The Vienna Spear or the Spear of St. Mauritius is a valuable historical artifact, considered the likely original of one of the instruments of the Passion of Christ, one of the greatest relics of Christian history. It is currently kept in the imperial castle Hofburg (Austria, Vienna).
This artifact is one of the contenders to be called the Spear of Destiny. It is reliably known that the spear was used during the coronation of Emperor Henry II. The illustrated manuscript contains a miniature depicting this solemn moment. In his left hand the emperor holds the orb, in his right hand is the very spear.
The spear is considered a talisman that brings good luck to its owner. According to legend, it was with this spear that the Roman centurion Gaius Cassius Longinus struck the crucified Jesus Christ between the ribs, piercing the pleura, lung and heart, without damaging the bones. The weapon passed to Guy's father from his grandfather, who served in the army of Germanicus, and then to Guy. According to legend, Gaius Cassius commanded a Roman detachment that patrolled Calvary, and stabbed Jesus with a spear in the hypochondrium. Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood of Christ in the Holy Grail, removed his body from the cross, covered it with a shroud and put it in a coffin. During the execution of Jesus, Caius Cassius believed in him as a son of God, becoming a Christian, and later was canonized as a saint under the name Longinus. Then the spear acquired its sacred status and became one of the most important relics of the Christian world.
This object is an iron tip for an ancient spear, attached to a wooden shaft. The length of the tip is 51 cm, the width is 8 cm. The steel tip consists of two parts, fastened with a silver wire, tied with a gold strap. A forged nail is inserted into the blade of the tip, which is one of the Instruments of Passion. The inscription on the gold plate: "The Spear and the Nail of the Lord."
In the Encyclopedia of Weapons by the historian Vendalen Beheim, the Viennese lance is referred to as a typical lance with two porches at the base. Beheim dates it to around the 9th century AD. and marks as an artifact, interesting from the point of view of the history of weapons as one of the oldest examples of copies of the beginning of the first millennium.
Particularly important is the preserved arrowhead, which, if not as ancient as the legend claims, is recognized as the oldest weapon. This is the so-called spear of St. Mauritius in the treasury of the Austrian Imperial Palace in Vienna. If we discard the halo of holiness that the believers have wrapped around this relic, then we will see an ordinary spear with two porches at the lower end and a short sleeve. It is in no way reminiscent of the shape of a Roman spear: among the usual finds related to antiquity, there is nothing similar. But the details of this tip are easily recognizable as the ancestor of all medieval spears with porches up to the 15th century.
In October 1907, Adolf Hitler came to Vienna to enter the Academy of Fine Arts, but failed his exams. There Hitler rented an apartment with a friend, they lived extremely poorly. Hitler first saw a spear in 1909. He drew sketches for the facade of the Hofburg Museum and went there to warm up. Adolf found himself in the Habsburg Treasure Hall.
Seeing the spear, Hitler fell into a trance, only the caretaker's remark made him wake up. At night Hitler could not sleep, and in the morning he went back to the palace. When the museum opened, he ran into the hall and plunged into contemplation of Longinus's spear. On that day, what Hitler called "initiation into the essence of the spear of Destiny" happened. The spear became for him a sacred symbol, a carrier of magical revelation. Under the influence of the legend of the spear, Hitler went from depression to a manic state.
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On March 15, 1938, Hitler arrived at the Hofburg accompanied by Himmler and claimed the rights to Longinus' spear. At the palace, Hitler was met by the head of the Supreme Court Walter Buch and the head of the Austrian SS Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Hitler, together with Himmler, entered the hall where the spear of Destiny was located. He gave the order: "The spear should rest in the ancient church of St. Catherine in Nuremberg, where the Meistersinger competitions were held in the Middle Ages."
A meeting was organized in front of the palace. Hitler made a speech from the balcony: “I announce to the German people that I have completed the most important mission of my life. As Fuehrer of the German nation and Reich Chancellor, in the face of history I declare the entry of my homeland into the German Reich."
And already in October 1938, the spear of Fate and other imperial regalia were delivered from Vienna to Nuremberg by an armored train. This event was made a holiday, a crowd gathered at the station to watch the train arrive. The troops formed a living fence on the way from the station to the Church of St. Catherine, along which the armored personnel carriers carried the imperial treasures. In addition to the spear, the inventory list included: the tooth of John the Baptist, a piece of tablecloth from the table of the Last Supper, the purse of St. Elmo, the Bible of the first Pope, a stone from the wall of the Jerusalem temple.
The spear was taken to the meistersinger hall, where they assembled a special storage with an alarm. The Burgomaster of Nuremberg Willie Liebel was appointed the keeper of the sacred spear. When Hitler visited Nuremberg, he entered the Church of St. Catherine and contemplated the spear of Destiny.
At the very end of the war, the spear was reported to the American General George Patton. To capture the spear, he created a special squad, which went to Nuremberg. There, the Americans fought their way to the museum, where the spears were not found. Only a few days later the spear was found in an underground bunker. Patton was eager to take this relic to the States, although he was dissuaded from such a rash step. The general decided that the spear should go with him to the United States. But…
General Patton was fond of history, mythology, ancient mysteries and was a great expert in these matters. The general found a spear among the trophies and handed it over to US President Truman. Possessing it, Truman gave the order to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A few months later, on January 4, 1946, according to the orders of Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Clark solemnly returned the spear to the burgomaster of liberated Vienna.
And on December 9, 1945, the day before returning to the United States, Patton was in a car accident. He and his chief of staff went to hunt pheasants in Mannheim. General Patton died in hospital. So the spear took revenge on its new owner.
Already in 1946, the Americans officially handed over the spearhead to the Vienna National Bank to its true owners.
An examination by British expert Robert Feather in January 2003, which included X-ray and fluorescence analysis, showed that the spearhead was made in the 7th century AD. Dr. Feather confirmed that the spear could never have been created in the time of Jesus Christ. It has long been considered that the iron pin is the crucifixion nail. It not only fits snugly in the blade and is inlaid with tiny copper crosses, but also matches the length and shape of the nails used by the Romans in the century. And even if we cannot accurately date the iron fragments around it … Perhaps all of this is speculation, but we cannot just take it away.
The same examination of Dr. Feather established that the silver wire, which holds the broken spearhead together, was made even earlier than 600 AD, the silver plate was made in the 11th century, and gold in general in the 14th century.
But even such evidence and facts did not make the spear of Destiny a less significant symbol and artifact.
Igor Naumov