Pilgrimage, tapestries, and cartography: sixteenth-century wall hangings commemorating a pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Journal of Historical Geography 33 (2007) 489e513www.elsevier.com/locate/jhg

Pilgrimage, tapestries, and cartography: sixteenth-centurywall hangings commemorating a pilgrimage

to the Holy Land

Haim Goren

Tel-Hai Academic College, Upper Galilee 12210, Israel

Abstract

The paper considers two large sixteenth-century tapestries, originating in a pilgrimage to the HolyLand. It is argued that although they are not paper maps, and were never printed or included inany atlas or map collection, these tapestries ought to be categorized as realistic pilgrimage maps, basedon first-hand observation and guided by the unique late medieval Christian geo-religious perception ofthe Holy Land and the Holy City. Furthermore, the resemblance of the tapestries to printed maps, suchas the map included in the book of Bernhard of Breydenbach, and other well-known contemporarypaintings of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, such as the one commemorating the pilgrimage of Friedrichthe Wise, may hint at the source material used by their creators, who lived in a similar socialeculturalmilieu.� 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tapestry; Holy Land; Jerusalem; Sixteenth-century cartography; Bernhard von Breidenbach; Pilgrimage; Ottheinrich

Cartography involves art, craftsmanship, and science. When dealing with the cartography ofthe Holy Land, especially Jerusalem, the geo-religious element and its influences must also be con-sidered. Both before and after the revolution in printing, the Holy Land was the subject of a rel-atively large number of artistic and cartographic depictions, which presented the sacred sites, theirtraditions, and their imaginary or realistic appearance. These integrated imagination and traditionwith reality, past and present. In his intensive study of the maps of Jerusalem, Rehav Rubin

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490 H. Goren / Journal of Historical Geography 33 (2007) 489e513

devoted a great deal of attention to ‘Jerusalem and the Holy Land in Early Printed Maps’ and to‘Realistic Maps of Contemporary Jerusalem: Originals and Derivatives’.1 The main argument hemakes is that a detailed study of Holy Land maps and images, beginning in the second half of thefifteenth century, raises the question of whether these artistic paintings should be termed as ‘maps’as we understand the term. This question emanates from their salient characteristics: mixing imag-ination and reality combining various periods, repeated omission of any geographic realism anddata, and the preference for art over scientific accuracy.

One of the most important elements in the history of the Holy Land was its continuing status asa center of pilgrimage, a factor which naturally influenced its many depictions. Pilgrimage to theHoly Land had flourished and declined, the last decennia of the fifteenth and the first of the six-teenth century being one of its most popular periods as a pilgrimage site. This led to a profusion ofdescriptions, written and artistic, and to a number of ‘pilgrims maps of the Holy Land’. In thispaper, I will present two artistic pieces, large sixteenth-century tapestries, originating in an earlysixteenth-century pilgrimage, which, although not being typical maps made of paper, did sharesome of their characteristics. It is argued that, although they were almost never printed in anyatlas or map collection, these tapestries ought to be considered as realistic pilgrimage maps, basedon first-hand observation and guided by the unique late medieval Christian geo-religious percep-tion of the Holy Land and the Holy City. I will also point out some possible artistic and carto-graphic sources on which the tapestry maps were partially based.

Otto Heinrich (1502e1559) (Fig. 1), or Ottheinrich as he was commonly known, was the heir tothe throne of the Palatinate, a German Upper-Rhine princedom.2 In 1521, the young prince wenton a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Fig. 2). Twenty years later, he ordered the production of tworichly coloured wool and silk tapestries, the first titled ‘Die Statten des Heiligen Landes’ (‘ThePlaces of the Holy Land’, 4.80� 5.16 m, exhibited today in the museum of Neuburg’s HistoricalSociety in Neuburg’s castle, (Fig. 3), and the second ‘Die heiligen Statten Jerusalems’ (‘The HolyPlaces of Jerusalem’, 4.25� 5.17 m, in the National Bavarian Museum in Munich, Inv.Nr. T3860) (Fig. 4). After discussing Ottheinrich’s biography, his pilgrimage, the tapestries, theirproduction and the artists involved, I will argue that they ought to be categorized as realisticpilgrimage maps. Furthermore, the resemblance of the tapestries to printed maps, such as themap included in Bernhard of Breydenbach’s book, and to other contemporary artistic depictions,may hint at the source material used by their creators, who lived in a similar socialeculturalmilieu.

1 R. Rubin, Image and Reality: Jerusalem in Maps and Views, Israel Studies in Historical Geography, Jerusalem,

1999, chapters 2, 3; cf. A. Betschart, Zwischen zwei Welten: Illustrationen in Berichten westeuropaischer Jerusalem-reisender des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, Wurzburger Beitrage zur Deutschen Philologoe, Vol. 15, Wurzburg, 1996,93e117.

2 R. Salzer, Beitrage zu einer Biographie Ottheinrichs, Festschrift der Realschule in Heidelberg zur Funfhundertjahri-gen Jubelfeier der Universitat, Heidelberg, 1886, 11; W. Wust, Ottheinrich von der Pfalz, in: F.W. Bautz (Ed.), Biogra-phisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Vol. VI, Hamm, Westf., 1993, 1348e1352; G. Poensgen, Gestalt und

Werdegang, in: G. Poensgen (Ed.), Ottheinrich: Gedenkschrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wiederkehr seiner Kurfurstenzeitin der Pfalz (1556e1559) (Sonderdruck der Ruperto-Carola), Heidelberg, 1956, 22e61.

491H. Goren / Journal of Historical Geography 33 (2007) 489e513

Ottheinrich, Kurfurst von der Pfalz

Both of Ottheinrich’s parents died within a short period of each other in Landshuts War ofSuccession (1503e1505).3 Emperor Maximillian I (1459e1519) divided their land, the Kurpfalz,nominated his uncle Duke Friedrich II (1482e1556) as guardian of Ottheinrich and his youn-ger brother Philipp, and in the Kolner Spruch (Declaration) of July 1505 and later, again di-vided the principalities and established the ‘Young Pfalz’ or Upper Palatinate with Neuburgon the Donau as its capital.4 Beginning in 1518, Ottheinrich accompanied his uncle on hisstate excursions, and reached the Augsburg Reichstag and the court of the newly electedCarl V (former king of Spain, Carl I, 1500e1558) in Spain. He was also present at Carl’s

Fig. 1. Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich, 1535. By Barthel Beham, Wood, 43�32 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

3 Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 1, 2; H. Rabe, Deutsche Geschichte 1500e1600: Das Jahrhundert der Glaubensspaltung,Munchen, 1991, 188, 189; R. Stauber, Bayerische Wiedervereinigung? Aspekte des Landshuter Erbfolgkrieges, in: StadtNeuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg,

2002, 32e53; M. Lanzinner, Bayern und das Reich am Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau(Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2000, 15e31.

4 H. Angermeier, Das Reichregiment in der deutschen Geschichte, in: H. Angermeier (Ed.), Das alte Reich in der

deutschen Geschichte: Studien uber Kontinuitaten und Zasuren, Munchen, 1991, 283e294 [Wappenbucher des Mittelalters1 (1984) 43e49]; Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 4e9; Rabe, Deutsche Geschichte (note 3), 189. For Friedrich II see alsoT.A. Brady, Jr., Turning Swiss: Cities and Empire, 1450e1550, Cambridge, 1985, 98e102, 119e127. On Philipp see

T. Appl, M. Berwing-Wittl and B. Lubbers (Eds), Philipp der Streitbare. Ein Furst der Fruhen Neuzeit, Regensburg,2003.


coronation and at the 1521 Wormser Reichstag that challenged Luther’s reforms.5

In April 1521, after receiving the Emperor’s blessing, the young prince left this national meet-ing for his journey to the Holy Land, escorted by a group of courtiers and servants. Returningthe following year, he and his brother, who had officially come of age, took over the reignof the principality. Ottheinrich developed a luxurious way of life, erected monumental build-ings in Neuburg and built a hunting castle in Grunau, quite close to the capital, as well astraveling intensively.6 His unprecedented popularity continues to this day and is attested to,inter alia, by the intensive investigation of his achievements and the existing traditions

Fig. 2. Upper Half of the Gravestone of Philipp Ulner from Dieburg (1556), bearing the Jerusalem Cross, Laurentius Church,

Weinheim (Rhein Valley) (photo: author); Gravestone of Reinhardt von Neuneck, church in Glatt by Calw, Wurttemberg (photo:

Dieter Petri).

5 Rabe, Deutsche Geschichte (note 3), 195, 196, 226e240; Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 10, 11; Brady, Turning Swiss

(note 4), 98; H. Angermeier, Reichsreform und Reformation, in: H. Angermeier (Ed.), Das alte Reich in der deutschenGeschichte: Studien uber Kontinuitaten und Zasuren, Munchen, 1991, 355e419 [Historische Zeitschrift 235 (1982)580e614].

