shared history

Objects of transcultural entanglements

Numerous objects from Hildesheim Cathedral and the local churches have been preserved in the museum, which contain decorative elements or materials from distant regions or were produced using an imported technique.

 

At the end of the 1st millennium, the regions of the southern and eastern Mediterranean shaped by Islam were the leading centres of a sophisticated culture with a flourishing economy, science and art. These regions and large metropolises with inhabitants of different religions were looked upon with admiration from Hildesheim. Numerous objects show that attempts were made to share in their culture. However, works also travelled to Hildesheim from western, northern and eastern Europe. In addition, the materials used even came from Africa or the North Pole.

Over a long period of time (10th to 15th century), the objects were donated to Hildesheim Cathedral and the churches by very wealthy people, bishops, clergy, princes and citizens - often men but also women. Little is known about the origin and acquisition of these objects. Some were probably brought to Hildesheim as gifts or merchandise, while others were probably stolen. They were kept in the church treasures for ceremonial use for centuries, while they were mostly lost in other collections.

The question can be asked on the basis of the works: What routes have they travelled? What functions did the objects have in different contexts? How were they perceived?

Examples of cultural interdependence

The objects presented here in a selection show how even 1000 years ago objects connected cultures across the borders of religions and languages as well as distant regions, came together in Hildesheim and enriched the Hildesheim Cathedral Treasure. A shared history can be experienced through them.

Abbasidische Schachfigur auf dem sogenannten Keilförmigen Reliquiar aus der 2. Hälfte des 10. Jahrhundert

© Monheim/Dommuseum Hildesheim

A reliquary from the 10th century is one of the oldest in the Hildesheim cathedral treasury and was altered several times in the following centuries. It is decorated with two objects from regions characterised by Islam - at the top it is crowned by a chess piece made of rock crystal and at the bottom right a red stone bears an Arabic inscription. Both probably originate from the Abbasid Empire, which in the 10th century, with Baghdad as its capital, encompassed the Arabian Peninsula as well as the territories of modern-day Iraq and Iran. A rock crystal cut in this way was a great treasure in Central Europe, and the chess set itself was also imported from the eastern Mediterranean. The mirror-inverted inscription on the stone shows the name in the top line: Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (Muḥammad son of Ismāʿīl). Perhaps the stone was previously used as a seal. The writing could probably not be read in Hildesheim.

 

The central container of a reliquary is a polished coconut. This special material probably came to Central Europe from the tropics of Asia or Africa. Traces at the top and bottom of the nut show that it was initially installed in another vessel and was only later converted into the Hildesheim reliquary. The vessel is crowned by a small figure of St Andrew the Apostle on a mound decorated with glass flux. This technique was used to produce works of art in Paris around 1400. The coat of arms at the foot suggests that the reliquary came to the Church of the Holy Cross as a gift from a doctor from Hildesheim who was studying in Paris. The coconut probably travelled from the tropics of Asia or Africa via Paris to Hildesheim.

A brochure in four languages (Arabic, German, English and Turkish) is available in the museum for visitors. It leads to 24 objects that allow visitors to experience a shared history. The view presented follows the perspective of European art historical research. However, alternative stories can also be told about the objects - for example from the perspectives of the regions of origin or their stations along the way.