Elisabeth of Kronberg

Wife of Walther V of Kronberg († 1344)

The unusual heraldic tombstone made of red sandstone shows a large coat of arms of the family of Kronberg at the top in the center field and two smaller coats of arms next to each other at the bottom. Between them are two women's names in two lines bordered by lines: in the first line on the left "ELIZABET" above the coat of arms of the family of Ingelheim, in the second line on the right "LISA" above the coat of arms of the family of Rheinberg. Around the edge is a grave inscription in Gothic majuscule for "Mrs. Elisabeth", the "second wife of Walter of Kronberg, knight", who died in 1344. The slab was originally intended to cover the grave of this Elisabeth. However, her husband Walter of Kronberg also used it to erect a monument to himself and his first wife Lisa of Rheinberg. He had his only son Frank with Lisa. After her early death, the widower married Elisabeth of Ingelheim in 1319, who was herself the widow of Dietzos from Bechtolsheim. The use of the surnames of the two wives (who had the same baptismal name) and the omission of the family names gives the inscriptions on the coats of arms a very personal touch.