6 H. Rott, Die Schriften des Pfalzgrafen Ott Heinrich, Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Heidelberger Schlosses 6(1912) 45e50; A. Horn, Die Bauten in Neuburg a. d. Donau und Grunau, in: G. Poensgen (Ed.), Ottheinrich:Gedenkschrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wiederkehr seiner Kurfurstenzeit in der Pfalz (1556e1559), Sonderdruck der

Ruperto-Carola, Heidelberg, 1956, 86e104; H. Stierhof, Ottheinrich als Bauherr, Neuburger Kollektaneenblatt 129(1976) 7e12.


concerning his life and deeds.7 He participated in battles, such as the siege and conquest of thecastle of Landstuhl in the Mans valley in 1523 by Kurfurst Ludwig of Bavaria, latercommemorated in a tapestry. He also took part in the suppression of the 1525 ‘Peasants’Rebellion’.8

Fig. 3. ‘Die Statten des Heiligen Landes’ (‘The Places of the Holy Land’, 4.80�5.16 m, Museum of Neuburg’s Historical Society in

Neuburg’s castle).

7 F. Hepp, ‘‘Mit der Zeyt’’: Kurfutrst Ottheinrich als Landherr, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf

Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 94e107, esp. 94, 95.8 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 42e47; cf. H. Jestrabek, Der grobe Bauernkrieg 1525 in Ostwurttemberg,

http://home.t-online.de/home/Jestrabek/1525.htm; Rabe, Deutsche Geschichte (note 3), 282e301; H. Angermeier, Die

Vorstellung des gemeinen Mannes von Staat und Reich im deutschen Bauernkrieg, in: H. Angermeier (Ed.), Dasalte Reich in der deutschen Geschichte: Studien uber Kontinuitaten und Zasuren, Munchen, 1991, 341e354; R. Baumann,Ottheinrich und die revolution von 1525: Pfalz-Neuburg im Fruhjahr von 1525 e eine Momentaufnahme, in: Stadt

Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg,2002, 55e69.

http://home.t-online.de/home/Jestrabek/1525.htm


In 1535, the brothers divided the small principality between them, and Philipp was thefirst to declare bankruptcy. Ottheinrich, who in 1542 crossed the lines and joined theReformation,9 lost his principality following his own bankruptcy in 1544 and left for threeyears of voluntary exile to Heidelberg.10 At the beginning of the Schmalkaldian War of1546e1547, in which Carl V headed a coalition fighting the Protestant princes and cities,

Fig. 4. ‘Die heiligen Statten Jerusalems’ (‘The Holy Places of Jerusalem’, 4.25�5.17 m, The National Bavarian Museum in Munich, Inv.

Nr. T3860).

9 A. Weber and J. Heider, Die Reformation im Furstentum Pfalz-Neuburg unter Pfalzgraf und Kurfurst Ottheinrich1542e1559, Neuburger Kollektaneenblatt 110 (1957) 5e95; M. Henker, Die Einfuhrung der Reformation im Fursten-

tum Pfalz-Neuburg, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaftim 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 142e152.10 M. Cramer-Furtig, Ottheinrichs ‘merkliche und beschwerliche Schuldenlast’: Finanzkrise und Staatsbankrot im

Furstentum Pfalz-Neuburg, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissen-schaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 108e127.


Ottheinrich’s capital was seized and plundered, and he lost all his properties.11 His last yearswere spent in Heidelberg, where, bed-ridden, he succeeded his uncle Friedrich II in 1556 as‘Elected Prince (Kurfurst) of the Palatinate,’ now ruling the Upper and Lower Palatinates.He conducted a hasty process of conversion to Protestantism in his principalities, continuedto expand his collections of books, coins, medals, and paintings, and together with PhilippMelanchthon (1497e1560) reformed the University of Heidelberg and developed its library,the Bibliotheca Palatina.12

The pilgrimage and its reconstruction

There are no existing primary sources that reveal the direct motivation behind Ottheinrich’s ad-venturous pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy to determine the reasons.The combination of religious motivation, romantic ideas and perceived social expectations deriv-ing from his noble status may be considered primary incentives. These, together with an adven-turous spirit and curiosity about foreign peoples and countries, as evident from evidence inOttheinrich’s diary, were sufficient reasons for embarking on such an adventure.13

It would appear, however, that he had another motivation for undertaking such a voyage at thisearly stage of his life. By the end of the fifteenth century, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land had alreadybecome a part of the educational process of German noblemen, as testified by the long list of youngnoble German pilgrims. Ottheinrich was the sixteenth in a list of German principes (Reichsfursten)or reichsunmittelbare Grafen, who undertook thisRittereise, as they called it.14 Like all other youngnoble pilgrims, he was escorted by his tutor, along with other young nobles educated by him.

Ottheinrich kept a diary, of which extensive sections, covering the years up to 1534, have survived,although only as a partially damaged single copy containing 109 pages and dating from the seven-teenth century. Many documents which were originally added to the diary were missing by the nine-teenth century, but were probably lost much earlier. Some comments in the diary reveal that the

11 Rabe, Deutsche Geschichte (note 3), 392e403; Poensgen, Gestalt und Werdegang (note 2), 36e38.12 B. Kurze, Kurfurst Ott Heinrich: Politik und Religion in der Pfalz 1556e1559, Schriften des Vereins fur Religionsge-

schichte, Vol. 62/174, Gutersloh, 1956; K. Rossmann, Der Ottheinrichsbau, in: G. Poensgen (Ed.), Ottheinrich Gedenks-chrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wiederkehr seiner Kurfurstenzeit in der Pfalz (1556e1559), Sonderdruck derRuperto-Carola, Heidelberg, 1956, 261e273; L. Mugdan, Die Reformierung der Universitat, in: Poensgen, Ottheinrich,

207e222.13 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 22; Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 22; see also C. Nolte, Erlebnis und Erinnerung. Furstliche

Pilgerfahrten nach Jerusalem im 15. Jahrhundert, in: I. Erfen and K.-H. Spieß (Eds), Fremdheit und Reisen im Mitte-

lalter, Stuttgart, 1997, 65e92; F. Reichert, Pilger und Muslime im Heiligen Land: Formen des Kulturkonflikts imspaten Mittelalter, in: R. Kloepfer and B. Ducker (Eds), Kritik und Geschichte der Intoleranz, Heidelberg, 2000, 1e3.14 F. Reichert, Eberhard im Bart und die Wallfahrt nach Jerusalem im spaten Mittelalter, in: G. Faix and F. Reichert

(Eds), Eberhard im Bart und die Wallfahrt nach Jerusalem im spaten Mittelalter, Stuttgart, 1998, 11e13; F. Reichert, DieReise der Pfalzgrafen Ottheinrich zum Heiligen Land 1521, Regensburg, 2005, 48e53; Rott, Die Schriften (note 6); cf.F. Geisheim (Ed.), Die Hohenzollern am heiligen Grabe zu Jerusalem, insbesondere die Pilgerfahrt der Markgrafen

Johann und Albrecht von Brandenburg im Jahre 1435, Berlin, 1858, 3e54; R. Rohricht, Deutsche Pilgerreisen nachdem Heiligen Lande [Innsbruck, 1900] (Aalen, 1967), 85e307.


prince had added drawings and sketches of the places he visited, which had been collected in a file.15

Sections of the diary which cover the voyage to the Orient were published in 1880 by Reinhold Roh-richt and HeinrichMeissner,16 partially published byWilhelm P. Nikl two years later,17 and parts ofthe entire remaining textwere publishedbyHansRott in 1912,whoclaimed thatNikl hadmademanymistakes and omissions in his reading.18 Folker Reichert of the University of Stuttgart proofread thetext and published a new version, correcting many mistakes that he claims had been made by all theformer readers when deciphering this manuscript, which is virtually illegible in places.19

The reconstruction of the pilgrimage bymodern scholars has been based onOttheinrich’s diary aswell as on two partial diaries of anonymous, probably Swiss, participants in the same group.20 Afragmentarymanuscript belonging to another participant in the same voyage, Christof Blarer, a pa-trician fromKonstanz, reaches only as far as the fifteenth day at sea, and naturally does not includethe Holy Land.21 To this list of descriptions, Reichert has added another text. In 1912, Rott was al-ready familiar with themanuscript of Engelhardt vonHirschhorn (d. 1529), kept in Berlin, though itseems that he used only the two above-mentioned anonymous texts.22 But this text has has recentlybeen identifiedbyReichert, as actually belonging toPhilippUlner fromDieburg (d. 1556).Bothwerepart of another group ofGermans, escorting the seventeen-years old princeGeorg vonZweibrucken(west of the Rhein, in the western Palatinate) and Valdenz (1503ebefore 1537), who joined Otthein-rich’s party in Venice.23 Philipp Ulner’s tomb, presenting his coat of arms with a Jerusalem Cross atthe top, is in the Laurentius Church inWeinheim in the Rhein Valley (Fig. 2). Egelhardt, who soonafter the pilgrimage turned to Protestantism, was buried in the Carmelite Church in Hirschhorn inthe valley of the Neckar, and his tombstone bears no evidence of his pilgrimage.24

15 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 34, 35, 59e61; G. Poensgen, Ottheinrich: Gedenkschrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wieder-kehr seiner Kurfurstenzeit in der Pfalz (1556e1559), Sonderdruck der Ruperto-Carola, Heidelberg, 1956, frontispiece; cf.U. Ganz-Blatter, Andacht und Abenteuer: Berichte europaischer Jerusalem- und Santiago-Pilger (1320e1520), Jakobus-

