Marienkirche

Summary: This section describes St. Mary's Church in Lübeck and the people who contributed to the painting.

The original dance of death was painted during the plague years around 1463. The painting is attributed to the local painter Bernt Notke, but the truth is that there's not really any proof that Bernt Notke painted the dance(s) of death.

The author is unknown, but due to peculiarities of the language (see example here) it is assumed that the text is based on a Middle Dutch model. The number of dancers and certain lines show that the text - like most other dances of death - goes back to the dance of death in Cimetière des Innocents in Paris.

Lübeck ca. 1870.

After a couple of centuries with repairs and maintenance it finally became necessary, in 1701, to replace the painting. The paiting was copied very carefully - but at the same time some deliberate changes were introduced, which we'll examine on the page about the painter Anton Wortmann.

The old painting disappeared but fortunately the preacher (and future vicar) of the church wrote down as much of the old Low German text as he could read. He has, however, messed up his notes a bit and this will be dealt with in the page about Jacob von Melle.

A new text replaced the old one. The author, Nathanael Schlott didn't bother to look at what remained of the original medieval text but wrote a new one instead, which was more in accord with the fashion of that time.

By 1942 it was over: Lübeck was bombarded and the painting was destroyed - together with a large part of the city. What remained was a number of photos, drawings, lithographs, descriptions and texts inspired by the painting. The purpose of this site is to present those sources to make it possible to imagine what the original painting and the chapel looked like.

Between 1952 and 1956 Alfred Mahlau created a new kind of dance of death in the same chapel - consisting of two large stained-glass windows. This time it wasn't the medieval plagues but rather the world wars that inspired the work.

Pages in this section

• Historical timeline. With photos of Marienkirche from 1906 through 2001.
• Bernt Notke - the original painter (maybe).
• Did Bernt Notke paint the dance(s) of death?
• Anton Wortmann - who made the copy in 1701.
• Jacob von Melle - who wrote down the text.
• Nathanael Schlott - who wrote the new dance of death.
• Thomas Nugent's translation into English.
• Den Lybekske Dødning-dantz (Danish translation of Schlott's poem - only in the Danish section)
• Wilhelm Mantels and the infamous wood table theory
• The chapel before the bombardment.
• The chapel today with the stained-glass windows.
• Post-humous (postcards bought in Marienkirche).

Further information

• Text and photos of the painting in St. Mary's Church.
• Manuscripts inspired by the painting.
• Pictures of the dance of death.

Dansk Lübeck's dance of death St. Mary's church