Wessobrunn Prayer

The Wessobrunner Gebet or Wessobrunn Prayer is one of the oldest examples of Old High German poetry and was likely written in the late 8th century. It was inserted into a Latin manuscript sometime after 800 on fol. 65v-66r and is divided into two parts: a short text of nine incomplete verses of staff rhyme written in alliterative verse, and the actual prayer in freely rhythmic prose. The fragment of a creation myth is also the oldest surviving piece of Christian stave rhyme poetry. It contrasts the chaos before Creation with almighty God in the circle of his angels. An unknown monk decided to incorporate the German poem into a Latin compendium of ca. 70 texts divided into five parts ca. 814.

Artifact of the German Language

Judging by the Bavarian dialect in which it was written, which exhibits some Swabian influences, it was likely created in the Diocese of Augsburg, but probably not at Wessobrunn Abbey. Research suggests that the manuscript could have originated in either Regensburg, Benediktbeuern, Staffelsee, or Augsburg itself. Interestingly, there are also some influences from Low German and Anglo-Saxon, such as the scribe’s incorporation of a “star-rune” in the first line of the poem. The work has survived under the title De poeta as the only larger German text in the Latin manuscript, the rest of which consists of texts that are mostly theological, but also geographical and chronological in nature, and are written down in Carolingian minuscule.

The Legend of the True Cross

Folios 1v −21r contain the legend of the True Cross, which is illustrated by 18 half-page miniatures. The pen and ink drawings, which also likely originate from Bavaria, are simple, have restrained coloring, and represent one of the earliest picture cycles of non-biblical content in the history of German illumination. This is the oldest preserved picture cycle concerning Emperor Constantine the Great (ca. 272-337) and his mother Helena. According to legend, the Emperor’s mother had the pagan temple that had been built over the site of the Holy Sepulchre destroyed so that a Christian church might replace it. During the demolition, three crosses, the Titulus Crucis with the inscription “Here is the king of the Jews”, and the nails used to crucify Jesus were uncovered. The three crosses were brought to a deathly ill woman, who was healed by the touch of the third cross, which was thus believed to be the cross of Christ. Helena then had these relics sent to Constantinople.