Goslar - Cathedral

The town of Goslar on the northern slopes of the Harz mountains once was a center of political power in Europe.

In 1009 the first imperial synod was held here under Henry II.
In 1024 Conrad II celebrated Christmas in Goslar and in 1025 he ordered the construction of a new imperial palace ("Kaiserpfalz").
For Henry III Goslar was the centre of his empire, during 17 years he hold court in Goslar 18 times (and often for months). Henry IV was born in Goslar 1050. Henry V held six imperial diets here and for Frederick I (Barbarossa), Goslar was a preferred "Kaiserpfalz". So Goslar was in the center of european politics for about 250 years.

So this is, what is left of the former cathedral in Goslar, the oldest and most important church in Goslar. Behind this building - is a parking lot. Here once was the Collegiate Church of "St. Simon and St. Jude", built between 1040 and 1050, in the district of the palace. Actually the parking lot has about the same dimensions "St. Simon and St. Jude" had.

The already ruined church was demolished in 1819–1822, so only this porch of the north portal remains. When the church was consecrated in 1051 by Archbishop Hermann of Cologne, this was the largest Romanesque church east of the Rhine. The porch seen here was added to the church about 100 years later. The figures in the niches date back to 1230/1240.

The trumeau of the porch has a delicately carved capital. It depicts winged dragons protruding out of the mouths of men. The sensation is a little higher. The sentence there reads "HARTMANNUS STATUAM FECIT BASIS /QUE FIGURAM/". It is a signature! "Hartmannus built this pillar and it´s base".

So what Gislebertus means for Autun - Hartmannus means for Goslar.