Urgent conservation of tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I begins

The tomb of Emperor Otto the Great in Magdeburg Cathedral in northeastern Germany is undergoing an urgent program of restoration and stabilization. The State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (LDA) has found damage so severe, that time is of the essence to save this cultural site of great historical significance.

Otto I, also known as Otto the Great, inherited the title of Duke of the Saxons and King of East Francia (the part of the ancient Frankish Empire that basically corresponds to present-day Germany) from his father Henry I. While he died before being crowned emperor by the pope, Henry fought ably and successfully against other German tribes, Magyars and Danes to expand and strengthen the kingdom his son inherited. Otto picked up where his father left off, weaking the power of the feudal aristocracy, unifying Germany into a centralized state under his rule and conclusively defeating the Magyars. He then turned his attention to Italy, and in 961 conquered the Frankish Kingdom of Italy (Lombardy, Tuscany and Spoleto, a chunk at the calf of the boot). While he was in the neighborhood, he went to Rome and, inspired by the example of Charlemagne, was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope John XII. By some standards, Otto is considered the first Holy Roman Emperor, distinct from the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne. He is certainly the first of the unbroken line of rulers that would hold the title until Napoleon conquered Germany and the last Holy Roman Emperor abdicated in 1806.

Otto I stayed in Rome for a decade, working to consolidate his power in Italy and to get the approbation of the Byzantine emperor. He returned to Germany in 972. He died less than a year later in Memleben. His heart was buried in St. Mary’s Church there and his embalmed body transferred to Magdeburg Cathedral where he was buried next to his first wife, Queen Eadgyth, granddaughter of Alfred the Great.

Otto the Great was laid to rest is a sarcophagus made of a single block of carved limestone with a coffer decoration on all four sides. The cover is a reused antique marble slab. When the cathedral was rebuilt in the 13th century, his tomb was moved to the inner choir where it has remained.

The tomb is regularly monitored by the Saxony-Anhalt Cultural Foundation and the LDA, and recent inspections have found damage to the exterior of the limestone sarcophagus and marble cover, mostly due to stabilization measures taken when the tomb was last opened in 1844 that had unintended consequences. The worst offenders are iron clamps installed to keep the thin walls stable. The iron is corroding and expanding, causing severe cracks that, left to their own devices, could break the sarcophagus and cover apart. More problematic iron comes from a wooden plank that was nailed to the inside of the sarcophagus in a confoundingly misguided attempt to strengthen the brittle wall.

Conservators are also concerned about the condition of the contents of the sarcophagus. The 1844 intervention revealed a wooden coffin containing human remains and textiles that had already been disturbed many centuries earlier. Cameras threaded into the sarcophagus have found holes and cracks in the wood, and the skeletal remains are no longer in their articulated original positions. Fluctuations in temperature and humidity in the environment of the cathedral penetrate the interior of the sarcophagus through cracks and joints.

The measures necessary to repair and stabilize Otto’s tomb can only be taken on site as the sarcophagus and contents are far too fragile to be moved. Instead, almost the entire high choir space where the sarcophagus is situated has been enclosed by wood panels to create an in-situ conservation chamber. The damage will be examined in exhaustive detail with a variety of non-invasive methods, then documented digitally and photographically.

The marble lid will have to come off in order to repair the damage and check on the wooden coffin. As soon as the lid is off, nobody will be inside the chamber without wearing full protective clothing to prevent contamination.

* This article was originally published here