Der Band enthält in 1518 Katalogartikeln die Inschriften des Altkreises Schwäbisch Hall und des nordöstlichen Teils des ehemaligen Landkreises Backnang von der Stauferzeit bis 1650. Fast die Hälfte der ermittelten Inschriften ist nur mehr kopial überliefert, die Zahl der Erstveröffentlichungen ist mit über 700 Inschriften ausgesprochen hoch. Mit Abstand wichtigster Standort ist die Reichsstadt Hall mit eindrucksvollen inschriftlichen Denkmälern des Stadtadels und der selbstbewußten Bürgerschaft. Es folgt das Kloster/Stift Komburg mit bedeutenden Grabmälern und Ausstattungsstücken, darunter Antependium und Radleuchter aus romanischer Zeit. Noch vor den Residenzen der Reichserbschenken von Limpurg in Gaildorf und Obersontheim ragt als Inschriftenstandort die Stöckenburger Pfarrkirche hervor, welche den Herren von Vellberg als Grablege diente.
In 1518 catalog articles, the volume contains the inscriptions of the old district of Schwäbisch Hall and the north-eastern part of the former district of Backnang from the Staufer period to 1650. There are also ten supplements to the inscriptions of the former district of Crailsheim. Almost half of the identified inscriptions have survived only in copies. Over 700 inscriptions - and thus almost half of the inventory - are published here for the first time.
Almost a fifth of the inscriptions were created before 1500, but the clear focus of the inscription tradition is the second half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century. By far the largest part is made up of inscriptions commemorating the dead, with the unusually high number of wooden epitaphs being particularly noteworthy. In addition, a remarkably large number of late Gothic altar retables have survived the iconoclasm of the Reformation in churches and museums. The 86 bells in total also represent an extensive group.
By far the most important location with 909 inscriptions is the imperial city of Hall with impressive inscribed monuments of the city nobility and the self-confident citizens, primarily in and on the churches and on the Nikolai cemetery, but also on secular buildings in the old part of town. The diverse inscriptions offer rich material for genealogical and prosopographical research. This is followed by the Komburg collegiate church (monastery until 1488), which remained Catholic during the Reformation, with important tombs and furnishings, including antependium and chandelier from the Romanesque period. From the 14th to the 16th century, the Imperial Hereditary Butlers (Reichserbschenken) of Limpurg were buried there. Even before the residences of the Schenken family in Gaildorf, Obersontheim and Schloßschmiedelfeld, the Stöckenburg parish church stands out as a location of inscriptions.
Each inscribed monument is described in the catalogue, the texts are critically edited and translated if necessary. Where necessary, the script and content of the inscriptions are commented on. The introduction to the volume offers an evaluation of the entire material from various points of view. The main focus is on the inscription palaeography and the elaboration of workshop contexts. For example, the work of the stonemasons and sculptors Sem Schlör and Jakob Betzoldt, who lived in Hall, clearly gains contours through the present study. A comprehensive illustration section is used for illustration; 17 registers open up the material.
Using Schwäbisch Hall as an example, the edition enriches the overall picture of epigraphic tradition in imperial cities. In addition, it offers extensive material on the complex of issues relating to the relationship between the city and the surrounding area and prepares the inscriptions for further philological, historical, art and architectural history research.
Harald Drös
Born in 1962, studied medieval and modern history, historical auxiliary sciences and Latin philology of the Middle Ages in Heidelberg. Since 1990 research associate and since 2000 head of the research center „Deutsche Inschriften“ at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences.
Main areas of research: medieval and early modern inscriptions; Heraldry; study of seals.
The project aims at compiling and publishing all Latin and German inscriptions of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period until 1650. Geographically, the collection currently covers Germany and Austria as well as South Tyrol. The findings are published in the DI volumes. Each volume comprises the inscriptions from one or several urban or rural districts or from a single city, issuing even smaller complexes separately in cities with particularly large numbers of inscriptions. The series includes both preserved original inscriptions and those which survive only as copies.
“Die Deutschen Inschriften” is by far the oldest current project aiming at the compilation of medieval and early modern inscriptions. It was founded over 75 years ago as a joint project of the German and Austrian Academies of Sciences and Humanities on the initiative of the Germanist Friedrich Panzer (Heidelberg) with substantial cooperation from the historians Karl Brandi (Göttingen) and Hans Hirsch (Vienna).
Preface