Peter from Grünberg – Kloster Eberbach

(† 1363)

This broken grave slab made of red sandstone appears completely unadorned. The field is smooth and there is no pictorial representation. All the more striking is the inscription running between two lines, the lower part of which is now lost. The very carefully executed Gothic majuscule shows a tendency towards the decorative design of the letters, which is otherwise rarely found in Eberbach inscriptions. For example, the ends of the slopes and arches are drawn out into long spurs and there are decorative strokes on many beams. Some shafts show swellings, while the shaft of the letter “I” is decorated with a round nodus in the middle. The use of both round and straight variants of the letters “N” and “M” is also striking. It remains unclear why this tomb slab is so out of line with its lettering design. One possible explanation could be explicit instructions from the deceased and/ or that it was made by an external workshop that did not create any of the other Eberbach tombs that have survived from this period.

The content of the epitaph follows the conventions of the time. It is striking that no attributes were added to the name of “Petrus de Grunenberg”, who died in 1363 and was originally buried in front of the altar of All Saints in the basilica. It is therefore unlikely that he was a nobleman. It is possible that the person buried here was identical to a learned clergyman named Petrus or Peter of Grünberg, who is mentioned in 1356 and probably came from the town of the same name near Giessen.

Source: German Inscriptions Online (43, No. 93), Academy of Sciences Mainz

Image of the tomb: Michael Leukel

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