Studien, Vol. 4, Tubingen, 1990, 248e272.16 The original diary: Geheimes Hausarchiv Munchen, Hs. Nr. 301. Publications: R. Rohricht and H. Meissner (Eds),

Deutsche Pilgerreisen nach dem Heiligen Lande, Berlin, 1880, 349e401, cf. also 177, 178; P. Zinsmaier, Ein Beitrag zur

Jerusalemfahrt des Pfalzgrafen Ottheinrich, Zeitschrift fur die Geschichte des OberrheinsNeue Folge 47 (1934) 544e550;Wust, Ottheinrich (note 2).17 W.P. Nikl, Des Pfalzgrafen Otto Heinrich Pilgerfahrt nach Palastina, Kollectaneen-Blatt fur die Geschichte Bayerns,

insbesondere des ehemaligen Herzogtums Neuburg 46 (1882) 1e26.18 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 61, n. 1, 66e105.19 Reichert, Die Reise (note 14); also published as Neuburger Kollektaneeblatt, Jahrbuch 153 (2005).20 Nikl, Des Pfalzgrafen (note 17); Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 11e13; Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 21e34; Reichert, Die

Reise (note 14), 19.21 R. Rohricht, Zwei Berichte uber eine Jerusalemfahrt (1521), Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie 25 (1893) 163e220,

475e501; Zinsmaier, Ein Beitrag (note 16); Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 18, 19.22 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 72.23 Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 16e18. For a full list of the participants in the group, see: Rott, Die Schriften (note 6),

72, 73 (diary); Rohricht, Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 14), 215, 216. Prince Alexander von Zweibrucken, Georg’s father,

made his Jerusalem pilgrimage on 1495 (Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 22). Georg choose later a religious career. In theJerusalem tapestry: Engelhardt von Hirschhorn is fifth and Philipp Ulner second from right.24 R. Neumullers-Klauser (Ed.), Die Inschriften des Rhein-Neckar Kreises, Vol. II: Ehemaliger Landkreis Mannheim,

Ehemaliger Landkreis Sinsheim (nordlicher Teil), Munchen, 1977, 1556, 1557; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 66, pl. 3and 4. I thank Folker Reichert for this information.


The texts in the diary are the best evidence of Ottheinrich’s ‘open eyes,’ revealing his centralfields of interest, and including religious as well as secular themes. The prince’s wide-ranging cu-riosity led him, in later years, to put himself into ‘negromantische, kabbalistische und astrologi-sche Studien’. As in many other descriptions, his diary offers a ‘more colorful, personal and vivid’description of the maritime section, than of his stay in the Holy Land.25

The group, leaving Bavaria on 15 April 1521, included the prince’s Hofmeister Reinhardt vonNeuneck, later buried in the Catholic parish Church ofGlatt byCalw,Wurttemberg (Fig. 2),26 threefeudal nobles, as well as four servants, who had knowledge of some of the necessary languages, andaDolmetcher (interpreter).27 Following a farewell party inAugsburg, and after traveling through theAustrian Alps, Innsbruck, the Brenner Pass, and Padua, they reached Venice. They found accom-modation in the German House, a hospice close to the Rialto Bridge,28 and began their pilgrimageby visiting every church and religious site in the city and the lagoon islands. TheDogeLeonardoLor-edano (1428e1521,Doge from 1501) invited the Prince to visit the famousArsenal, and to attend themeeting of the ‘Council of the Ten’, the effective ruling body of the Serenissima Republica.29

After spending a full month in Venice, they embarked on the galley ‘Corazzata’ under the com-mand of patronio Marcantonio Dandolo, who has been repeatedly mentioned as patron of a pil-grims-galley in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century, a period during which thesea voyage became more dangerous and the Venetian Senate had to find new ways to secure thesafety of the pilgrims.30 Ottheinrich’s copy of the standard contract, which was signed by him andthe prince, and added as a supplement to the diary, does not exist today, but is included in thesalvaged part of the report of Christof Blarer from Konstanz, as well as in Philipp Ulner’s text.31

The long and uneventful sail of the galley, which carried 130 pilgrims including 19 women, be-gan on 5 June and ended in Jaffa on 10 July, following the standard Venetian route, the only sig-nificant stop being in Rhodes, where Ottheinrich enjoyed a highly praised reception by theGeneral of the Hospitallers, neither expecting that the Island, saved from an Ottoman attackin 1480, would be captured less than a year later.32 Another week passed until they were allowedto leave the vessel, only to spend the night in the ‘Cellaria S. Petri,’ a stinking ‘cave’ (probablya ruined cellar) on Jaffa’s seashore. This almost ‘traditional’ reception ceremony was the subject

25 Salzer, Beitrage (note 2), 11; Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 41 (also the citations); Reichert, Pilger und Muslime (note

13), 6, 7; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 20e58, esp. 53e58.26 His grave includes a stone, and a small sacrament house, both bearing the Jerusalem Cross, Catherine of Alexan-

dria’s spiked wheel, and the shell of Santiago de Compostela: Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 65, pl. 2.27 Salzer, Beitrage (note 2); Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 22, 23, 72.28 F.C. Lane, Venice: A Maritime Republic, Baltimore and London, 1973, 14, 15, 61. This hospice should not be con-

fused with the nearby Fondaco dei Tedeschi.29 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 24, 25, 69e72; cf. Lane, Venice (note 28), 250e257.30 M. Newett, Canon Pietro Casolas Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Year 1494, Manchester, 1907, 105e110; Lane,

Venice (note 28), 241e249; R. Gertwagen, The Venetian colonies in the Ionian and Aegean seas in Venetian defensepolicy in the fifteenth century, Journal of Mediterranean Studies 12/2 (2002) 351e384.31 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 60. For the contract and the process see Newett, Casola (note 30), 89, 90; Zinsmaier,

Ein Beitrag (note 16), 546e550. Reichert adds that Ulner received the text probably from Ottheinrich’s notes.32 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 82, 83, claims that there were only 113 pilgrims, but other sources [Rohricht, Zwei

Berichte (note 21), 494] present the corrected number. cf. P. Brummett, Ottoman Seapower and Levantine Diplomacyin the Age of Discovery, Albany, 1994, 108e111.


of numerous descriptions by stunned pilgrims; Pietro Cassola in 1494 was forced to stay on boardfor eleven days.33 The route took Ottheinrich and his group through Ramla, where, followingother noblemen traveling in disguise and pretending to be a servant of Dandolo, he became ac-quainted for the first time with the unavoidable Bakschisch. In Lydda they visited the ruins ofthe Church of St. George, and from Nebi Samuel - Mons gaudi they saw Jerusalem for the firsttime. After entering the city, they first visited their Franciscan hosts’ monastery on MountZion, and then went to the hospice, which was situated inside the city walls, close to the Holy Sep-ulchre, in the area they called ‘the Hospital’. As for Ottheinrich, he preferred to spend the firstnight in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, ‘because sleeping in the Temple is considered, fromthe most horrible antiquity, as especially strong curing’.34

After following their Franciscan guides to the regular Catholic devotion routes in and aroundthe city of Jerusalem and in Bethlehem, wandering from one sacred site to another, they cameupon the knighthood ceremony as ‘Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre’. Until the lastquarter of the fifteenth century, the noblemen knighted each other, and the institutionalizationof the ceremony, as well as the acceptance of the Pope’s permission, are connected to Johannof Prussia, a member of the Hohenzollern house, who in 1476 arrived in Jerusalem as a pilgrim,stayed with the Franciscans on Mount Zion until 1499, and who had started leading the ceremo-nies.35 After his death, the right to guide the ceremony was transferred to the Franciscans headedby the Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre. He knighted the leading nobleman, in this case Otthein-rich, who transferred the sword to the second in rank and so on. 24 people were knighted on thatnight of 27 July 1521.

