Background: The monastery church of St Mary and Cyprian
The former monastery church of St Mary and Cyprian is a Gothic hall church with late Romanesque elements. It was originally part of a Benedictine monastery, which was first founded in Thankmarsfelde in 970 and moved to Nienburg at the confluence of the Bode and Saale rivers in 975. The original building of the church, consecrated in 1004, was destroyed in 1024, while archaeological excavations have proven that a successor building was erected between 1042 and 1060. From 1242, a new building was constructed incorporating some parts of the previous church, which was clearly modelled on Minden Cathedral and St. Elisabeth's Church in Marburg. Subsequently rebuilt several times, the monastery church of St Mary and Cyprian is a nationally significant document of Gothic architecture. In view of the building's eventful history, it is all the more remarkable that a very special late Romanesque gem has been preserved here in the form of a richly decorated high-fired plaster screed floor.

The late Romanesque high-fired plaster screed
As early as 1926, fragments of a late Romanesque decorative floor made using the incrustation technique were discovered during excavations, which was originally located in the area of the antechoir of the previous building above the crypt. It is difficult to reconstruct the pictorial programme as the individual fragments only make up a small part of the total area. At the centre is a medallion depicting King Solomon, surrounded by the four cardinal virtues (justice, temperance, bravery and wisdom) and ancient authors, who are also represented in medallions and with inscriptions of figures. Animals and mythical creatures, stylised leaves and diamonds are also recognisable. The entire depiction is surrounded by a border strip approximately one metre wide. The fragments of the decorative floor, created around or shortly after 1200, are an important work of Saxon art from the late Romanesque period. In Saxony-Anhalt, only the floor in the Ilsenburg monastery church (Harz district) is comparable to the finds from Nienburg.

In 1962/63, the Magdeburg sculptor Heinrich Apel embedded some parts of the recovered high-fired plaster screed in plaster and brought them to the Bernburg Museum for museum presentation. Today, some fragments of the incrustations are on display in the church.

Basic research into the Nienburg high-fired plaster screed
In order to preserve this important finding for the state of Saxony-Anhalt and to showcase it in an appropriate way, the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology and the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences have initiated a cooperation project entitled 'Basic research into the Nienburg plaster screed, production techniques, communication using work samples and development of a presentation in the church interior'. Firstly, the production technique of the screed, which is high-fired plaster with incrustations, was analysed. Based on the results, gentle cleaning techniques were analysed in a series of tests and applied to all existing fragments. In addition, a new system for recording and storing the fragments was developed. In future, an exhibition in the church will provide information about the important discovery and its research. Among other things, display boards will show the different incrustations and motifs of the floor and serve to illustrate the technologies used.

Contact
Steffi Brune
Press Officer
+49 331 580-2050
presse@fh-potsdam.de
Potsdam University of Applied Sciences

Dr Tomoko Emmerling | Dr Oliver Dietrich
Public Relations
+49 345 5247-384 | -334
oeffentlichkeitsarbeit@lda.stk.sachsen-anhalt.de
State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt