Aachen Palatine Chapel – Reconstruction of the Floor Plan
Experiment in the Field: The Dimensional Figure
The evaluation of an own survey of the Aachen Pfalzkapelle from 2004 was the basis for the proof of a simple building geometry, which however could not clarify the comprehensive true-to-scale connection of all components.
Further investigations of the building dimensions in cooperation with Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Pieper revealed in 2016, that the Carolingian church in Aachen must have been built in the Roman foot – albeit in a decimal inch division. The practical staking out of the construction dimensions on a scale of 1:1 with the use of a measurement figure from two interlaced squares of 119 feet (= 7 x 17 feet) made it possible for the first time to provide the complete proof of all construction dimensions of the ground plan.
According to this theory, the outline of the Carolingian central building shows in particular building horizons which follow one another in a modular fashion and can be traced back to 12/10 of the Roman foot. They can be found on the building in the form of cornice stones, arch crests and similar features.The research results were published in 2017 in form of the book "Thron und Altar, Oktogon und Sechzehneck" (de).
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