Kraft of Allendorf and Elisabeth Wolf of Sponheim

Kraft of Allendorf was a son of the married couple Adam of Allendorf and Margarethe of Staffel, who are also buried in Eberbach. He was mayor of Mainz from 1467 to 1474. He married Elisabeth (Lisa) of Sponheim, the daughter of Heinrich Wolff of Sponheim and Margarethe Brendel of Homburg. The couple had two sons: Adam of Allendorf, who was also buried in Eberbach, and Nikolaus, who held a canonry at St. Alban's in Mainz in 1524. Kraft of Allendorf no longer appears in written records after 1474. His wife Elisabeth survived him by more than 20 years and died in 1500.

As already mentioned, the present slab was a version of the grave slab that was rejected by the family. The reasons for this are unknown and the slab that was ultimately used has not survived. However, the inscription, which is one of the first grave inscriptions from Eberbach Monastery to be written in German, has survived thanks to a copy:

This tomb slab only recently revealed a secret that it had kept for centuries, lying flat in the ground. In November 2000, the grave slab of the married couple Kraft from Allendorf and Elisabeth Wolf from Sponheim, which had been lying in the floor of the monastery church, was lifted. What came to light was initially hard to believe. Another figurative representation, an abbot, was found on the back of the slab. A close examination revealed that it was the tomb slab of Eberbach abbot Martin Rifflinck, which had been thought lost.

It is reasonable to assume that the people who commissioned the tomb slab were not satisfied with the stonemason's work for some reason and rejected the first version. They arranged for a new one to be made. The stone with the old version was given to Eberbach Monastery and reused by the monks for the tomb slab of Abbot Martin Rifflinck, who died in 1506. The tomb slab ultimately used for Kraft from Allendorf and Elisabeth Wolf from Sponheim has not survived, which is why the failed attempt was thought to be their tomb slab.

From 1936/37, the Allendorf-Rifflinck double tomb slab was placed in the floor of the southernmost transept chapel near the wall. It is not known why it was decided to place the side with Allendorf and his wife at the top and thus display it. During this relocation, the page with Rifflinck's slab disappeared into the ground and was henceforth considered lost.

Source: German Inscriptions Online (43, no. 262), Academy of Sciences Mainz

Image of the tomb: Michael Leukel