Bronze portal of Augsburg Cathedral, Bronze portal at Augsburg Cathedral, Germany.
The old bronze portal of Augsburg Cathedral consists of two unequal-sized wings decorated with 35 cast bronze reliefs. It is one of the oldest bronze portals with figurative representations, alongside the Bernward Door of 1015 in Hildesheim Cathedral. Since 2002 it has been kept in the Augsburg Diocesan Museum St. Afra, where the restored reliefs can be seen up close.
The portal dates to the Middle Ages, a time when Augsburg was establishing itself as a religious center in Bavaria. Its creation reflected the period's investment in skilled craftsmanship and religious imagery at important church entrances.
The reliefs combine three themes: Genesis with the creation of man and the Fall, Old Testament figures seen as precursors of Christ such as Moses, Aaron, Samson and David, and medieval animal symbolism including lions, bears, centaurs and birds. The door was understood as the boundary between the earthly world and the heavenly paradise.
The original bronze door is no longer at the cathedral: since 2002 it has been kept in the Diocesan Museum St. Afra, where it can be viewed during the museum's opening hours. The south portal of the cathedral now holds the new door by Max Faller, installed in 2000.
The portal was moved in 2002 into the Diocesan Museum St. Afra to protect it from air pollutants, and restoration finished at the end of 2004. Since 2018 it counts among Bavaria's 100 Heimatsschätze, a list of regional heritage treasures.
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