Marburg - Elisabethkirche

Marburg developed at the crossroads of two important medieval routes. The settlement was protected by a small castle built during the ninth or tenth century. Since 1140 Marburg has been a town, owned by the Landgraves of Thuringia, residing on the Wartburg above Eisenach.

In 1228, the widowed Elizabeth of Hungary (aka Elizabeth of Thuringia), chose Marburg as her dowager seat. The countess dedicated her life to the sick and would become after her early death in 1231, aged 24, one of the most prominent female saints of the era. She was canonized already in 1235.

Marburg was a provincial town in Hesse, known for the University, the oldest Protestant-founded university in the world, founded in 1527. In 1529, Philipp I of Hesse arranged the "Marburg Colloquy", to propitiate Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli.

St. Elisabeth had founded a hospital here in 1228, where she cared for sick and needy people until her death. She was buried in the hospital chapel. Immediately began a pilgrim's stream and numerous miracles of healing were witnessed.

In honour of St. Elizabeth the Elisabethkirche ("St. Elizabeth's Church") was built by the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The church is one of the earliest purely Gothic churches in German-speaking areas, and is held to be a model for the architecture of Cologne Cathedral. The church was consecrated in 1283. The work on the two towers continued until 1340.

In 1539, Landgrave Philip had the bones of St. Elizabeth removed to set a mark against the cult of the relics, almost all of the formerly Catholic friars converted to Protestantism. Part of the originally rich figure jewelry got removed.

In the left transept was the grave of St. Elizabeth over which this mausoleum was erected, a canopy over the coffin, that stood here until 1249.

What happened just after (or even shortly before) St. Elisabeth died, just 25 years old, is a cruel story. As she was venerated as a saint already during her lifetime, pious people (and relic merchants) are said to have literally pounced on the corpse. They tore pieces from their shroud, cutting off nails, hair and even her ears. Then the corpse was "officialy" cut in pieces, flesh and boned got separated, put into reliquaries and stored in the coffin.

St. Elizabeth´s deathbed is depicted on the front of the mausoleum. Two angels carry the soul up, where God and saints are already waiting for her. Below her deathbed are four mourning persons. Here is one if them: a crippled man, moving on crutches. This typ of crutches was widely used by lame persons in medieval times, see PiP.