Two tapestries with pilgrim's portraits of Elector Palatine Ottheinrich and his travel companions

General information
Original location Neuburg an der Donau, Schloss Neuburg
Current location Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, inv. no. T3860 (Jerusalem and surroundings)
Neuburg an der Donau, Schloss Neuburg (Departure from Jaffa)
Provenance See Goren, p. 502
Commissioner Ottheinrich himself
Artist Matthias Gerung (design)
Christian de Roy (execution)
Date 1541 (mentioned on the tapestries)
Material Tapestry, haute-lisse
Dimensions 425 x 517 cm (Munich)
480 x 516 cm (Neuburg)
Visual elements
Short description Set of two tapestries. Munich tapestry: View on Jerusalem (center left), with around it a landscape with several holy places, among others the Ascension of Jesus and Mary, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, and the martyrdom of St Stephen. A group of pilgrims enter Jerusalem, and in the foreground nine harnessed kneeling figures, the first one with a golden/red harness, and slightly elevated above the others. The portraits are facing right, meant to face the other tapestry (Neuburg), which shows once again a landscape, this time depicting the other visited places in the Holy Land, with images of the pilgrims visiting them. In the foreground the ships with which the pilgrims travelled back from Jaffa. Many religious scenes on both landscapes are indicated by short texts.
Text For transcriptions of all texts on both tapestries, see Holterman.
Number of pilgrims 9
Depicted pilgrims (Munich tapestry, from left to right)
Personal information
Name Bonaventura von Breidenbach
Social status / profession Knight
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in silver a green (?) dexter wing on which a gold (?) mark (in zilver een groene (?) rechtervleugel beladen met een gouden (?) merk); crest: an issuant red dressed child, between two green trunks, each with three silver bars (helmteken: een uitkomend, rood gekleed kind tussen twee groene trompen, elk beladen met drie zilveren dwarsbalken)
Text Under him: Bonaventura von Braitenbach
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks Bonaventura initially traveled together with Engelhard von Hirschhorn (5.) and Philipp Ulner von Dieburg (2.), and joined the company of Ottheinrich in Venice
Personal information
Name Philipp V Ulner von Dieburg
Social status / profession Chamberlain and court judge of the Electoral Palatinate
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in blue a triple towered silver castle (in blauw een drietorenig zilver kasteel); crest: on a red cushion, out of a gold vase a bunch on peacock's feathers (helmteken: op een rood kussen uit een gouden vaas een bos pauwenveren)
Text Under him: Philips Ulner von Dieburg
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Travel report An anonymous travel report, obviously based on Ottheinrich's diary (9.), was attributed by Folker Reichert to Philipp Ulner von Dieburg (MS Munich, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Geheimes Hausarchiv, Hs. 301). The report describes the journey from the perspective of Engelhard von Hirschhorn (5.), Philipp Ulner von Dieburg, and Bonaventura von Breidenbach (1.). It was written probably somewhere between 1544 and 1552, when both Ottheinrich and Ulner von Dieburg lived in Weinheim. Philipp might have had easy access to the diary of his former travel companion at the time.
Death
Year of death 1556
Location of grave Weinheim, St Lawrence's church (tomb slab still in existence, see overview of tombs)
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks Philipp initially traveled together with Engelhard von Hirschhorn (5.) and Bonaventura von Breidenbach (1.), and joined the company of Ottheinrich in Venice
Personal information
Name Wilhelm Georg von Leonrod
Social status / profession Knight
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in silver a red fess (in zilver een rode dwarsbalk), crest: two silver trunks each with a red fess (helmteken: twee zilveren trompen elk met een rode dwarsbalk)
Text Under him: Wilhelm Georg von Leonrot
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Personal information
Name Bern von Hirnheim zum Lutzmannstein
Social status / profession Knight
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in silver a pair of red antlers (in zilver een rood hertengewei); crest: two silver trunks on which ? (helmteken: twee zilveren trompen bestoken met?)
Text Under him: Ber von Hirnheim
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Personal information
Name Engelhard III von Hirschhorn
Social status / profession Lord of Hirschhorn; Truchsess of the court of the Electoral Palatinate; Advocate (Vogt) of the Oberamt Heidelberg (1527)
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in gold a red antler (in goud een rode geweitak); crest: out of a gold crest coronet a red and a gold antler (helmteken: uit een gouden helmkroon een rode en ene gouden geweitak)
Text Under him: Engelhart von Hirschhorn, ritter
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Death
Year of death 1529
Location of grave Hirschhorn, Carmelite Monastery Church of the Annunciation (tomb slab still in existence, see overview of tombs)
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks Engelhard initially traveled together with Philipp Ulner von Dieburg (2.) and Bonaventura von Breidenbach (1.), and joined the company of Ottheinrich in Venice.
