Magdeburg Cathedral

In the Magdeburg Cathedral is the oldest known image depicting Saint Maurice as a Moor ( = Mauritius). The statue is carved around 1250 and shows him as an armoured knight. It could well be, that this statue is the oldest picture of an ethnic African in Mid-Europe.

St.. Maurice was a leader of the Theban Legion. Tradition tells, that the complete legion converted to Christianity within the 3rd century - and later got the title "Martyrs of Agaunum".
As the soldiers refused to prosecute and punish fellow Christians, every tenth soldier got executed. This happened at least twice. Some places in Germany (Bonn, Cologne, Xanten,
Trier) claim to be the place where these legionnaires were martyred. In the end, all soldiers of the Theban Legion were executed in Agaunum, nowadays named "Saint-Maurice"
in Switzerland.