Reichert Verlag

In 532 chronologically ordered catalogue numbers, this volume records the annotated inscriptions of the south-eastern part of the present-day district of Mayen-Koblenz (former district of Koblenz and the town of Andernach with its incorporated suburbs of Eich, Kell, Miesenheim and Namedy) from the end of the 5th century to 1650. The more than 60 early medieval inscriptions from Kobern-Gondorf, Andernach and the Neuwied Basin, which provide significant insights into various aspects of the history of early Christianity on the Moselle and Rhine, occupy an exceptional position. From the middle of the 12th century or the middle of the 13th century, the series of these special sources is impressively continued with a wide variety of inscriptions from the monasteries in Andernach and Sayn, which were dissolved in the 19th century, and later also in Niederwerth. They are mainly found in the chapels and churches on sepulchral monuments such as gravestones, grave slabs, epitaphs and grave crosses, but also on ecclesiastical utensils, reliquaries and antependia, and not least in connection with wall, glass and panel paintings. A special role is played by the more than thirty bells that have been found in the entire area since the end of the 13th century, which, with their rarely received inscriptions, often represent the first cultural-historical evidence of the respective places. The same applies to the basalt grave crosses, which have received little attention so far and can be found in almost every village since the beginning of the 16th century, as well as to the various types of field monuments such as niche monuments, field and wayside crosses, boundary and estate stones, which provide new and revealing insights into the rural and civic culture of the region.