Irminsul in a circle pendant with chain, stainless steel

The Irminsul (from irmin = mighty, divine, great and sul = pillar) or Irmin Pillar was a main sanctuary of the Old Saxons. It is believed to have been a large oak tree or wooden pillar...

 

Its exact location is unknown, but it was probably near the Eresburg near Obermarsberg, as suggested by the wording in the Annales regni Francorum ("Annals of the Frankish Kingdom") for the year 772.

Other possible locations include the Externsteine and the Velmerstot. The Irminsul was destroyed by the Franks at Charlemagne's instigation in 772 during the Saxon Wars.

 

The Irminsul was apparently meant to symbolize the connection between heaven and earth. The monk Rudolf of Fulda, to whom we owe the only detailed account of the Irminsul, writes in the Translatio s. Alexandri (Chap. 3): "Truncum quoque ligni non parvae magnitudinis in altum erectum sub divo colebant, patria eum lingua Irminsul appellantes, quod Latine dicitur universalis columna, quasi sustinens omnia." - "They (sc. the Saxons) also worshipped a log (or: tree trunk) of no small size, which had been erected high up in the open air, calling it "Irminsul" in their native tongue, which in Latin means "universal column", as if supporting everything."

 

A (remnant) version of a presumed "Irmin Pillar" is now located in Hildesheim Cathedral. A connection to "the" Irminsul is unclear.

Incidentally, nearby are the towns of Irminseul / Irmenseul, Segeste, the Drachenberg and the Wormstal, which could even point to the Nibelungenlied.

 

Among other things, there is a memorial in Irmenseul in the district of Hildesheim (approx. 9 kilometers from Nordwelt Versand).