From Jerusalem, the pilgrims traveled to Jericho, continuing to the baptismal site on theJordan, and then returned to Jerusalem. They left the city on 3 August, but succeeded in sailingfrom Jaffa only a week later, not before the prince had arranged a forced flight from the Turks,nearly leaving behind the patronio, whom they had arrested, hoping to gain some more money. Hedid succeed in joining the group at the last minute.36 The sailing proved worthy of its dangerousreputation. The stormy weather caused a rough sea. The first stop was in Cyprus, which until 1570was in the hands of the Venetians, and where, in addition to visiting some saints’ graves, theknights of the Holy Sepulchre were accepted into the Order. They were prevented from leavingthe harbor of Rhodes due to lack of wind, and this saved them from being captured by corsairs,

33 Reichert, Pilger und Muslime (note 13), 9.34 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 29, 36, 86. For the Hospice in this medieval Hospitelars area, called later ‘Muristan’, see

S. Schein, Latin hospices in Jerusalem in the latemiddle ages,Zeitschrift desDeutschenPalastinaVereins 101 (1985) 84e91.35 For the order and the ceremony, their medieval origin and flourishing in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, see,

for example, C.M. Frank, Der Orden vom heiligen Grabe, dessen Grundung, Wesen und Bestimmung, Augsburg, 1898;V. Cramer, Der Ritterorden vom hl. Grabe von den Kreuzzugen bis zur Gegenwart, Koln, 1952; K. Elm, Militia Sancti

Sepulcri: Idea e istituzioni, in: K. Elm and C.D. Fonseca (Eds), Militia Sancti Sepulcri. Idea e instituzioni: Atti delColloquio Internazionale tenuto presso la Pontifica Universita del Laterno 10e12 aprile 1996, Hierosolimitana: Acta etMonumenta, Citta del Vaticano, 1998, 13e22; Jean-Pierre de Gennes, L’Ordre de la Chevalerie du Saint Sepulcre de Jer-

usalem (XIVemeeXIXeme siecles), ebda., 311e326; Ganz-Blatter, Andacht (note 15), 228e237 (‘Die Ritterfahrt’). Fora detailed description dated 1483: F. Fabri, Eigentlich Beschreibung der hin und wider Farth zu dem Heyligen Landt genJerusalem . Anno M.D.LVII, Bautzen, 1557, 68(I)e76(I).36 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 30, 87, 88; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 205. On the behavior of the locals: Reichert,

Pilger und Muslime (note 13), 7e12.


who were waiting in ambush just off the island. They had to be escorted by the Rhodian armadafor three days, but the rest of the sailing was uneventful. ‘Climbing again into the safe saddle’,Ottheinrich returned to his capital on 5 December 1521, seven months and twenty days afterdeparture.37

The pilgrimage tapestries

As mentioned above, both tapestries, ‘Die Statten des Heiligen Landes’ (Fig. 3) and ‘Die heiligenStatten Jerusalems’ (Fig. 4), were produced twenty years after the pilgrimage. Both are sur-rounded by an ornamented band, showing turkeys, birds and fruit tied together on palmbranches, containing three medallions. The former includes the monogram OHS, standing forOttheinrich and his wife Susanna; the latter MDZ, for his extremely optimistic motto, Mit derZeit. At the bottom is 1541, the year of their creation. Both present a cartographic picture ofthe country as seen from west to east. Both ‘presentation[s] of the countryside in wool andsilk’,38 are also excellent examples of narrated maps of the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.They narrate two parallel stories, contemporary as well as historical, typical to Holy Land andJerusalem plans, in which it is ‘difficult to distinguish between the antiquarian and the piousinterest’.39

A strip at the bottom of Fig. 3 presents Jaffa’s harbor, a galley anchoring at sea and one ofthe small boats which was used as a transfer vessel between the galley which could not approachthe rocks, and the seashore. One of these rocks is shown at the left bottom corner, whereas on theright, the fishing Petrus observes the whole scene philosophically. The land picture includes fivemain elements: places, cities and villages, depicted by buildings, mosques and church towers,and walls; traditional sites, in which the tradition is usually presented by a figurative painting; fig-ures of contemporary people, pilgrims and Turks, showing different experiences, and demonstrat-ing ancient traditions; the natural landscape (mountains, hills and valleys, vegetation, lakes); andabout 35 inscriptions, usually naming places and describing traditions.

All of these are artistically interwoven into one picture. The Quarantal, the Mount of Tempta-tion, which rises above Jericho, is one good example of the combination of natural with past andcontemporary cultural landscape. ‘Die wustung quarantana’, surrounded by rocks, protrudes onthe eastern horizon, of course, much bigger than its relative size. It is covered with some vegeta-tion, a small chapel on its peak, where Jesus stands facing Satan. Within the rocks, Jesus is shownsitting in a cave, where ‘crist 40 tag gefasst’ (Mk 1, 12e13; Mt 4, 1e2, 8e11).

The tapestry describing Jerusalem (Fig. 4), does not fundamentally differ from that in Fig. 3. Italso has a lower stripe, this time containing a unique presentation of the kneeling realistic figuresof the noble pilgrims, led by Ottheinrich, all of them bareheaded, wearing their armour and pre-senting their family coats of arms. Those who were not alive in 1541 receive a Jerusalem Cross

37 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 30e34, 94e105; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 205e243.38 H.L. Turner, The Sheldon tapestry maps: their content and context, The Cartographic Journal 40/1 (June 2003)

39e49, here 39.39 P.D.A. Harvey, Local and regional cartography in Medieval Europe, in: J.B. Harley and D. Woodward (Eds), The

History of Cartography, Vol. I: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean,Chicago and London, 1987, 492.


above their head. The picture follows the same pattern as in Fig. 3, but about one third is occupiedby a depiction of the city of Jerusalem, surrounded by walls, densely filled with buildings andmonuments. This tapestry, having almost 60 inscriptions, contains a larger concentration of de-pictions of traditions, and almost no contemporary images of the pilgrims and their experiences.

In addition to the artistic elements, both tapestries may be treated as accurate cartographicdocuments. Although it seems that the artist allowed himself some distortion, mainly in scaleand direction, which may easily be explained, these images together constitute a detailed and re-liable sixteenth-century map of the Holy Land.

It is clear that Ottheinrich, who used to commission large colorful tapestries whenever hewanted to commemorate significant events in his life, wanted to produce a work dedicated tothe pilgrimage, as well as a visual preservation for permanent display of its memories and impres-sions. He was, of course, no exception among the many Renaissance rulers, who provided patron-age for the manufacture of tapestries to be used as symbols of magnificence and tools ofpropaganda.40

The timing of these tapestries’ creation was no coincidence, for they also represent the processof religious transformation which Ottheinrich had been going through and which led him to jointhe Reformation soon after.41 This process was a long and difficult one. Ottheinrich left Wormson the same day that Martin Luther presented his speech before the Reichstag. During the 1520s,he and his brother had taken sides against the Reformation, and in 1529, he made a pilgrimage toAltotting, probably the most famous Bavarian Wallfahrtsort. Following his marriage in Octoberof the same year, he continued setting out on pilgrimages and proving his devotion. Only in 1531did he begin to show the first signs of doubt, and in 1540 he was still hesitating; but in spring 1541,at the Reichstag in Regensburg, he came to a decision. This was followed by a long process, inwhich he invited leading Protestant clergy to help him implement Protestantism in his princedom,and needless to say, his subjects had to follow him according to the principle of ‘cuius regio, illiusreligio’.42

Ottheinrich might have used the tapestries as a kind of ‘defense mechanism’ against those whocondemned him because of his religious transformation. By demonstrating his own devotion, hewould probably be less vulnerable to personal attack. Later, he used similar ideas in the Heidel-berger Wall, presenting the Biblical figures of Samson, David and Joshua.43 There should be nosurprise that the new Protestant used material depicting his actual visit to the Holy Land. ‘The age

40 A. Stemper, Die Wandteppiche, in: G. Poensgen (Ed.), Ottheinrich: Gedenkschrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wieder-

kehr seiner Kurfurstenzeit in der Pfalz (1556e1559), Sonderdruck der Ruperto-Carola, Heidelberg, 1956, 141e171; cf.H. Gobel, Tapestries of the Lowlands (Translated by R. West), [New York, 1924], New York, 1974, nos. 68, 69, 111;Harvey, Local and regional cartography (note 39), 493; T.P. Campbell, Tapestry of the Renaissance: Art and Magnif-

icence (Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 12eJune 19, 2002), New York, New Haven andLondon, 2002.41 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 160; T. Raff (Ed.), Wallfahrt kennt keine Grenzen, Ausstellung im Bayeri-

schen Nationalmuseum, Munchen, 28. Juni bis 7. Oktober 1984, Munchen, 1984, 70; Henker, Die Einfuhrung (note 9).42 Weber and Heider, Die Reformation (note 9), 7e55; Henker, Die Einfuhrung (note 9), 142e145.43 H. Hubach, Kurfurst Ottheinrich als Hercules Platinus: Vorbemerkungen zur Ikonographie des Figurenzyklus’ an

der Fassade des Ottheinrichsbaus im Heidelberger Schloss, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Otthein-rich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 231e248, esp. 233.


of Reformation, marked by religious clashes that divided Europe between Catholics and Protes-tants, aroused deeper interest in the Holy Scriptures’, which resulted in the printing of an unprec-edented quantity of Holy Land descriptions, including illustrated Holy Scriptures and pilgrimsbooks.44

Another very obvious reason for the timing was the fact that the prince, who had extended hisresidence, now had sufficient space to hang these large tapestries, which naturally had to fit the sizeof the walls. This might also explain the fact that the two tapestries are not exactly identical inheight, the Neuburger being 55 cm higher than the Munchener. Parallel to magnificent construc-tion projects, such as the Duke’s Residenz in Neuburg and the addition to the Castle in Heidelberg,the creation and collection of large-scale painted tapestries was an important part of Ottheinrich’simage building. Both served to glorify the man and his deeds. His tapestries are distinguished bytheir size, their contents, their form, and the expensive wool and silk chosen for their creation.45

