3 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Baptismal font from the Ottonian period discovered: Oldest evidence of a quatrefoil-shaped basin north of the Alps

The site of a font of the medieval Ottonian dynasty, from the tenth century, has been discovered in the crypt of St Servatii’s Collegiate Church, Quedlinburg, in Germany. Archaeologists believe that it could be the oldest evidence of a four-passage font — with four arches — north of the Alps.

A baptismal font is an ecclesiastical architectural element that serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used during Christian initiation for both infant and adult baptisms.

According to the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology, it is conceivable that numerous prominent members of the Ottonian dynasty were baptized at this site.

These include Duke Henry I of Bavaria (around 922-955), Matilda (955-999), the daughter of Emperor Otto the Great and Empress Adelheid and the first abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey, and Adelheid I (977-1044), the daughter of the imperial couple Otto II and the Byzantine Theophanu.

In the western area of the crypt of the Quedlinburg Collegiate Church, archaeological investigations uncovered a quatrefoil cut into the sandstone in the central axis of the room, about 0.5 meters deep and 2.0 meters wide. As a result of joint investigations by archaeology, building research, art history and restoration science using up-to-date documentation and analysis methods, the feature was identified as the location of a baptismal font.

View into the crypt towards the royal burial grounds. The location of the 10th-century baptismal font can be seen in the foreground. Photo: Andrea Hörentrup- Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology
View into the crypt towards the royal burial grounds. The location of the 10th-century baptismal font can be seen in the foreground. Photo: Andrea Hörentrup- Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology

The walls of the depression, which was created in the 10th century before the crypt was built, were elaborately lined with pieces of plaster from a previous floor. This bedding held a baptismal font, which has not survived but was presumably made of high-quality material. Later, but also in the 10th century, the base was increased in height for reasons that are still unknown.

The fact that this finding is the oldest evidence of a quatrefoil-shaped baptismal font north of the Alps is of great importance in terms of art and architectural history. In addition, its location is also crucial for the reconstruction of the architectural history of the buildings on the Stiftsberg. The room in which the baptismal font originally stood must have been the laity room of a sacred building. There is no evidence that a palatium (prestigious residential building) existed at the site in this period. The baptismal font belonged to a church and also dates from the oldest decades of the Stiftsberg’s medieval history in the Ottonian period, about which little is known so far.

Places and dates of death of members of the ruling families are mentioned frequently in contemporary written sources but information on baptism has not survived. This means that the present archaeological find is extremely rare material evidence of the Christian sacrament of baptism. According to the Roman-Germanic pontifical in the 10th century, unlike today, baptism took place once a year, on Holy Saturday, as a collective baptism of infants or small children by immersion.


View of the Stiftsberg in Quedlinburg. Photo: Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology, Juraj Lipták.
View of the Stiftsberg in Quedlinburg. Photo: Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology, Juraj Lipták.

The candidates for baptism were immersed in the water in the shape of a cross, in the present case in the direction of the quatrefoils, with their heads facing first to the east, then to the north, and finally to the south. The baptismal formula “I baptize you in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” was spoken. The ceremony was carried out in candlelight accompanied by incense as well as liturgical songs and litanies. A few days later, on the Saturday before White Sunday (the Second Sunday of Easter), the baptismal garment was finally removed and the water was drained from the font.

The collegiate church of St Servatii was built on Quedlinburg’s Stiftsberg in the 11th and 12th centuries. Together with the neighboring castle and the old town, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.

Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology

Cover Photo: Andrea Hörentrup- Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeology

Related Articles

Ancient Roman Road with Porticoes and Rare Artifacts Discovered in Switzerland

6 May 2025

6 May 2025

A major rescue excavation in Kaiseraugst, northern Switzerland, has revealed a substantial Roman road complete with porticoes, alongside poignant infant...

Ancient Roman coin thought to be fake -certainly authentic and proves the existence of ‘forgotten’ leader Sponsian, study claims

26 November 2022

26 November 2022

History is littered with artifacts that were later discovered to be forgeries, but the opposite can also occur. A new...

Iron Age Ingenuity: Unique Dacian Stonemasons’ Tools Discovered in Romania

10 May 2025

10 May 2025

An extraordinary discovery in a Romanian forest near the hill of Măgura Călanului has unveiled a unique set of 15...

Archaeologists Discover Fragment of Medieval Inscription of Church in Melnik

1 March 2024

1 March 2024

124 artifacts made of stone, ceramics, and metal were discovered during archaeological excavations in the Church of the Holy Mother...

Ancient Christian Settlement Discovered in Egypt

14 March 2021

14 March 2021

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said on Saturday that a French-Norwegian archaeological team had discovered a new ancient Christian settlement...

7,000-Year-Old Canoes Reveal Early Development of Nautical Technology in Mediterranean

21 March 2024

21 March 2024

The discovery of five “technologically sophisticated” canoes in Italy has revealed that  Neolithic people were navigating the Mediterranean more than...

Archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old Roman road in Cluj-Napoca in northwest Romania

23 January 2023

23 January 2023

Archaeologists from the National Museum of the History of Transylvania have discovered a well-preserved 2,000-year-old Roman road in the city...

‘Australia’s silk road’: the quarries of Mithaka Country dating back 2100 years

4 April 2022

4 April 2022

In Queensland’s remote Channel Country of red dirt and gibber rock, traditional owners and archaeologists have unearthed what researchers have...

700 Years After Dante’s Death, His Handwritten Notes Are Discovered

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, and scholar are best known for his masterwork La Commedia (also known as The Divine...

A Fig Dating Back Over 2,000 Years has been Discovered in North Dublin – A First of Its Kind for Ireland

28 November 2024

28 November 2024

The discovery of a fig dating back 2,000 years during an archaeological excavation of Drumanagh in north Dublin, has been...

Archaeologists Uncover 8 Graves Dated 6,500 Years Ago in Lausanne, Swiss

30 October 2021

30 October 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed eight prehistoric tombs between 5,500 and 6,500 years old in the Swiss town of Pully. The site...

Truncated conical tombs 3,000 years old found in the Chapultepec Forest

26 November 2023

26 November 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) unearthed 10 truncated conical tombs, approximately 3,000 years old, at...

Norwegian couple found a Viking Age Grave And Sword in their garden

3 July 2023

3 July 2023

While trying to expand their home, a Norwegian couple found a Viking Age grave and sword in their garden. It’s...

New study: Human brains preserve in diverse environments for at least 12 000 years

21 March 2024

21 March 2024

A study by forensic anthropologist Alexandra Morton-Hayward and her team from the University of Oxford has shown that the human...

Extraordinary discovery in France: An unlooted 1800-year-old Roman Sarcophagus discovered

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

Archaeologists from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archeology (INRAP) have unearthed an unlooted ancient stone sarcophagus in the vast ancient...