Aachen Cathedral in the context of "Palace of Aachen"

Napoleonic looting of art (French: Spoliations napoléoniennes) consisted of the confiscation of artworks and precious objects carried out by French troops and officials in the conquered territories of the French Republic and Empire, including the Italian Peninsula, Spain, Portugal, the Low Countries, and Central Europe. The looting began around 1794 and continued through Napoleon I's rule of France, until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 ordered the restitution of the works.

During the Napoleonic era, an unknown but immense quantity of art was acquired, destroyed, or lost through treaties, public auctions, and unsanctioned seizures. Coins and objects made of precious metals, such as the Jewel of Vicenza and the bucentaur, the Venetian state barge, were melted down for easier sale and transport, to finance French military wages. In the confusion, many artworks and manuscripts were lost in transit or broken into pieces, which were often never reunited, as occurred with the marble columns of the Aachen Cathedral.

Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900—during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for the court circle and a group of important monasteries under Imperial patronage; survivals from outside this charmed circle show a considerable drop in quality of workmanship and sophistication of design. The art was produced in several centres in what are now France, Germany, Austria, northern Italy and the Low Countries, and received considerable influence, via continental mission centres, from the Insular art of the British Isles, as well as a number of Byzantine artists who appear to have been resident in Carolingian centres.

There was for the first time a thoroughgoing attempt in Northern Europe to revive and emulate classical Mediterranean art forms and styles, that resulted in a blending of classical and Northern elements in a sumptuous and dignified style, in particular introducing to the North confidence in representing the human figure, and setting the stage for the rise of Romanesque art and eventually Gothic art in the West. The Carolingian era is part of the period in medieval art sometimes called the "Pre-Romanesque". After a rather chaotic interval following the Carolingian period, the new Ottonian dynasty revived Imperial art from about 950, building on and further developing Carolingian style in Ottonian art.

King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum; German: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of East Francia following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward.

The title originally referred to any German king between his election and coronation as Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope. The title was also used to designate the successor to the throne elected during the lifetime of a sitting Emperor. From the 16th century onwards, as German kings adopted the title of Emperor-elect and ceased to be crowned by the Pope, the title continued to be used solely for an elected successor to the throne during his predecessor's lifetime.

A wheel chandelier is a lighting installment, in the form of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the form of a spoked wheel. The oldest and most important examples derive from the Romanesque period.

Wheel chandeliers were made for the practical purpose of lighting the great churches and other public areas, but in religion they also had symbolic significance, depicting the Garden of Eden or the Kingdom of God. The wheel, its gates, and its towers, which are usually decorated with Prophets and Apostles or inscribed with their names, symbolise the city walls of the New Jerusalem. The buttresses, towers, and candles number twelve or a multiple of twelve, after the numerology of the Book of Revelation. This symbolism is first found on two wheel chandeliers of Hildesheim Cathedral. The great wheel chandelier of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was an inspiration.

The Hezilo chandelier (German: Heziloleuchter) is an 11th-century Romanesque wheel chandelier. It is part of the treasures of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, which has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. The chandelier was most likely commissioned by Bishop Hezilo of Hildesheim, who rebuilt the cathedral after a fire. He probably also influenced the program of imagery and inscriptions. It is the largest of four extant wheel chandeliers of the period; the others surviving examples are the Azelin chandelier (also in Hildesheim), the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg.

During the restoration of the cathedral (from 2010 to 2014), the chandelier was installed in St. Godehard, a basilica since 1963 and the temporary bishop's seat. After the restoration of the cathedral, which reopened on 15 August 2014, it was returned to its original location in the cathedral's nave.

The Azelin chandelier 1018 A.D (German: Azelinleuchter) is a Romanesque wheel chandelier, made in the 11th century for the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. It is the oldest of four extant wheel chandeliers from that period, along with the Hezilo chandelier, also in Hildesheim, the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg. It was believed to be donated by Bishop Azelin, however his predecessor Thietmar is more likely to be the patron. Therefore, the chandelier is also called the Thietmar chandelier (Thietmarleuchter).

The Aachen Gospels (German: Schatzkammer-Evangeliar "Treasury Gospels", or Karolingisches Evangeliar "Carolingian Gospels") are a Carolingian illuminated manuscript which was created at the beginning of the ninth century by a member of the Ada School. The Evangeliary belongs to a manuscript group which is referred to as the Ada Group or Group of the Vienna Coronation Gospels. It is part of the church treasury of Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, now Aachen Cathedral, and is today kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. The Treasury Gospels and the more recent Ottonian Liuthar Gospels are the two most significant medieval manuscripts on display there.

The Aachen Cathedral Treasury (German: Aachener Domschatzkammer) is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in Europe. In 1978, the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, along with Aachen Cathedral, was the first monument on German soil to be entered in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The treasury contains works from Late Antique, Carolingian, Ottonian, Staufen, and Gothic times. The exhibits are displayed in premises connected to the cathedral cloisters.

The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is an early medieval chapel and remaining component of Charlemagne's Palace of Aachen in what is now Germany. Although the palace itself no longer exists, the chapel was preserved and now forms the central part of Aachen Cathedral. It is Aachen's major landmark and a central monument of the Carolingian Renaissance. The chapel held the remains of Charlemagne. Later it was appropriated by the Ottonians and coronations were held there from 936 to 1531.

As part of Aachen Cathedral, the chapel is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.