Most of the tapestries produced in European centers in the fifteenth century portrayed sceneswith religious motifs for religious monuments, and classical motifs for secular ones. A new stylewas developed in the Brussels tapestry production center at the beginning of the sixteenth century.The depictions began to use secular contemporary motifs, perceiving this as the best way to glorifythe person who commissioned the tapestry.46 Commissioning such large-scale tapestries alsobecame popular with German rulers. Ottheinrich had certainly not been the first Prince of thePalatinate to make use of this tradition. ‘Contrary to most of their German status sharingcomrades’, wrote Hanns Hubach, ‘the Kurfursten of the Palatinate obviously started early onin employing professional Bildwirker in their courts’.47 As they had their own Wurckmeisters,the German rulers mastered the know-how and the technical ability to produce their tapestriesat home, and did not have to order them in centers of the Low Countries. There is no doubtthat Ottheinrich had been aware of this tradition from childhood. His guardian, educator and un-cle, Friedrich II, had been a famous collector, with numerous tapestries ornamenting the walls ofhis residences.48 Ottheinrich could also see them when he escorted Friedrich to Carl’s court inSpain and to the palace of Margarete (of Austria, 1480e1530), aunt and tutor of the emperorand regent of Holland, in Mecheln. Thanks to Carl, he could also have observed the tapestriescreated later to commemorate the Emperor’s triumph in the 1525 Battle of Pavia, a set of sevenpieces planned after the existing oral, written and sketched evidence.49 Tapestries became Otthein-rich’s most beloved and cherished interest, and he spared neither money nor effort to increase his

44 Rubin, Image and Reality (note 1), 42; see also C. Delano-Smith and E.M. Ingram, Maps in Bibles 1500e1600: An

Illustrated Catalogue, Traveaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance, Vol. 256, Geneve, 1991, 22e26.45 For the production techniqueanddetails see:Gobel,Tapestries (note 40), 1e22;Turner, TheSheldon tapestry (note 38),

41, 42; B. Phillips, Tapestry, London, 2000, 15e29.46 Gobel, Tapestries (note 40), 69e72 (the above-enumerated three Ottheinrich tapestries of the Brussels school);

Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 141, 142.47 H. Hubach, Tapisserien im Heidelberger Schloss 1400e1700. Grundzuge einer geschichte der ehemaligen Samm-

lung der Pfalzer Kurfursten, Schatze aus unsere Schlossern, Reihe der Staatlichen Schlosser und Garten Baden-Wurttem-berg, Vol. 6, Weinheim, 2002, 98e101 (citation: 98); cf. Campbell, Tapestry (note 40), esp. 272e274.48 Hubach, Tapisserien (note 47), 100, 101.49 Poensgen, Gestalt und Werdegang (note 2), 56; Turner, The Sheldon tapestry (note 38), 39; Campbell, Tapestry

(note 40), 267e270.


collection. While ruling Neuburg, he established a Kunstkammer after the Italian model, enablinghim to build one of the contemporary best ornamented court-chapels.50 Between 1539 and 1544he also employed some Dutch tapestry masters in his court, including one named ChristianDe Roj.51

The adventurous history of the two tapestries is a perfect example of his obsession. He had togive them up following his 1544 bankruptcy, but found the money to buy them again. The troopsof Carl V seized and plundered his residence in 1546, during the Schmalkaldian Wars; all of histapestries were taken by ship to Spain, and then seized by the French. When Ottheinrich heardthis, he begun negotiating with the French king Henry II (1518e1559, reigning from 1547), even-tually managing to regain some of them including both Pilgrimage tapestries.52 In his will, he leftsome of his tapestries in Heidelberg, but ordered the return of many others to their original andnatural place, Neuburg on the Danube. Consequently, the thirteen existing Ottheinrich tapestriesform only a small part of his vast collection.53 Regarding the two pilgrimage tapestries discussedin this paper, nineteenth-century bibliographies mention only one, the Jerusalem tapestry fromMunich, whereas the one in Neuburg was given as a gift to Neuburg’s Historical Society in1874, and is first mentioned later, in the early twentieth century.54 This might be explained bythe relative distance and isolation of Neuburg. The existence of another tapestry, which hadbeen rediscovered in Munich, was announced in a paper published in 1911.55

Ottheinrich played an active role in the creation of his tapestries, mainly through intensiveguidance and involvement in choosing the topics, sites, monuments, traditions, inscriptions,and other details. Inventories of his tapestries reveal his preference for scenes of the Old Testa-ment as well as historical events. In addition to the two pilgrimage tapestries, five out of theexisting thirteen were dedicated to genealogy, one to Ottheinrich’s wife Suzanna, one to hisbrother, two to allegories of the goddesses Prudentia and Fortuna, and one to the siege of thecity of Weibenburg on the Rhein during the Peasants’ War.

50 S. Kaeppele, Hans Bocksberger d. A. Vorlagen fur Ottheinrichs biblisch gemal in der Neuburger Schlosskapelle,in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunst und Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Re-gensburg, 2002, 176e203.51 Hubach, Tapisserien (note 47), 101; Campbell, Tapestry (note 40), 272, agrees that ‘some of these may have been

woven by Netherlandish weavers that Ottheinrich encouraged to settle in his court’.52 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 143. Henry II as tapestry collector: Campbell, Tapestry (note 40), 271.53 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 146e149, enumerated 49 tapestries in Neuburg and Heidelberg castles that

were acquired by Ottheinrich, 29 of them commissioned by him.54 T. Tobler, Bibliographia geographica Palaestinae: Zunachst kritische Uebersicht gedruckter und ungedruckter Bes-

chreibungen der Reisen ins heilige Land, Leipzig, 1867, 233; R. Rohricht, Bibliotheca geographica Palaestinae: Chrono-

logisches Verzeichnis der von 333 bis 1878 verfassten Literatur uber das heilige Land. [Berlin, Reuther, 1890], D.H.K.Amiran (Ed.), Jerusalem, 1963, 604 (both included the tapestry in their cartographic bibliography); Rohricht andMeissner (Eds), Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 16), 349 n. 1. The existence of the tapestry in Munich led Tobler and Roh-

richt to attribute to Ottheinrich a wooden three-dimensional sixteenth century imaginative model of Jerusalem, kept inthe same collection. Only later studies established the fact, that it had been manufactured almost thirty years later: Raff(Ed.), Wallfahrt (note 41), 59e60; H. Goren, An imaginative European concept of Jerusalem in a late sixteenth-century

model, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 127 (JulyeDecember 1995) 106e121.55 H. Hofmann, Ein wiedergefundener Ottheinrich-Teppich, Munchener Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 6 (1911) 73e82.


To the best of my knowledge, the most recent presentations of both pilgrimage tapestries to-gether took place in 1984 as part an exhibition held in the National Bavarian Museum underthe titleWallfahrt kennt keine Grenzen (Pilgrimage knows no boundaries), and in 2005 in Neuburga. D. Donau as part of the big Bayerische Landesausstellung commemorating 500 years of thePfalz-Neuburg.56

Origins and sources of the tapestries

The two tapestries discussed in this paper constitute unique and impressive cartographic doc-uments: maps woven with great artistic and technical skill, and displaying the widely used routesand sites visited by pilgrims to Jerusalem in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Both tapestriesalso raise some intriguing questions concerning the identity of the artist as well as his cartographicand pictorial sources. Scholars are unanimous that the design and cartographiceartistic work wasexecuted by Matthias (Mathis) Gerung (c. 1500e1570), a painter, miniaturist, and woodcut andtapestry designer.57 From 1525 he lived and worked in Lauingen, then part of the Duchy of Neu-burg. Modern research has established that some of the other Ottheinrich tapestries were also ex-ecuted by him, such as the one depicting the Ottoman siege of Vienna under the command ofSulaiman the Magnificent in 1529, which does not survive. Phillip, Ottheinrich’s brother, tooka heroic part in the defense.58 Ottheinrich must have signed a contract with Gerung for theplan and sketches, whereas another contract would have been signed with the master weaver.The work itself was slow and difficult. The calculated average of production, half a square meterper month for a skilled weaver, meant that rapid production required the concentration of a largenumber of weavers.59

Gerung, who, as far as we know, never visited the Holy Land, probably had existing materialon which he could have based his sketches on cartoons, drawn in reverse and put before theweavers. In sketching for the tapestries, he certainly made use of all material available to him.

56 Raff (Ed.), Wallfahrt (note 41), 69e71; S. Baumler (Ed.), Von Kaisers Gnaden: 500 Jahre Pfalz-Neuburg, Katalogzur Bayerischen Landesausstellung 2005, Neuburg a. D. Donau, Regensburg, 2005.57 G. Ring, Gerung, in: U. Thieme, F. Becker and E.H. Vollmer (Eds), Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler von

der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Vol. XIII, Leipzig, 1920, 487e490; F. von Juraschek, Der Thronend-Wandelnde des Mat-thias Gerung, in: G. Poensgen (Ed.), Ottheinrich: Gedenkschrift zur vierhundertjahrigen Wiederkehr seiner Kurfurstenzeit

in der Pfalz (1556e1559), Sonderdruck der Ruperto-Carola, Heidelberg, 1956, 172e178; A. Eichler, Mathis GerungsIlluminationen fur die Ottheinrichsbibel, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunstund Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 317e333; A.-F. Eichler, Mathis Gerung (um 1500e1570): Die

Gemalde (Europaische Hochschulschriften, Reihe XXVIII: Kunstgeschichte, 183), Frankfurt am Main etc., 1993, 5e13(biography).58 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 157; Ring, Gerung (note 57); Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 34; Raff (Ed.),

Wallfahrt (note 41), 71.59 Campbell, Tapestry (note 40), 280.


