but information on baptism has not survived. This means that the present archaeological find is extremely rare material evidence of the Christian sacrament of baptism. According to the Roman-Germanic pontifical in the 10th century, unlike today, baptism took place once a year, on Holy Saturday, as a collective baptism of infants or small children by immersion. The candidates for baptism were immersed in the water in the shape of a cross, in the present case in the direction of the quatrefoils, with their heads facing first to the east, then to the north and finally to the south. The baptismal formula “I baptize you in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” was spoken. The ceremony was carried out in candlelight accompanied by incense as well as liturgical songs and litanies. A few days later, on the Saturday before White Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter), the baptismal garment was finally removed and the water was drained from the font.
It is possible that Duke Heinrich I of Bavaria (born around 922, died 955), who attempted to kill his brother, Otto the Great in an attack in Quedlinburg at Easter in 941, was baptized at the uncovered location. Mathilde (born 955, died 999), the daughter of Emperor Otto the Great and Empress Adelheid and the first abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey, as well as Adelheid I (born 977; died 1044 in Quedlinburg), the next abbess and daughter of the imperial couple Otto II and the Byzantine Theophanu, could have been baptised here as well.
"There is a lot that makes the UNESCO World Heritage city of Quedlinburg unique, now there is another unique feature with the newly uncovered baptismal font site from the 10th century. My recognition and thanks go to all those who contributed to this extraordinary success”. This was stated by State Minister and Minister for Culture Rainer Robra, who today was briefed about the discovery of the location of the baptismal font during a visit to the crypt of the collegiate church of St. Servatii.
The collegiate church of St. Servatii and its crypt: cultural-historical background and significance
The collegiate church dedicated to St. Servatius and the castle on the Stiftsberg, as well as the old town over which they rise, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994 due to the historical significance and the high-ranking architectural heritage of the city: Already during the reign of Heinrich I of the Saxon Liudolfings, Quedlinburg was one of the main towns of the Ottonian ruling dynasty, which was constituted by Heinrich I's son, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Otto the Great. While today's collegiate church is a more recent building from the 11th/12th century, the building structure in the crypt, the center for Heinrich's memoria (memory of the dead), partly dates back to the 10th century. Completely unique is the so-called Confessio, a horseshoe-shaped and originally vaulted, recessed room from around 962/964 at the east end of the crypt, which was presumably used to store important relics in the immediate vicinity of the royal couple Heinrich I (died 936) and Mathilde (died 961).
The effort to secure, preserve, research and document the architectural substance, the world-famous cathedral treasure and the archaeological structures preserved in the underground on the Stiftsberg connects the World Heritage City of Quedlinburg, the Evangelical Congregation of Quedlinburg and the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (LDA) in a long-standing, close and constructive collaboration. Due to the extraordinary art and cultural-historical significance of the collegiate church, the valuable building represents an important focus in the work of heritage management at the LDA. The department supports the renovation and further development of the buildings on the Stiftsberg with the technical expertise of various disciplines as well as proper projects to record, research and document this world-famous cultural heritage.
With the rediscovery of the baptismal font site from the 10th century, thanks to joint research in the areas of building research and archeology, it has now been possible to open a window into the period of the earliest building activities on the Stiftsberg and of the historical figures most important to it.
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