The Carolingan Gatehall of the former monastery Lorsch (Hessen) - Building archaeology as basis to an architectural historic reappraisal

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Manfred Schuller
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology
• Term: from 2011 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 207338598

The so-called `Gate hall´ in the former monastery of Lorsch UNESCO World heritage Site since 199 belongs to the few and best preserved buildings dating back to Carolingian times. Amongst art historians´ research the dating of the building varies between the last quarter of the 8th century e. g. contemporary to the first testified Carolingian monastic church built on this site and the last quarter of the 9th century when the eastern Carolingian dukes Ludwig der Deutsche and Ludwig der Jüngere appointed Lorsch their burial place. Comprehensive and systematic research into the building history and the restoration history lacks for this architectural historic edifice of highest rank. The covering of the gate hall with scaffoldings in due course of the current restoration scheme offered the unique opportunity to produce detailed recording of the unrivaled architectural arrangement of the facades and enables gaining insights into constructive details from the time the gate hall was built. The Carolingian building techniques and the redecoration programmes of the gate hall, from Romanesque times till the reconstruction of the late mediaeval state in 1935, will be examined employing building archaeological methods, complemented by the analysis of the archive stock of restoration deeds and pictures. The building will be located in the context of Carolingian monuments regarding building techniques and architectural history. By meticulous documentation of the gate hall building with building archaeological means the stock of Carolingian building substance will be determined precisely. New evidence on building techniques and building process dating back to the time the gate hall was built will be documented for the first time and therefore will be open for interpretation. Precise statements can be made regarding the building process and the technical accomplishment. Since Gothic times, alterations in several rebuilding phases can be traced clearly. Intermediate states previous to the re-restoration in the 1930s can be reconstructed based on fact of historic plans and images. Opening the jointings during the restoration works showed the resence of organic substances (wood, coal, bone) to great extend in the Carolingian mortar bedding. For the first time the opportunity occurred for approaching the dating of the gate hall using scientific analyses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants