Jupitersäule

The Jupitersäule stands in Mainz as a Roman monument dedicated to Jupiter, now displayed in the Landesmuseum’s Steinhalle. Reconstructed remains show a tall, tapering stone column.

Originally raised in Mogontiacum during the later first century, it joined Roman worship with local Celtic traditions. Local civilians dedicated the column during Emperor Nero’s reign. Late antique destruction scattered the structure, while discoveries in 1904 and 1905 enabled its reconstruction. Lorraine Keuper limestone from Verdun forms its carved blocks. Two nearly cubic bases support five drums, a Corinthian capital, and a patterned top stone. Without its Jupiter figure, the column measured 9.14 metres. With the statue, its total height reached 12.50 metres.

The bases and drums present gods including Fortuna, Minerva, Mercurius, Apollo, Neptune, Diana, Victoria, and Mars. Richly carved acanthus leaves cover the Corinthian capital. The design became a model for later Jupiter columns in Germania inferior and Germania superior. Copies of it stand at Saalburg, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and Rome.