Cologne Prayerbook of Johann von Landen

Cologne Prayerbook of Johann von Landen

The so-called Cologne Prayerbook is a special treasure among the pre-Reformation German prayerbooks that have survived to the present. Measuring only 50 x 84 mm, it was obviously designed for personal use and contained 31 prayers written in Kölsch as it was spoken at the time. The codex is distinguished from earlier German prayerbooks by its picture cycle: it is designed so that each prayer text is juxtaposed by a corresponding full-page woodcut, thus making it usable for the religious edification of both the literate and illiterate. In total, there are 30 colored woodcuts from an unknown artist illustrating the simple texts. Like many incunabula, the codex has no information about when, where, and by whom it was printed. However, researchers were able to determine that the typeface used came from the printing house of Johann von Landen (1462–1522), who became a citizen of Cologne in 1497, and have determined it was printed ca. 1506–07.

A Reflection of the Zeitgeist

The Black Death not only killed millions of medieval Europeans during the mid-14th century but also shook the foundations of their beliefs. As people reexamined their souls, a new religiosity spread across Europe, which was reflected in the adoption of conservative, usually black clothing by the nobility and merchant class as though they continued to mourn the dead for generations. Pre-Reformation Germany was an extremely pious time and place marked by increased personal religious engagement by the laity. This search for faith was encouraged by contemporary authors and supported by book printers who naturally profited from the trend. As a result, there are numerous printed spiritual texts of various types that predate 1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546) wrote his famous Ninety-Five Theses. The vast majority of these were in Latin and an astonishingly small number of private prayerbooks were printed in German, which makes this Kölsch text all the more precious.

Deceptively Simple Imagery

To the modern eye, the woodcuts illustrating this codex look simplistic and naïve but they actually make use of a rich system of imagery and symbolism that would have been self-evident to a medieval audience. For example, every gesture of the figures depicted has meaning beyond the action in the scene and refer to the broader context of salvation history. Rarely have image and text been so harmoniously designed and mutually complementary to one another. Unfortunately, this visual language is no longer part of the modern person’s vocabulary save for scholars, theologians, and the particularly devout.