Heunensäule
The Heunensäule stands in Nuremberg as a red Main sandstone column held by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. It rises approximately 7.61 metres above its one-metre diameter. Its mass is approximately 14.45 tonnes, giving the museum object an imposing physical presence. The stone came from the quarries near Miltenberg.
Workers shaped these columns in the eleventh century in the Bullauer Mountains, before builders ordered supports for Mainz Cathedral’s reconstruction. Mainz Cathedral had burned in the year 1009. When the cathedral builder selected different supports, the prepared pieces remained unused and began a separate history beyond the rebuilding.
A train carried this piece from Miltenberg to Nuremberg, beginning its recorded Nuremberg history. The museum collection has held it since 1972. Its one-metre diameter remains a clear measure of the monumental support once planned for Mainz.
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