He must have made great use of the drawings and sketches prepared by Ottheinrich or anotherparticipant in his group, which were added to the prince’s diary.60

It is quite possible that, although twenty years had passed, Ottheinrich was able to recall somepictorial memories and add them to the sketches. During those years, he must have spoken withother pilgrims, discussions that had preserved his memories and renewed his recollections. Ger-ung, who had been working for the Prince for many years, also illustrated one of his early printedBibles with miniatures, many of them including Jerusalem and Holy Land motifs, having much incommon with the paintings on the tapestries.61 Ottheinrich was also in the habit of collecting rel-evant material, which could be of use to him in the tapestry planning, such as the codex Notitiadignitarum, which held many picture maps of places within the Roman Empire.62 His many artis-tic and intellectual innovations, his developing library, his court’s resident artists, his paintedchapel, his other collections, his former experience in planning and producing tapestries, all sup-plied him and Gerung with a wide and variegated basis for the complicated mission. In addition,Gerung never hesitated in making the best use of the work of other artists, if it fitted his needs,style and taste. ‘Only once [.] did he see himself forced to complete a picture on his own [min-iatures of the Apocalypse, Ottheinrich’s Bible]. All the rest he compiled from Durer andBurgkmair’.63

Nevertheless, I would argue that all the above-mentioned experience, available sources andabilities was not in itself sufficient for accomplishing such a project, and Gerung and the princemust have made use of other available sources, mainly maps and books by earlier pilgrims tothe Holy Land. As already pointed out, there was nothing special or unique in Ottheinrich’sroutes and experiences. On the contrary, they were typical of the Jerusalem pilgrimages andsimilar to those found in various other descriptions dating from the same period. At leastthree of these other descriptions, all originating in the 1480s, will be discussed here. It shouldbe noted that although Ottheinrich visited the country four years after the Ottomans hadtaken it from the hands of the Mamelukes, there had been no significant change in itsconditions.

The Dutch painter and draftsman Erhard Rehwich (Reewich, Reuwich) escorted Bernhard vonBreydenbach (c. 1440e1497) (Fig. 5), a high-ranking clergyman from Mainz, on his 1483 pilgrim-age to the Holy Land. His printed book, first published in Latin at Mainz in 1486, and in aGerman version that same year, had also been one of the first to be included in the ‘HolyLand travelers and pilgrims literature’. The popular book included many illustrations, most ofthem of cities passed en route to the Holy Land, and a large map of the country that had been

60 Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 88, see also 34, 35.61 Eichler, Mathis Gerungs (note 57), esp. 317, 322 (St. Stephan’s stoning, Jerusalem in the background), 327 (mul-

tiplying of the fish and loaves, depicted also in the ‘Neuburger’ tapestry). The walled Jerusalem was also included in

his painting ‘The Camp of Holofernes’: Eichler, Mathis Gerung (note 57), 15e26 and pl. 4.f on p. 232.62 O.A.W. Dilke, Itineraries and geographical maps in the early and late roman empire, in: J.B. Harley and D. Wood-

ward (Eds), The History of Cartography, Vol. I: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Med-

iterranean, Chicago and London, 1987, 244.63 von Juraschek, Der Thronend-Wandelnde (note 57), citation 173; Eichler, Mathis Gerungs (note 57), 319e328.


Fig. 5. Memorial to Dean Bernhard von Breydenbach, Mainz Cathedral made by the Mainz master valentius as a tomb slab, since 1812

in the west transept.

Fig. 6. Bernhard von Breydenbach, Map of the Holy Land by Erhard Reuwich, In: Bernhard von Breydenbach, Peregrinatio in Terram

Sanctam, Mainz 1486.


intensively studied (Fig. 6). It is accepted today as a new compilation within the popular genre ofHoly Land maps, mostly independent of earlier models.64

This was not the only famous and important product of the 1483 sailing of the galley Contarinaunder Agostino Contarini, ‘Agostino del Zaffo’ by his contemporaries, who transported pilgrimsfrom Venice to Jaffa for seventeen successive years, beginning in 1479.65 Felix Fabri, a Dominicanmonk from Ulm, sailed there for his second pilgrimage, and consequently published the best andtherefore ‘the most important pilgrimage description of the late Middle Ages.’ The first printededition of his book was published in 1556, but the relatively large number of manuscripts existingto this very day are the best proof of its popularity.66

Konrad Grunemberg (?e1494) from Konstanz made his pilgrimage three years later. His book,which excels in the quality and quantity of its illustrations, was only published in modern times.Some copies of the manuscript exist, but there is no evidence that it had been in the possession ofthe tapestry creators. Still, Grunemberg’s book is one of the outstanding examples of the habit ofcollecting and printing drawings of sites visited.67

An examination of Rohricht’s Palestine Bibliography reveals a large number of pilgrimage de-scriptions, as well as maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which were printed before 1541, theyear the tapestries were produced. It is reasonable to assume that much of this material had beenin Gerung’s possession. The inventory list of the Neuburg Palatinate library includes some HolyLand pilgrimage literature, such as the notes of Martin Ketzel, a patrician from Augsburg whovisited the Holy Land in 1476, the manuscript of the Palestine-Atlas of the theologian, historianand mathematician Jacobus Ziegler (1470e1549), who made his pilgrimage in 1532, and a printeddescription dating from 1519.68

64 Rohricht, Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 14), 164, 165; M.D. Henkel, Reewich, in Vollmer (Ed.), Allgemeines Lexikon(note 57), Vol. XXVIII, Leipzig, 1934, 80; K. Nebenzahl, Maps of the Holy Land: Images of Terra Sancta through Two

Millenia, New York, London, Paris, 1986, 63, pl. 21; R. Haussherr, Spatgotische Ansichten der Stadt Jerusalem (Oder:War der Hausbuchmeister in Jerusalem?), Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 29/30 (1987/1988) 59e63; H. Rohrbacher, Bern-hard von Breidenbach und seinWerk ‘‘Peregrination in terram sanctam’’ (1486),Philobiblon 33 (1989) 89e113; Betschart,

Zwischen zwei Welten (note 1), 47, 48; R. Rubin, Bernhard von Breydenbach, in: A. Tishby (Ed.), Holy Land in Maps,Jerusalem and New York, 2001, 80, 81; Harvey, Local and regional cartography (note 39), 476. The original edition:Bernhard von Breydenbach, Peregrinationes in Terram Sanctam, Mainz, 1486; cf. Rohricht, Bibliotheca (note 54),

132e136; H.W. Davies (Ed.), Bernhard von Breydenbach and His Journey to the Holy Land 1483e84: A Bibliography,[London, 1911], Utrecht, 1968; W. Paravicini (Ed.), Europaische Reiseberichte des spaten Mittelalters. Eine analytischeBibliographie, Vol. 1, Frankfurt am Main, 2001, 201e209.65 Newett, Casola (note 30), 95e102.66 Fabri, Eigentlich Beschreibung (note 35); cf. Rohricht, Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 14), 163; Rohricht, Bibliotheca

(note 54), 130, 131; Paravicini (Ed.), Europaische Reiseberichte (note 64), 210e220.67 J. Goldfriedrich and W. Franzel (Eds), Ritter Grunembergs Pilgerfahrt ins Heilige Land 1486, Voigtlanders Quellen-

bucher, Vol. 18, Leipzig [1912]; cf. Rohricht and Meissner (Eds), Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 16), 167e169; Rohricht,Bibliotheca (note 54), 139; Nebenzahl, Maps (note 64), 70, 71; Betschart, Zwischen zwei Welten (note 1), 48e50; Para-vicini (Ed.), Europaische Reiseberichte (note 64), 227e230.68 Raff (Ed.), Wallfahrt (note 41); Rott, Die Schriften (note 6), 35 n. 2; W. Metzger, ‘Ein recht furstliches Geschaft’:

Die Bibliothek Ottheinrichs von der Pfalz, in: Stadt Neuburg an der Donau (Ed.), Pfalzgraf Ottheinrich: Politik, Kunstund Wissenschaft im 16. Jahrhundert, Regensburg, 2002, 275e316; see Tobler, Bibliographia (note 54), 51; Rohricht,

Deutsche Pilgerreisen (note 14), 175, 182, 183; A. Tishby, Jacob Ziegler, in: A. Tishby (Ed.), Holy Land in Maps,Jerusalem and New York, 2001, 86, 87; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 62.


Rubin has dealt extensively with the unique mixture of fantasy and reality in Jerusalem’s latemedieval maps drawn by people who actually visited the city, as well as with their genealogy. Thevoyage to Jerusalem was long, difficult, dangerous, and expensive. It was much easier to copy a re-alistic map than to travel, experience, and see things with one’s own eyes as demonstrated by thedepiction of Jerusalem in Bernhard von Breydenbach’s map:

This description was copied by Stephano du Perac and by Claudio Duchetti. Duchetti’s map, inturn, was reprinted by Henricus van Schoel and by Ioannis Orlandis. An additional copy ofBreydenbach’s version was printed by Matthias Merian, and it served as basis for a long chainof copies that continued until the mid-eighteenth century and included maps by Jansson,Haffner, Aveline, Leopold, Seutter, Daumont, and many others.69

The Italian Duchetti published his map in 1570, the same year that du Perac’s map had beenprinted in Rome. Many of the sources attribute the 1602 published Orlandis map to the sameDuchetti. Merian’s map was only published in 1645.70 Not one of them set foot on the easternshores of the Mediterranean.

