Trier (or Treves) is one of Germany’s oldest cities. The Roman Emperor Augustus founded it during the first century BCE. It later became the capital of the Roman province of Belgica and, in the third century, of the prefecture of Gaul. It was the site of a sacred healing spring associated with the god Mars, as well as a healing center dedicated to the deity Aesclapius.
Trier was also an early Christian center, and a church was constructed there during the reign of Constantine (c. 272–337). In 326 Constantine’s mother, Helena (c. 248-c. 329), made her famous trip to the Holy Land looking for relics of Jesus.
Among the items she is said to have brought back to Constantinople was the seamless garment that Jesus was said to have worn and for which the soldiers overseeing his crucifixion gambled (Matthew 27:35). Two stories conflict as to how the coat—whose authenticity has been widely questioned—reached Trier. One story suggests Helena contributed the coat herself. Others suggest that it was obtained at a later date by Charlemagne (c. 752–814) and then presented to the church.
The coat was regularly shown to the public, beginning in 1512, when the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire met at Trier. Shortly thereafter, Pope Leo X granted a plenary indulgence to pilgrims who went to Trier when the coat was being shown. The showing of the coat followed a seven-year schedule of public viewing. The building of Trier as a pilgrimage site, unfortunately for the city, ran counter to the Protestant Reformation, which had its origin in Germany and had made indulgences a central issue. Trier therefore discontinued the public displays of the coat in 1545. The church was destroyed by French soldiers in 1674 and not rebuilt until 1757.
A campaign to show the coat again began again in the nineteenth century. By the end of the century, some two million pilgrims were making the trek to Trier. During this time people began to believe that it was also a source for healings.
a city in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the Land (state) of Rhineland-Palatinate. Population, 102,200 (1973). Trier has enterprises for the production of foodstuffs, tobacco, carpets and other textiles, and footwear, as well as machinery, metal products, and electronic devices. It is the center of a viti-cultural and wine-making region. The city has a university. Karl Marx was born in Trier, and his house is now a museum.
In the first century B.C., Trier was a Roman military camp, founded on the site of a shrine belonging to the Triveri, a Gallic tribe. It later became the main city of the Roman province of Gallia Bélgica. Under Diocletian, who reigned from A.D. 284 to A.D. 305, it was the most important city of the entire prefecture of Gaul and one of the four capitals of the empire.
In the ninth century, Trier became the center of an archbishopric, and in the late 12th century it was chartered as a city. From the 15th to 18th centuries the city had a university. In 1794, Trier was annexed by France, and in 1814–15, by Prussia. During the Revolution of 1848–49 it was one of the centers of the democratic movement in the Rhineland. After World War I (1914–18) and until 1930 it was occupied by French and American forces. After World War II (1939–45), Trier was made part of the French occupation zone. Since 1949 it has been part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In the late 19th century, industrial regions developed around the medieval center of the city. Extensively damaged in 1944 and 1945, Trier was rebuilt and expanded; the last major construction was executed in 1969.
Roman buildings that have been preserved include the amphitheater (c. A.D. 100), the Imperial Baths (c. 300), the Porta Nigra (early fourth century), and a basilica (first half of the fourth century). The city has a Romanesque cathedral built between the fourth and 18th centuries and known for its 11th-century west-work and its east choir (c. 1160–69); other notable Romanesque structures are the Frankenturm (11th century) and the Dreiköni-genhaus (early 13th century). Significant buildings of other periods include the Gothic Liebfrauenkirche (1250), the Steipe mansion (1430–83), a former Jesuit college in the Renaissance style (17th century), and the baroque Kesselstatt Palace (1740–45).