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semi-Christianised) Frankish warrior in his grave. Böhner saw the figure in this light, further contextualising the comb within the pagan
Frankish association of hair with power. However, in more recent scholarship, Sebastian Ristow has contested this interpretation on the grounds that associations like these were by no means exclusively pagan, and would have been carried into later Christian cultures.
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serpent or a halo. If the interlace is interpreted in this way, though the triumphant Christ is often depicted in
Christian iconography as atop a serpent, the motif is common to Germanic sources as well. Friedrich instead reads the figure as a (perhaps deliberately) religiously ambiguous appropriation of Roman imperial symbols of power. Another critic
100:, an interpretation that has since been widely adopted. Such conjecture reads the interlace under-foot as a serpent, representing evil trampled on by Christ. The rays, resembling hair, are read as a halo. No consensus has been found for an interpretation of the circle, which has been read as a Christian
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and what is perhaps a comb. A circular object near his legs is perhaps a canteen. Three serpent heads menace him from both sides. The comb and the serpents, respectively common pagan grave goods and grave symbols, are the main reasons that this side has so often been thought to show a pagan (or only
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One critic of this interpretation is
Michael Friedrich, who complains of the absence of "any distinct symbol or signifier that might enable us to clearly identify Christ or even presume a Christian frame of reference." Neither the interlace nor the rays around the figure's head are unambiguously a
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A Frankish graveyard was discovered about 400m north of the boundary of
Niederdollendorf in 1901 during construction work. No proper excavation took place other than the sporadic uncovering during this work and therefore the inventories of many of the graves have been lost. The graveyard (in use
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between the latter half of the 6th century and the 8th century) consisted of burials with oriented slabs and, in some cases, with grave goods buried within. The specific grave the
Niederdollendorf stone belonged to had no grave goods and was dated to among the later of the graveyard's burials.
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114:, an interpretation which has not been sustained by later scholarship. The spear is usually read as representative of a Germanic syncretisation of Christ, reconceptualising the triumphant Christ within a Germanic warrior culture.
78:. It was made in the 7th century and reused later (around the 8th century) as a gravestone. The original purpose is unknown, so the common reference to it as a "gravestone" is slightly misleading.
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43:(now Königswinter) where it was found in 1901 in a Frankish graveyard. The stone is a notable both as an exemplary work of Frankish sculpture and as a possible early example of
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Ristow, Sebastian (2011). "Persönliche
Glaubenshaltungen in der Archäologie: Problemfälle aus Spätantike und Frühmittelalter". In Friese, Wiebke; Nielsen, Inge (eds.).
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pattern. Rays extend from his head and he has a circle on his torso. Incised lines extend out from the chest and feet. German archeologist
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The other broad side has been described as "one of the best-known examples of
Frankish sculpture". It depicts a man with a sword or
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Festschrift zum
Hundertjährigen Bestehen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte 1869-1969
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A reproduction of the stone in
FriedenstraĂźe (in front of the Protestant church), Niederdollendorf, erected in 2016.
110:, a kind of necklace, or perhaps some feature from a Roman torso plate. Böhner read the incised lines as a stylised
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Ristow, S. "Persönliche
Glaubenshaltungen in der Archäologie: Problemfälle aus Spätantike und Frühmittelalter," in
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also identified the figure with Odin, an interpretation which was in vogue in Germany during the Nazi era.
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Persünliche Frömmigkeit: Funktion und Bedeutung individueller Gotteskontakte im interdisziplinären Dialog
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Persünliche Frömmigkeit: Funktion und Bedeutung individueller Gotteskontakte im interdisziplinären Dialog
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The narrow sides and top are decorated with a serpent and various geometric figures.
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Böhner, Kurt (1944–50). "Der fränkische Grabstein von Niederdollendorf am Rhein".
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100 Bilder und Objekte. Archäologie und Kunst im Rheinischen Landesmuseum
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The stone measures 42.5 cm by 22‒25 cm by 16‒19 cm and was carved from
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Böhner, K. "Der fränkische Grabstein von Niederdollendorf am Rhein",
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The side of the stone conjectured to depict a dead Frankish warrior.
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The side of the Niederdollendorf stone conjectured to depict Christ.
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On one broad side, a spear-wielding man is shown standing on an
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was the first to conjecture that this image is a depiction of
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Friedrich, Matthias (2023). "The Enduring Power of Images".
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Niederdollendorfer Bilderstein on The Megalithic Portal
441:. Zweiter Teil: Fachwissenschaftliche Beiträge (1970).
122:, who favours an identification of the figure with
451:Redlich, C. "Der Bildstein von Niederdollendorf"
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168:A narrow side of the stone, depicting a serpent.
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437:Brast, W. "Der Bildstein von Niederdollendorf"
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348:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–104.
296:"Der fränkische Grabstein von Niederdollendorf"
346:Image and Ornament in the Early Medieval West
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39:from the 7th century CE, named for the town
431:Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde
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59:The stone is currently on display at
381:Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity
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428:Böhner, K. "Niederdollendorf." in
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284:. Münster: Lit. pp. 167–183.
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516:1901 archaeological discoveries
434:(RGA). 2nd edition. 21:153–162.
403:Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (1983).
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67:Appearance and interpretation
61:Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
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407:. Oxford University Press.
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384:. Oxford University Press
490:the decorated upper part
376:"Niederdollendorf stone"
260:10.11588/ger.1944.45947
511:7th century in Francia
374:James, Edward (2018).
51:Discovery and location
26:Niederdollendorf stone
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536:Germanic Christianity
486:entire funerary stele
120:J. M. Wallace-Hadrill
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448:. Berlin (1935), 186
425:28 (1944–50), 63–75.
531:Early Christian art
455:25 (1974), 157–163.
405:The Frankish Church
526:Early Germanic art
506:7th-century steles
465:Zehnder, G. (ed.)
47:material culture.
45:Germanic Christian
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444:KĂĽhn, H.
254:: 63–75.
142:scramasax
83:interlace
76:limestone
423:Germania
248:Germania
201:See also
73:Lorraine
34:Frankish
388:13 June
152:Gallery
112:aureole
488:or of
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299:(PDF)
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103:bulla
98:Jesus
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37:stele
390:2024
350:ISBN
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