Gerlach endeavored to establish his nephew Adolf as his successor as Archbishop of Mainz. However, his plan failed due to his early and unexpected death. Archbishop Gerlach died in 1371 in his Aschaffenburg residence in great pain from a bladder stone. In accordance with his wishes, his body was transferred to Eberbach Monastery and buried there. There was once a closet near Gerlach's tomb in which the bladder stones that caused the archbishop's death were kept. The bladder stones had been removed during the post-mortem and placed in a small box. A parchment tablet with details of the circumstances of the archbishop's death was attached to the box and then placed in the closet. The bladder stones were apparently already lost around 1600, while the parchment tablet is said to have still been there. Today it is also lost.
Source: German Inscriptions Online (43, No. 102), Academy of Sciences Mainz
Image of the tomb: Michael Leukel
More tombs
Tombstones
These are fascinating life stories that can be found carved in stone in Eberbach - and which are now being told with the help of a QR code project.