Engelhard converted to Protestantism in 1525.
Personal information
Name Georg von Wemding zu Fünfstetten
Social status / profession Knight
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in red a silver contourny dog's head and neck, with a black collar spotted with silver roundles (in rood een zilveren hondenkop en hals, een zwarte halsband met zilveren koeken); crest: the dog's head of the shield (helmteken: de hondenkop uit het schild)
Text Under him: Georg von Wending, ritter
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Red Jerusalem cross above head
Personal information
Name Reinhard von Neuneck
Social status / profession Hofmeister of Ottheinrich
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - in red a gold fess, in chief a silver six-pointed star (in rood een gouden dwarsbalk, boven vergezeld van een zilveren zespuntige ster); crest: a red wing according to the shield (helmteken: een rode vleugel volgens het schild)
Text Under him: Reinhart von Neuneck, ritter
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage None
Other pilgrimages Santiago de Compostela (known from other monuments)
Death
Year of death 1551
Location of grave Glatt, St Gallus's Church (tomb slab still in existence, see overview of tombs)
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks In 1550, Reinhard founded a tabernacle in St Gallus's church in Glatt. Like his tombstone in the same church, it shows a Jerusalem cross, a wheel of St Catherine, and the scallop of St James. The inclusion of the wheel of St Catherine is puzzling, since the travel reports do not mention a visit to the Sinai peninsula. According to Folker Reichert, this most likely refers to a visit to Cyprus.
Personal information
Name Georg von Zweienbrück-Bitsch
Social status / profession Count of Zweienbrück, lord of Bitche, lord of Ochsenstein
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - quarterly, I, IV: in gold a contourny red lion; II, III: in zilver two red fesses (gevierendeeld, I, IV: in goud een omgewende rode leeuw; II, III: in zilver twee rode dwarsbalken); crest: an issuant contourny red lion between two wings per fess silver and black (helmteken: een uitkomende omgewende rode leeuw tussen een vlucht doorsneden van zilver en zwart)
Text Under him: Georg, graf zu Zweienbruck, herr zu Bitsch
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage None
Death
Year of death 1559
Personal information
Name Ottheinrich of Wittelsbach
Social status / profession Count Palatine of Palatinate-Neuburg (1505-1559); Elector Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire (1556-1559); Knight of the Holy Sepulchre; Promoter of Protestantism in his lands after 1542; Patron of the Arts (Otto Henry had the castles in Neuburg and Heidelberg redecorated in Renaissance style, ordered and collected books (Bibliotheca Palatina), paintings, medals, and tapestries)
Coat of arms Behind him: late gothic shield - quarterly, I, IV: fusilly bendy sinister silver and blue; II, III: in black a gold contourny lion (gevierendeeld, I, IV: links schuin gespitsruit van zilver en blauw; II, III: in zwart een omgewende gouden leeuw); crest 1: out of a gold crest coronet a sitting contourny gold lion between two wings fusilly bendy sinister silver and blue; 2: out of a gold crest coronet a sitting gold lion between two fusilly bendy silver and blue trunks (helmteken 1: uit een gouden helmkroon een omgewende zittende gouden leeuw tussen een links schuin gespitsruite vlucht van zilver en blauw; 2: uit een gouden helmkroon een zittende gouden leeuw tussen schuin gespitsruite trompen van zilver en blauw)
Text Under him: Ser durchleuchtig hochgeborn fürst und her her Otthainrich, pfaltzgraf bey Rein, herrzog in Nidern- und Obern Bairn, zoge uber mer gem Ierusalem zum Heiligen Grab, im iar nach der gepurt Cristi 1521
Other known portraits Among others:
Tapestries of Elector Palatine Otto Henry, his wife and his brother (Neuburg an der Donau, Schloss Neuburg)
Portrait of Elector Palatine Otto Henry by Barthel Beham, 1535 (Munich, Alte Pinakothek)
Portrait of Elector Palatine Otto Henry by Georg Pencz (St Petersburg, Heremitage)
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1521, 10 April-16 December
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage None
Travel report Ottheinrich started a diary during his pilgrimage, which he continued for some time after he came back (seventeenth century manuscript copy in Munich, Bayerisches Staatsarchiv; edited in Röhricht-Meisner and Reichert). The journal provides us with highly detailed information about his travels, though information included on loose notes has gone missing. Luckily, however, these were copied by Philipp Ulner von Dieburg (2.) in his own travel report. Moreover, three additional travel reports of the 1521 pilgrimage exist: one of Christoph Blarer, a patrician of Constance, and two anonymous Swiss ones (see Reichert).