Rubin has argued that many cartographers used the central part of Breydenbach’s map (Fig. 7),which depicts the city of Jerusalem, and copied it with minor or even major variations. So far, noevidence has been found of the existence of copies of the entire map. I would contend that there isalmost no doubt that this map was available to Gerung and was used by him when planning thetapestries. This was already established in 1956 by Annelise Stemper, who pointed out that all for-mer descriptions of the tapestries failed to establish a highly important factor of their conception:the fact that they are two sides of the same large picture-composition. Placing them side-by-sideclearly shows that the landscape on the left side of the Holy Land tapestry is a natural continu-ation of the right side of the Jerusalem tapestry.71

This provides a panorama more than ten meters wide, and it is obvious that the map-design hadbeen prepared as one picture, which was later e probably following an original plan e dividedinto two halves. The change which caused the difference in the height of the tapestries had prob-ably been made during the manufacturing process. On this panorama the artist depicted, as de-scribed above, places and scenes connected to the pilgrimage, as well as a long list oftraditional sites commemorating the life of Christ and Old Testament traditions. Each pictureis divided horizontally into a much wider upper part, and a narrower lower strip. The depictionof the city of Jerusalem covers the central and left part of the Jerusalem tapestry. As the entirerepresentation of the Holy Land outside the walls of Jerusalem is presented from west to east,there is some confusion as to the orientation of the city itself. Generally speaking, it is also de-picted from west to east, the open Jaffa Gate bearing the inscription ‘Jerusalem,’ and Mount

69 R. Rubin, From center of the world to modern city: maps of Jerusalem through the ages, in: A. Tishbi (Ed.), Holy

Land in Maps, Jerusalem and New York, 2001, 33; cf. R. Rubin, Original maps and their copies: carto-genealogy of theearly printed maps of Jerusalem, Eretz Israel 22 (David Amiran Volume) (1991) 166e183 (in Hebrew); R. Rubin, TheDe-Angelis map of Jerusalem (1578) and its copies, Cathedra 52 (1989) 100e111 (in Hebrew); R. Rubin, From pictorial

to scientific maps of Jerusalem, Cathedra 75 (1995) 55e68 (in Hebrew).70 Rubin, Image and Reality (note 1), 75 (Breydenbach’s map and its derivatives); E. Laor and S. Klein, Maps of the

Holy Land: Cartobibliography of Printed Maps, 1375e1900, New York and Amsterdam, 1986, 33 (nos. 253, 254),

147e148 (nos. 1012, 1014, 1016).71 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 160, 161.


Zion with ‘davids schlob’ and ‘maria schiedung’ on the right, i.e. south, side. That probably led tothe fact that the front of the picture presents the detailed stations of the late medieval Via Dolo-rosa, including some vivid scenes of the ceremony. The Via Dolorosa ends, of course, at the HolySepulchre, whose front doors are opened to the west, instead of to the south as in reality.

Consequently, an initial step in the search for Ottheinrich’s sources should be a comparison ofthe combined tapestry map with that of Bernhard von Breydenbach, which preceded it by morethan fifty years. The original Breydenbach map had been printed on a long, narrow sheet, mea-suring 275x1270 mm. Rehwich’s ‘view of modern Jerusalem seen from the east,’ which is ‘placedin the center of a map of Palestine, of which it occupies one third,’72 has already been studied in-tensively as one of the most authentic late medieval cartographic depictions of Jerusalem. ‘Thelatter city’, wrote Rubin, ‘occupies a prominent space at the center of the map, presented ina size befitting its importance rather than realistically.’ The artist chose to rotate the city 180�

in relation to the rest of the map, which is oriented to the east, so that it would be depicted assketched from an observation point on top of the Mount of Olives. This decision led to thefact that the Temple Mount dominates the forefront of the city, the Dome of the Rock beingits most protruding monument. Within the city, the artist also chose to rotate the Holy Sepulchre,

Fig. 7. The central part of the map of Bernhard Von Breidenbach, presenting Jaffa and Jerusalem.

72 Laor and Klein, Maps (note 70), 140, no. 965; cf. Rubin, Bernhard von Breydenbach (note 64).


this time 90�, so that he would be able to present the facades of the building of the Sepulchre, aswell as three other buildings bordering on it.

To what extent did both artists intend to produce a map, a cartographic production, even bythe accepted practices of their period? In many ways, both have basic cartographic characteristics.Rehwich, as well as Gerung, had been faced with a problem caused by the very nature of theircreation, a cartographic pilgrimage description. These ‘geo-religious maps’ were aimed at depict-ing important sites and elements. Instead of strictly following cartographic directions, distances,or dimensions, they preferred to present them according to their traditional significance and con-ceptual meaning as Christian pilgrimage attractions. This limited the possibility of following strictcartographic demands. But the creators of these maps did attempt to take into account the generaldirections and relative locations, as well as the standard ‘pilgrimage geography’.

However, the religious significance, or even a special experience of the pilgrims, was a sufficientreason for distorting the map. Following the pre-eminent conventions of their time, they aimed atdrawing a pictorial map of the Holy Land in which they present the size of Jerusalem fitting itsrole as the central ideal, as the main destination of the long pilgrimage. In their maps they com-bined past and present, depicting actual events and experiences, interweaving them with realisticdrawings that would describe the traditional events in sacred sites. Both artists reached the sameconclusions: a relatively long and narrow map, divided into uneven upper and lower parts, andthe enlarged Jerusalem with rotated and distorted orientation, could provide them with a sufficientsolution for all these needs.

Another way of examining the resemblance between the two maps, also used by Rubin in his‘genealogical studies’, is a comparison of depictions of specific features.73 A detailed comparisonof the twomaps shows some resemblance in the depictions of major monuments. However, I wouldargue that this is not sufficient to prove a copying process. A kind of standardized drawing of cer-tain important monuments can be defined. Then ideas are adopted and improved according to theartists’ knowledge of reality, and subsequently sketched. Breydenbach’s objective had been the cre-ation of a map made of paper, to be added to a book describing the pilgrimage, while Ottheinrichaimed at creating a tapestry, which was to be more of a painting, an artistic masterpiece. Conse-quently, Gerung stressed his artistic intentions, foregoing many cartographic details, such as thecourse of the rivers, very clearly depicted on Breydenbach’s map. This may also explain his decisionto describe Jerusalem from the west, which enabled him to present in detail the via dolorosa and itsstations, the Passion descriptions, absent from Breydenbach’s map. This could not be done in a ro-tated Jerusalem, where the Temple Mount covers a large part of the city.

A detailed comparison of the maps reveals considerable evidence in support of these argu-ments. Firstly, for example, comparisons may be made in the presentation of the galleys anchoredin the sea outside Jaffa. Secondly, the aforementioned depiction of the Quarantal Mountain lookssimilar on both the map and the tapestry, though Breydenbach makes do with a symbol for thechapel at the top, whereas Ottheinrich shows the structure itself. The latter also adds the image ofChrist facing the devil. Thirdly, the depiction of Bethlehem in Breydenbach’s map includesa ruined house, the Monastery with its red roof, and some inscriptions; in Ottheinrich’s depictionthis site is worthy of a detailed double picture, the city on the one side and the cave e of the same

73 Rubin, Original maps (note 69), 167e172; Rubin, Image and Reality (note 1), 66.


size e on the other, showing a remarkable mixture of past and present. Rehwich marks Rachel’sTomb with a small, narrow sign, Gerung shows a domed monument. Fourthly, Emmaus receivesa simple drawing by Rehwich, while Gerung shows four tower-like buildings within a roundedwall. Fifthly, both works provide a detailed description of the city of Ramla (Rama on themaps), where the pilgrims usually stayed overnight in a Franciscan hospice. Gerung added figuresof pilgrims entering the gate. Sixthly, Gerung chose to adopt a widespread tradition and addflames rising from four burning cities to the depiction of the Dead Sea; Rehwich suffices withan inscription. Finally, there are parellels in the depiction of the complex of the Holy Sepulchre.Images of this complex traditionally include four buildings: the bell-tower to the left, thetwo-storey building of the Holy Sepulchre with its double entrance, the Catholicon and the Gol-gotha. The method of drawing them in tandem had been used by many of the travelers, as can beseen also in other depictions, such as the famous one by Konrad Grunemberg. There is an exactresemblance of some of the details in both maps, including the depictions of the Holy Sepulchrebuilding and the Catholicon. Nevertheless, the right entrance door in Breydenbach’s map, as wellas in Grunemberg’s, is closed, whereas according to Ottheinrich, it is open. Only the tapestry pres-ents an image of the crowned Jesus standing atop of the Holy Sepulchre.

