Liturgischer Alltag auf einer Großbaustelle des 13. Jahrhunderts: Zur Funktion einiger Konsolen in den Seitenschiffen des Bamberger Domes

Abstract This article, which is the result of a cooperation between building archaeologists and a historian of art and liturgy, sheds light on the original function of the stone consoles in the eastern aisles of Bamberg Cathedral, on which the most famous medieval sculptures now stand, including the Bamberg Rider. They date from the time of the building phase shortly after 1201–1202, when the western part of the Ottonian predecessor building was still in use, while in the east the new choir was under construction. A wall separated the two parts, in which openings were inserted. The consoles did not originally serve as sculpture bases, but as supports for weather protection for processions, as a partition wall in front of the fragile choir screen reliefs, and as a platform for ongoing work in the zones above. Only later were the consoles adopted for sculptures and provided with decorative painting, remnants of which are still preserved today.