Title of the sculpture: Visions for Europe
Artist: Alfred Mevissen
Location: Karlsgarten, Gut Melaten, 52047 Aachen
Marterial: Turkish basalt, 240 cm
Emperor Karl is still considered the first great European to this day. He had visions for Europe towards a unified educational and social system and a common currency. The Karlsgarten in Aachen
The Karlsgarden after the Capitulare de villis of Charlemagne is located in the west of Aachen in the area near Gut Melaten, which was given to the Freundeskreis Botanischer Garten Aachen on a long-term lease with the consent of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and RWTH. It is not a historical garden as there is no tradition that a garden in the Middle Ages actually existed in this or a similar version. It is reminiscent of Charlemagne, who fundamentally renewed his empire through reforms and legal texts (capitularies). The best known and most important work of this kind in its aftermath is the “Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperialibus”, a copy of which has been preserved. Charlemagne not only ensured his own regular livelihood, but also the prosperity of his subordinates and thus created the first social and (land) economic order of the Middle Ages. In the 70th chapter of the ordinance, over 90 plants are listed that should be available on every royal estate. Monks as advisers and officials of the imperial chancellery wrote the capitular. To compile the list of plants, they drew on the knowledge of ancient authors from books as well as on the long experience and cultural tradition of monastic gardeners and gardens.