Another notable difference between the two maps derives, once again, from the aims of theircreators: Breydenbach aimed at a pilgrimage account which would serve future pilgrims, whileOttheinrich wanted a personal and artistic document. In his map, Breydenbach added one,two, or three crosses to certain monuments or places, indicating the sanctity of the site and con-sequently the amount of indulgencias it offers to the pilgrim. Naturally, these crosses do not existon Ottheinrich’s map.

It is quite possible thatGerung andOttheinrich used images of sites or buildings in Jerusalem andelsewhere which were known to both cartographers and artists during this period. For this reason,their depictions combined both realistic and imaginary descriptions of the city or its parts, combin-ing elements of both ‘maps’ and ‘paintings’.74 Some of these fixed patterns found their way intoGer-ung’s sketches. One example is the image of the vaulted roofs of the markets, built during theCrusader period, which probably originates in SebaldRieter’s map of Jerusalem, following his jour-ney to theHolyLand in 1479.75Rieter Jr. (d.1488) fromNurnberg belonged to a group ledbyHerzogBalthasar from Mecklenburg, including other residents of the city, such as Hans VI. Tucher(1418e1491). The manuscript of his diary survives in various libraries, and his book was publishedinmany editions, even in the fifteenth century.He is probably responsible for the image of Jerusalemincluded in the epitaph for Adelheid Tucher which was part of an altar built in Nurnberg in 1483,which is actually a more detailed version of Rieter’s map.76 The map, the painting and the tapestryreveal an unquestionable resemblance in the depictions of the markets as well as the houses.

Of all the known contemporary maps and paintings of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, one bearsthe strongest resemblance to the tapestry. Friedrich the Wise (1463e1525), who ruled as Prince

74 cf. Rubin, Image and Reality (note 1), esp. 41e45; Rubin, From pictorial (note 69), (no. 80); M. Lewy, Jan van

Scorel, Jan Provoost and Peter Coecke van Aelst: Flemish old masters on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the early sixteenthcentury, Cathedra (in press). I am deeply indebted to Mordechai Lewy for sharing his views and information.75 R. Rohricht and H. Meissner, Das Reisebuch der Familie Rieter, Bibliothek des Litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart,

Vol. 168, Tubingen, 1884; Rohricht, Bibliotheca (note 54), 127; Rubin, Image and Reality (note 1), 37e40.76 Haussherrr, Spatgotische Ansichten (note 64), 63e65, pl. 22e24; Rohricht, Bibliotheca (note 54), 127, 128.


(Kurfurst) of Saxony from 1486, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1493.77 A drawing of anunknown painter kept in the Gothaer Museum, probably dated to the first two decennia of thesixteenth century, commemorated his Pilgerfahrt (Fig. 8).78 The resemblance of this painting tothe tapestries is astonishing. It includes not only the vaulted roofs, but also the whole image of

Fig. 8. Friedrich the Wise, Pilgrimage, drawing. In: Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha: Inv. nr. 118/77: A. Schuttwolf, Ernst der Fromme

(1601e1675): Bauherr und Sammler, Katalog zum 400. Geburtstag Herzog Ernsts I. von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg, Gotha

2001, item 1.26.

77 I. Ludolphy, Friedrich der Weise: Kurfurst von Sachsen 1463e1525, Gottingen, 1984; K. Kuhnel, Friedrich derWeise, Kurfurst von Sachsen: eine Biographie, Wittenberg, 2004.78 Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha: Inv. nr. 118/77: A. Schuttwolf, Ernst der Fromme (1601e1675): Bauherr und Sammler,

Katalog zum 400. Geburtstag Herzog Ernsts I. von Sachsen-Gotha und Altenburg, Gotha, 2001, item 1.26.


Jerusalem, surrounded by walls and pushed to the right side of the picture; the drawing of thecomplex of the Holy Sepulchre; the drawing and the location of the mountain of the Quarantal,with Jesus within a cloud above it; Friedrich the Wise kneeling in the front, his helmet on theground in front of him and his coat of arms in the right-hand bottom corner; a galley in the har-bor of Jaffa, bordered with a rock on its right (northern) side, and more of the same. Although itis not a map, the Gottaer painting contains many of the details included in the much more de-tailed tapestries, and the connection between them should be an interesting topic for a furtherstudy.

It is also quite clear that Ottheinrich had been exposed to some of these maps and drawings. Hemight have known some of the people in person, as well as their work. The Dutch painter Jan vanScorel (1495e1562) stayed in Venice from 1520, then continued to Rome, and in 1521 made a pil-grimage to the Holy Land.79 According to Christian Adrichom, as Rehwich and Scorel a native ofUtrecht, who is well known for his maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, the latter sketched thecity from the Mount of Olives. Whether he actually met Ottheinrich remains unclear, though theprince wrote in his diary that on their galley there were ‘also many Dutch, French and Spanishpeople’.80

Conclusion

Although there are many points of resemblance between Ottheinrich’s and Breidenbach’s maps,more detailed analysis reveals some specific contrasts. Breydenbach’s purpose had clearly been toproduce a descriptive document that would be of use to future pilgrims, whereas only few poten-tial pilgrims could have visited Ottheinrich’s castle and observed his tapestries. When consideringthe best way to commemorate his pilgrimage he took the idea of a map, and developed it into anartistic document, according to his intentions and aims. As a consequence, I suggest that Otthein-rich and his artist did have in their possession, or at least had access to, various pilgrimage de-scriptions and illustrations, including Breydenbach’s manuscript (or printed version), as well asother maps and paintings. They avoided simply copying them, and Gerung adopted ideas andartistic features to fit his needs. He produced an artistic version of Breydenbach’s map, usingOttheinrich’s original sketches and other contemporary depictions of Old- and New-Testamentscenes, in order to add details, vividness, and depictions of personal experiences. These presentedan interesting perception of the elements included in the picture, placing, side-by-side drawingspresenting the traditional events and their contemporary reality, as well as visions andexperiences.

Ottheinrich’s tapestries are by no means the only existing examples of such highly skilled anddetailed cartography on wool and silk. ‘The largest maps surviving from Elizabethan England’, ithas been pointed out, ‘are the woven tapestry maps of four English counties commissioned by

79 C.V. Mander, Das Leben der niederlandischen und deutschen Maler (translated by H. Floerke), Wiesbaden, 1991,161e163; cf. Lewy, Jan van Scorel (note 74).80 Tobler, Bibliographia (note 54), 69; S. Cohen, Christian van Adricom, in: A. Tishbi (Ed.), Holy Land in Maps,

Jerusalem and New York, 2001, 96e99; Reichert, Die Reise (note 14), 125.


Ralph Sheldon of Beoley and Weston around 1590’.81 But the pilgrimage map is much more thana regular cartographic document. It is a targeted map, depicting an event, an experience, anda Weltanschauung. In its unique way, it presents a defined space within two different and not nec-essarily connected times. Here we have the combination of a pilgrimage map on a woven, highlyartistic and colorful masterpiece.

Ottheinrich’s double Wandteppiche are, as far as I know, unique.82 They are the only survivingtapestries which can be considered by modern scholars as ‘realistic maps’ of the Holy Land, orig-inating during a period when most other maps, contemporary as well as historical, were still imag-inary. Constructed by pilgrims after their return, these cartographic pictures combined secularwith religious imagery. In addition to their unique artistic value, they also offer important datafor our knowledge of the Holy Land and pilgrimage in the earliest years of the Ottoman regime.

Acknowledgements

The paper was first presented in the 20th International Conference on the History of Cartog-raphy, June 2003, Boston, Mass. and Portland, Maine. I am greatly indebted to Prof. RehavRubin, Dr. Folker Reichert and Mr. Mordechai Lewy for their insightful comments and addi-tional information, and to Yochi Nahum for his technical help. I received great help in theEran Laor Cartographic Collection at the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem,and from its director, Mrs. Ayelet Rubin and its former director, Mrs. Shoshana Klein. Followingan excursion to Germany, I discovered that two German scholars are currently studying Otthein-rich’s pilgrimage: Dr. Volker Reichert of the Historical Institute of Stuttgart University is study-ing the text, whereas Dr. Hanns Hubach of Heidelberg has already published some revealingfindings concerning the tapestries and their manufacture. I am greatly indebted to both, as wellas to Mrs. Barbara Hoglmeier of the Historical Society in Neuburg on the Danube, and toDr. Nina Gockerel and Dr. Birgitt Borkopp-Restle from the Bavarian National Museum in Mu-nich, who generously enabled me to re-examine the tapestries; and to both institutions for theirgenerous permission to reproduce and publish the images of the tapestries. Frau Dr A. Schutt-wolf, Siftung Schloss Freidenstein Gotha, Schlossmuseum, generously permitted the reproductionand publication of the Friedrich the wise’s pilgrimage drawing. Thanks also to the ‘Maps ofJerusalem’ project of the Eran Laor Maps Collection in the National and University Library,Jerusalem, and the Department of Geography in the Hebrew University, for the use of themap of Bernhard von Breydenbach.

81 Turner, The Sheldon tapestry (note 38).82 Stemper, Die Wandteppiche (note 40), 163: another tapestry, describing the 1491 pilgrimage of Prince Bogislaw

from Pommerania, has disappeared.

Documents

Pilgrimage, tapestries, and cartography: sixteenth-century wall hangings commemorating a pilgrimage to the Holy Land