The four large medieval shrines on the gallery contain the relics, i.e. the bones of saints. The makers of the shrines have given them the form of beautifully decorated houses that are meant to visualise the saints' homes in Heaven. These shrines have attracted pilgrims from all over the world and, especially in times of need or despair, were carried in procession through the streets.
Welcome to the treasury of St. Servatius' Parish Church
The most outstanding shrine is that of Cologne Archbishop Anno II (Showcase No.4). In 1064 Anno founded a Benedictine abbey on top of the “Michaelsberg” near here and donated numerous precious relics of saints to this abbey, which form the basis of the current treasury. The head of the monastery, the abbot, was given the right to hold markets, to collect taxes and to mint coins.
Under the rule of the abbey the small settlement at the foot of the hill soon started to flourish and developed into the town of Siegburg. Anno died in 1075 and was, corresponding to his wish, buried in the church of his Siegburg abbey. He was canonized in 1183 when his bones were taken out of his grave and solemnly transferred to the shrine.
More than 700 years later, in 1812, when Napoleon conquered the area along the Rhine, the monasteries were dissolved and the treasures of the Siegburg abbey were given to the parish church of St Servatius.
In the next part of the exhibition you will see a medieval wooden chest (Showcase No. 5). All the shrines have such a wooden core upon which the decorations are fixed. It is an original chest that due to its poor state of repair had to be replaced in the 20th century.
You may have noticed that many of the figures on the shrines are missing. In the third section of the treasury you will find two 18th century paintings (Showcases Nos. 11 and 14) which were made before the Anno shrine was robbed of its figural decorations at the beginning of the 19th century. These paintings give us an idea of what the shrine once must have looked like.
In the last chamber of our treasury you can see fragments of very old and precious silk cloth that were used to wrap up the relics in before being put into the shrines (Showcases Nos. 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28).
Furthermore, you can see a number of small boxes taken from the large shrines that contained relics of saints (Showcases Nos. 20 and 22). Due to preservation concerns, the boxes and fragments of cloth shown here were taken out of the shrines and replaced by new ones,
Our treasury contains many more precious objects, among them Anno's ivory comb (used for liturgical purposes), his ivory crozier (hooked staff) or his pallium (bestowed upon Anno by the Pope) (Showcases Nos. 14,17,27). You can also see reliquaries, monstrances, portable altars, liturgical items ...
All the objects in the treasury testify to the unswerving faith in God of the people of Siegburg within the last 1000 years.