The seals of the bishops in the Salzburgian metropolis

The research project will comprise the seals of the archbishops of Salzburg as well as of the bishops of Salzburg`s bishoprics Gurk, Chiemsee, Seckau and Lavant. The seals of this temporal and geographic frame will be collected, pictures of the seals will be taken and they will be drawn and described according to sphragistics, because (apart from a few individual studies) there is no overall analysis of these seals. The discovery of individual seals in the course of reconstruction work of altars repeatedly uncovered that the necessary preliminary work for further studies on this issue was missing. In some cases individual seals were not investigated any further due to their bad state of preservation (especially of seal inscriptions). The staff of the Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Office of Historical Monuments) repeatedly passed on individual seals for further studies. The temporal scope of this research project should stretch up to the diocesan regulation of 1786 and also consider individual bishops whose terms of office ended around 1800. A catalogue of these seals for the defined geographic and temporal area is valuable for local historiography as well as for the case history of individual church buildings, because it makes it possible to determine the time of consecrations of altars or churches. In addition, seals are an important source for art history in order to determine the age of artwork and offer further biographical information on individual bishops. The cooperation with a renowned expert on seals, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Georg Scheibelreiter, and an artist who draws the seals, Prof. Dr. Ludwig Freidinger, should ensure that the sigillographic work of the project includes photos as well as drawings of all seals. The result of this work will be a reference book, which has been a desideratum of basic research up to now and which may serve as an impulse for further studies in this area. The aim of this project is the publication of the research results. It is also intended to publish the results on the internet and hence make it accessible to the general public or receive further input from online users. The project staff also plans exhibitions that should present this topic to a broader public and to serve as "science to public" device for a greater impact.

The project The Seals of the Bishops in the Salzburgian Metropolis investigated the seals of the archbishops and bishops of Salzburg, Gurk, Chiemsee, Seckau and Lavant from the beginning until the diocesan regulation by Joseph II (1786) with sigillographic methods: the seals were registered, pictured (photographs and drawings), entered into a database and described according to a clearly defined schema. In the project proposal it was assumed that a number of about 350 seals are to be edited. Up to now there are, beginning with the first maintained seal of the Salzburgian archbishop Friedrich I. (958-991) until the diocesan regulation by Joseph II. (1786) 513 seals that could be found and integrated in the investigation: Salzburg (156), Gurk (106), Chiemsee (66), Seckau (114), Lavant (71). The research project bears a meaning for both, the present and the future: in the literature there doesnt exist a synopsis or report of this temporal frame and geographical area, to give an overview of the development of seals in this geographical area. Knowing about the seals and classifying them influences several scientific disciplines: first of all the historical complementary sciences, the ecclesiastical sciences as well as the local historiography and documentation. Moreover comparative analysis with those seals are possible, wherefore catalogues and investigations already exist, such as the archbishops of Cologne, Trier and Mainz, respectively to the seals of the Bavarian bishops due to its geographic contiguousness to Salzburg. The Art history will also profit from these scientific investigations, since Seals are artworks of its own rights and as such they deserve the interest of art history. Because of their secured dating and their dense sequence of preserved evidence the seals document the stylistic development much better and are more reliable than many other art historical creations. (Original quotation: Siegel sind Kunstwerke eigenen Rechts und verdienen als solche das Interesse der Kunstgeschichte. Durch ihre gesicherte Datierung und die dichte Folge der erhaltenen Belege dokumentieren sie die stilgeschichtliche Entwicklung besser und verlässlicher als viele andere Werke. Kahsnitz Rainer, Historische Hilfswissenschaften und Kunstgeschichte. In: Diederich Toni / Oepen Joachim (eds.), Historische Hilfswissenschaften. Stand und Perspektiven der Forschung. Köln-Weimar-Wien 2005, 180) An online-database is being established, which sets new standards for the sphragistic as well as for the numismatic, regarding the schema for data acquisition, the transcription computer-compatible diacritical input procedure and a depiction in the internet with the pictures and illustrations. An overall publication will be published after finishing the planned follow-up project with a catalogue for the seals of this specific area until the present time. It will be presented to the broader society and stimulate further research.