The "Männleinlaufen" / the medieval automaton of the clock of the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg

The term "Männleinlaufen" (Männleinlauf) is popularly used to refer to the artistic clock with its rotating figures on the west gable of the church. When it strikes at twelve o'clock noon, a mechanism activates the clock, sending the seven electors on a homage-filled circuit around the emperor three times. The Männleinlaufen (Männleinlauf) was founded in 1356 by Emperor Charles IV to commemorate the Golden Bull .

Its first 23 chapters are known as the Nuremberg Code of Law; they were drafted there and promulgated at the Nuremberg Court on January 10, 1356. As early as 1361, an art clock was documented on the completed Frauenkirche: the church's book of accounts specifies the "tip" the sexton received for its maintenance.

150 years later, in 1506, to commemorate this day, the decision was made to renovate it, and work began. The clock was completed in 1509. It is an astronomical clock and is one of the moon clocks with a lunar sphere .

Above the main portal, the Electors and the Emperor were to be depicted in an elaborate clockwork. Between 1506 and 1509, master metalworker Jörg Heuss and coppersmith Sebastian Lindenast the Elder crafted the clock. Heuss designed and built the mechanism, while Lindenast supplied the copper-driven figures. The cost was approximately 1,640 guilders.

The clock face, the figure of the emperor, and the trumpeters date from this period. Above the clock face, a blue and gold moon globe indicates the phases of the moon . In 1823, the figures of the ambulatory, the seven electors, and a herald, were sold for their metal value and later replaced with wooden ones.

During the Second World War, the work was kept in the Nuremberg art bunker .

Sequence

At twelve o'clock noon, after the hour has struck (including a short wait for the clock to start), the two fanfare players raise their instruments three times. Then, above them, the flute player (who plays silently) and the drummer take over.

Next comes a bust of the town crier, silently moving his mouth and ringing a bell, and a bust holding up a book and pointing to it. With the continuous tolling of a double bell (in the wrought-iron turret, two men dressed in Turkish costume alternately strike a bell with a hammer), two doors open to the left and right of the emperor, enthroned in golden robes.

Now the real man-running begins:

The seven electors emerge from the right door, walk toward the emperor, and turn toward him in the center, then back again in the direction of travel. The emperor's figure salutes with his scepter. After completing three circuits, the entire procession disappears back inside the clock.

The figures of the electors are adorned with the attributes of their respective archbishoprics . The three archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier each hold a parchment as a symbol of their chancellorship.

The King of Bohemia is depicted in royal regalia with crown and scepter, holding a goblet in his right hand as the symbol of the arch- cupbearer . The next Count Palatine of the Rhine , as arch-steward , carries a (silver) bowl, the Duke of Saxony , as arch-marshal, bears a sword as an attribute, and finally, the Margrave of Brandenburg , as arch- chamberlain, carries a key.

The electoral regalia is not depicted correctly on the figures. Some of the attributes also do not match medieval ones ( Coronation of the Holy Roman-German Kings and Emperors ).

Source: Wikipedia