Disc Brooch @museum.de

F: We don't know what the woman looked like or even what she was called. But from her jewellery, we know she must have belonged to a fairly high social class.

M: In 1972, human remains and various pieces of jewellery were discovered in Oberöwisheim. They included the intricately crafted disc brooch on display in the glass case. What was unearthed during construction work was the grave of a woman from the Merovingian period. She probably died in around 650 AD.

F: The Merovingians were a Frankish royal dynasty. The fall of the Western Roman Empire resulted in a power vacuum, which the Merovingians were able to fill. In the 6th century AD, Clovis the First managed to subjugate the smaller principalities and unite the Frankish territories to establish the large and powerful Frankish Empire. The rule of the Merovingians ensured for some 400 years.

M: Disc brooches (or fibulas) were among the most popular garment clasps of the Merovingian period. Brooches had a very practical function: they were used to fasten robes and cloaks. The weight of the brooch and the gap between the pin and the bow tell us something about the nature of the fabric to which the brooch was pinned.

F: But brooches were also a kind of fashion accessory. And fashion, much like today, was subject to rapid change. That's precisely why brooches are of such interest to scholars, since they shed light on individual cultural eras.

M: Little is known about how the brooches were made. Were they traded? Or did goldsmiths travel around making the brooches to order? We only know that the more artistic and elaborate the front of the brooch, the higher the social rank of the wearer.