Croy tapestry

• manufactured by Peter Heymans in Stettin
• 1554/56
• width: 690 cm

The last surviving descendent of the House of Griffin, Duke Ernst Bogislaw of Croy inherits the entire personal estate of the Pomeranian rulers in 1660, including a monumental tapestry from the reign of Philipp I, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast (1532-1560). The woven artwork is testimony to the Reformation led by Martin Luther, which transformed a church dominated by the noble classes, and, at the same time, testimony to the close ties between the royal families in Saxony and Pomerania.

The two dynasties are related through Philipp's marriage to Maria of Saxony, a daughter of John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, in 1536 at Hartenfels Palace.

Luther is positioned on the central axis. The illustrious figures from Pomeranian history are: Duke George I (1491-1531), son of Bogislaw X. and the only Catholic on the tapestry; Duke Barnim XI (1501-1573); Duke Philipp I (1515-1560), Amalie of the Palatinate (1490-1525), Philipp's mother and wife to George; Anna of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1502-1568), wife of Barnim; Maria of Saxony (1516-1583), spouse to Philipp and half-sister of John Frederick the Magnanimous.

The children of Philipp and Maria stand in the first row: John Frederick (1542-1600), Bogislaw XIII (1544-1606), Ernst Ludwig (1545-1592), Amalie (1547-1580) and Barnim XII (1549-1603).