Merseburg - Dom

Merseburg was first mentioned in 850. King König Heinrich I. (Henry the Fowler) built a royal palace at Merseburg after having married the daughter of Count Erwin of Merseburg, so that the place came under the rule of the Saxon dynasty. In 955, after finally defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld, King Otto I vowed to found a diocese. Otto I founded the archbishopric of Magdeburg in 968 with the suffragan bishopric Merseburg, but the diocese was dissolved in 981 and only re-established in 1004 by King Heinrich II.

Until the Protestant Reformation, Merseburg was the seat of the Bishop of Merseburg, in addition to being for a time the residence of the margraves of Meissen. It was a favorite residence of the German kings during the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. Fifteen diets were held here during the Middle Ages, during which time its fairs enjoyed the importance which was afterward transferred to those of Leipzig. In the years 1218/19, the area on the left bank of the Saale was protected by a city wall that adjoined the already fortified "Domfreiheit". Civil self-government of the city was first mentioned in 1289.

The bonze graveslab of Rudolf von Rheinfelden

Rudolf von Rheinfelden (1025 – 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially, he was a supporter of his brother-in-law, the Salian Emperor Hinrich IV.

In 1076, after Pope Gregory VII had pronounced the ban on Heinrich IV, Rudolf decided to proceed openly against him. At a princely assembly in Trebur in October 1076, the South German dukes tried to obtain a new election. Henry IV. who was also stationed in Oppenheim on the other side of the Rhine at the same time, was forced to make a compromise. Altogether a large anti-Salian party had emerged, which gave Henry a year to free himself from the ban if he wished to remain king. The matter of kingship was then to be discussed at a princely conference in Augsburg in February 1077 in the presence of the pope.

A month before the deadline, Heinrich set out on the journey across the Alps to meet the Pope, who was on the way to Augsburg. Gregor feared a military conflict with Heinrich and sought refuge in the castle of Canossa with Margravine Mathilde von Tuszien. Heinrich, however, only wished to be freed from the ban. Henry IV is said to have stayed in front of the castle gate for three days, dressed in a penitent's robe. But Gregory hesitated and only accepted him back into the church after three days of penance.

However, the release of the ban did not prevent the German princes from electing Rudolf von Rheinfelden as German king in March 1077. The course of the election corresponded to the usual procedure, apart from the fact that this represented the first election of an anti-king in Roman German history. Rudolf agreed to two demands. He approved the free canonical election of bishops without royal interference, and he committed himself to recognize the right to free choice of the king for every succession to the throne. Rudolf was ordained king in March 1077 by the local Archbishop Siegfried I.

The election of Rudolf evoked very different responses. The pope remained neutral for the time being and sided neither with Heinrich nor with Rudolf. As a result, Rudolf's position remained weak and he was unable to secure a larger power base in the empire either. He lacked the followers he needed to build up his fledgling kingdom. Only in Saxony did he find broad support. The followers of Henry IV accused Rudolf of a lack of gratitude and loyalty.

An important battle took place on January 27, 1080, in Flachheim, Thuringia. After Heinrich had assembled his army from Bavaria, Bohemia, Franconia, Swabia, and Burgundy, he marched towards Saxony with it. On the way he particularly devastated the areas of Archbishop Siegfried I of Mainz, who then banned him and his followers. Rudolf managed to raise a sizeable army. Nevertheless, the battle seemed already lost for Rudolf when his ally Otto von Northeim managed to turn the fight and still emerge victorious.

In March 1080, Pope Gregory VII gave up his wait-and-see attitude and declared Rudolf the rightful king. Henry was again excommunicated and deposed. However, at this time Rudolf could no longer derive any benefit from it. The royal side registered with satisfaction that Rudolf's sphere of power was largely limited to Saxony. In large numbers, the princes and the people sided with the king. Heinrich now launched a counterattack against the pope. He declared the pope deposed and with the participation of a total of 30 bishops from Italy, Germany, and Burgundy, a decree of dismissal was finally drawn up and Wibert of Ravenna was ceremoniously proclaimed (anti-)Pope Clemens III on June 25, 1080.

After numerous battles, the decision came on October 15, 1080, in the Battle of Hohenmölsen. This battle had no clear winner. Heinrich himself had to flee but it was worse for Rudolf, who was mortally wounded. A knight of Heinrich stabbed him in the abdomen with his sword and cut off his right hand. From Heinrich's side, death with the simultaneous loss of the hand of the oath was interpreted as a visible sign of divine punishment for the person who broke the oath

Rudolf died a day later and was laid out and buried here.