Seven Electors and one King

The eight full-figure sandstone reliefs depict the seven electors and the Roman-German king. They are from the exterior of the department store at Brand, completed in 1317 in the centre of Mainz. The seven electors, three ecclesiastical and four secular, headed the empire. They alone elected the king (kur = election). The present set-up corresponds to its order "in all public imperial acts", which was regulated by the Golden Bull as the new basic order of the Empire in 1356. The Archbishop of Mainz, who is standing to the king’s right, played the decisive role in electing the king. He was the last person to cast his vote, and thus the one who decided the election.