Death
Year of death 1559
Location of grave Heidelberg, Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche), grave destroyed in 1693. The tomb showed no signs of pilgrimage.
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks Ottheinrich became protestant in 1542.
Ottheinrich posessed a harness which showed an engraved necklace with the Jerusalem cross on the neck piece (Paris, Musée de l'Armée, inv. no. G137)
Additional information
General remarks Not all of the depicted travel companions (including Ottheinrich himself) carry a Jerusalem cross, though they are known to have visited the Holy Land. According to Goren, the Jerusalem crosses indicate those who were not alive anymore at the moment of the manufacture of the tapestry (1541).
More than any other visual commemoration of the Jerusalem pilgrimage, the tapestries display personal experiences of the pilgrim. Certain scenes, like the attack of Turks in Jaffa and the drowning of pilgrims in the river Jordan, are also described in Ottheinrich's travel diary. These tapestries therefore provide us with a kind of visual travel report, which emphasizes the hardships Ottheinrich had to endure on pilgrimage.
These tapestries were part of a larger campaign of huge tapestries made for the Neuburg court between 1540 and 1544, when Ottheinrich set up a workshop for the manufacturing of tapestries in Neuburg. These show us portraits of his family, genealogies, and deeds in battle of Ottheinrich himself and of his brother Philipp, who played an important role in the defense of Vienna against the Ottoman armies. Together, these tapestries may be seen as an attempt by Ottheinrich to obtain a high esteem and an important position between the great princes of the Holy Roman Empire for his new and small territory. By emphasizing his long lineage in an important noble house, and his character as an ideal Christian knight, Ottheinrich tried to achieve this goal. Ottheinrich, who could boast no great deeds in battle, exploited his experiences on the pilgrimage to prove that he had bravely endured attacks and other hardships from the hands of the Turks, while showing himself a pious ruler. This message was enhanced by the scene of the Martyrdom of St George on the Neuburg (Jaffa) tapestry. The position, facial features, and armour of St George closely reflect the kneeling figure of Ottheinrich on the other tapestry. Moreover, the creation of the tapestries coincides with Ottheinrich's conversion to Protestantism in 1542. As this would have disqualified him in the eyes of certain other German princes, it is therefore suggested (Goren) that they also may have been made as some kind of 'defense mechanism' against people who would accuse him of heresy.
The huge expenses involved in creating these tapestries, funding building campaigns, and promoting an exuberant courtly lifestyle, eventually brought Ottheinrich to bankruptcy in 1544. His posessions were seized by the Neuburg Estates, and Ottheinrich was forces into exile in Heidelberg. There, he took many pains to re-obtain his beloved tapestries, some of which he succeeded to bring to Heidelberg before the Neuburg Castle was looted by the troops of Charles V in 1546.
Literature
  • Fey, Carola, 'Wallfahrtserinnerungen an spätmittelalterlichen Fürstenhöfen in Bild und Kult', in Carola Fey, Steffen Krieb, and Werner Rösener (eds.), Mittelalterliche Fürstenhöfe und ihre Erinnerungskulturen (Göttingen 2007), pp. 141-166
  • Goren, Haim, 'Pilgrimage, tapestries, and cartography: sixteenth-century wall hangings commemorating a pilgrimage to the Holy Land', Journal of Historical Geography 33 (2007) pp. 489-513
  • Holterman, Bart, Pilgrimages in images: Early Sixteenth-century Views of the Holy Land with Pilgrims' Portraits as Part of the Commemoration of the Jerusalem Pilgrimage in Germany, unpublished master thesis (Utrecht 2013)
  • Hubach, Hans, '"...mit golt, silber und seyd kostlichst, erhaben, feyn unnd lustig gmacht." Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich und die Bildteppichproduktion in Neuburg 1539-1544/45', in: Suzanne Bäumler et al. (eds.), Von Kaisers Gnaden. 500 Jahre Pfalz-Neuburg, Katalog zur Bayerischen Landesausstellung 2005 (Augsburg 2005), pp. 174-178 and 182-185
  • Reichert, Folker, Die Reise des Pfalzgrafen Ottheinrich zum Heiligen Land 1521 (Regensburg 2005)
  • Röhricht, Reinhold, and Heinrich Meisner, Deutsche Pilgerreisen nach dem Heiligen Lande (Berlin 1880), pp. 349-401
  • Stemper, Annelise, 'Die Wandteppiche', in: Georg Poensgen (ed.), Ottheinrich. Gedenkschrift für vierhundertjährigen Wiederkehr seiner Kurfürstenzeit in der Pfalz (1556-1559) (Heidelberg 1956), pp. 141-171
The Neuburg tapestry (departure from Jaffa)
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