Igeler Säule
N 49° 42.554 E 006° 32.977
32U E 323340 N 5509184
At Igel near Trier is a very remarkable Roman column, 83 ft. (23 m) high, adorned with sculptures. It dates from the 2nd century, and was the family monument of the Secundini. It is the only preserved Roman funeral monument north of the Alps.
Waymark Code: WM1ATJ
Location: Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Date Posted: 03/18/2007
Views: 131
The 23 meter high Igel Pillar was probably built around 250 A.D. by the two brothers Secundinius Aventinus and Secundinius Secunus who were members of a family that had become wealthy through manufacturing and trading in cloth.
The monument was saved from destruction because of an erroneous interpretation of the main picture on the eastern front that shows the wedding of the parents of Emperor Constantine (the Great) and whose mother was the sacred Helena.
This illustration had to be an allegory for a wedding within the family Secundinius. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited the Igel Pillar twice in 1792. He contributed to making the column well known with a detailed description it in his literary work “Campaign in France”.
In 1833 the monument was visited by the later Prussian King Frederick William IV. who had a great favor of Roman art. Another famous visitor was the French author Victor Hugo who visited when his coach broke down there.
Karl Friedrich Schinkel also visited the column and combined his visit with the measuring of the monument. In 1765 a first attempt to preserve the monument took place. The weather and metal robbers had damaged the pillar a lot.
In 1907 a cast of the original column was made because one did not know how long the Igel Pillar would bear the weather. A copy of the column can be seen in the Rheinische Landesmuseum in Trier. The copy had been colored on the basis of recovered color traces at the Igel Pillar in 1993.
In 1984/85 one tried to prevent further damages at the column by doing some construction measurements.
The Igel Pillar is divided into four cornices which illustrate scenes from everyday life and work of the family business. Furthermore it shows family members and mythological sceneries which allude to life and death. The severely weathered pinnacle of the monument shows the rise of Ganymede being taken up to heaven by Jupiter’s eagle. This scenery was a symbol of the mortal human’s hope ascending to the eternal gods in a similar way.
Like the Porta Nigra in Trier, the Igel Pillar had been fixed by iron stables and plumb. The plumb and some iron stables were stolen by robbers.
The main picture on the front of the pillar shows the younger son taking leave of his father Securus and his brother Aventinus. Hovering above in medaillons are other relatives of the family. On the other sides of the column, mythological scenes are presented, the ascension of Hercules, Perseus and Andromeda, Achilles, etc.
Most Relevant Historical Period: Roman Empire > 27 B.C.
Admission Fee: Free
Opening days/times:
24 x 7
Web Site: [Web Link]
Condition: Completely intact or reconstructed
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