Franziskus-Marterl

Franziskus-Marterl with the "Cross of Wackersdorf"

The Franziskus-Marterl is a chapel shrine in the southeast of the unfinished Wackersdorf reprocessing plant "Im Blaubeerwald" in Altenschwand ( Schwandorf district , Upper Palatinate , Bavaria ).

The WAA -Widstands-Marterl is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and is framed by several other protest monuments such as the Cross of Wackersdorf and Der torn Mensch .

history

After a chapel had failed in 1983, opponents of the WAA built a one square meter Marterl in 1984 because this did not require a permit. The small chapel-like building was built on the property donated by Michael Meier from Altenschwand. The unemployed part-time farmer refused to sell his property to the WAA operating company, even though they offered him millions for it. Initially, they wanted to build a chapel, but then decided on a permit-free Marterl with only one square meter of floor space. On September 30, 1984, the Catholic pastor Richard Salzl and the Protestant clergyman Matthias Kietz blessed the Franziskus-Marterl in the Taxölden Forest.

Votive plaque in the Kreuzbergkirche

In the mid-1980s, opponents of the WAA met every Sunday at 2 p.m. for an ecumenical prayer at Marterl, where, according to Franz Josef Strauss, “the devil's work ” was carried out and then moved into the grounds or to the site fence. The Franziskusmarterl was also the starting point for supplications , ways of the cross and light processions . During a procession to the pilgrimage church in nearby Schwandorf, a votive plaque was transferred and hung in the chapel of grace there.

Even today the "Marterlgemeinde" meets four times a year for devotions - on the Chernobyl and Hiroshima days of commemoration, in memory of the Marterl patron Saint Francis of Assisi on October 3rd and on Christmas Eve. The “Ecumenical Marterlgemeinde” interferes in ecological issues even after the WAA has ended.

In 1988 the Federation of Nature Conservation in Bavaria wanted to build a forest chapel on Franziskus-Marterl for all believers who wanted to pray against the reprocessing plant. The council of Bodenwöhr rejected the project because of the disfigurement of the landscape and because of the interference with nature.

On April 24, 2016, a memorial plaque erected by the district of Schwandorf was unveiled at Franziskus-Marterl, documenting the progress of construction and the development of resistance to the planned reprocessing plant through to the abandonment of the project.

The two "Crosses of Wackersdorf"

"Stolen Cross from Wackersdorf"

From December 26th to 29th, 1985 the Burglengenfeld wood sculptor Stefan Preisl made a 1.60 m tall figure of Christ from a spruce trunk on a ten meter high spruce cross, which was set up in the second anti-WAA hut village "Free Wackerland" in the Taxöldern forest. The consecrated crucifix stood for a week. When the hut village was cleared on January 7, 1986, the crucifix was sawed off by the police and carried away. A police pastor oversaw his graceful transport. The figure of Christ, which was returned shortly afterwards, was brought to the Franziskus-Marterl by demonstrators. On the night of February 20, 1986, the figure of Christ disappeared. The broken hands that remained were hung up next to the newer cross from Wackersdorf.

"Cross of Wackersdorf"

The approximately seven meter high second "Cross of Wackersdorf" was also created in 1986 by Stefan Preisl from Weymouth pine . On Easter Sunday 1986, when 100,000 people demonstrated during the Easter march to Wackersdorf, the crucifix was set up next to the Franziskus-Marterl. After the WAA construction freeze, strangers stuck a crown of thorns made of barbed wire from the Wackersdorfer construction fence onto the lowered head of Christ.

Thank you board of the Marterlgemeinde

Francis preaches to the birds (Marterl Chapel)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c The Cross of Wackersdorf - ( Chrismon , August 2011)

↑ Symbol of the WAA resistance - with an anniversary devotional at Franziskus-Marterl, around 100 former companions commemorated their long struggle against the reprocessing plant. - ( Mittelbayerische Zeitung of October 4, 2014)

↑ Christian symbol against WAA - in 1984 Christian resistanceists built a mini-chapel against the atomic plant near Altenschwand - for the anniversary the initiators met for prayer. - ( Mittelbayerische Zeitung of October 6, 2014)

↑ Wackersdorf judgment: The victory of Michael Meier - A man has withstood - ( The time of February 5, 1988)

↑ One square meter of resistance - ( Upper Palatinate Network of October 6, 2014)

↑ Distance to official churches - The Christian resistance against the reprocessing plant got a symbol 30 years ago: The Franziskus-Marterl. - ( Upper Palatinate Network of October 6, 2014)

↑ You look like the robber barons - ( Der Spiegel , Tom Schimmeck , July 11, 1988)
Exiting is not a Christian duty - With the support of the official church, the CSU wants to break the protest against the Wackersdorf nuclear factory - ( Der Spiegel, August 18, 1986 )

^ Alois Döring: Franziskus in Wackersdorf: Christian symbolism in political resistance. Religious rites and forms in ecological and peace-ethical protest movements . P. 437 f. In: Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heinz Schmitt (Hrsg.): Symbols - On the meaning of symbols in culture. 30th German Folklore Congress in Karlsruhe from September 25 to 29, 1995. Waxmann Verlag 1997, pp. 435-449, ISBN 978-3-89325-550-4

^ Criticism of politics and economy - ( Mittelbayerische Zeitung of April 30, 2009)
Commemoration of the nuclear catastrophe - For the members of the Marterlgemeinde, the resistance to nuclear energy is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago. - ( Mittelbayerische Zeitung of April 25, 2011)

↑ Nuclear power always divides - "Marterlgemeinde" uses Hiroshima Day as an opportunity to criticize the nuclear energy renaissance - ( Oberpfalznetz, August 13, 2008)

↑ In the spirit of Franz von Assisi - prayer of the Marterl congregation at the chapel ( memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - ( Upper Palatinate Network of October 7, 2013)

↑ The message has stayed the same - around 250 people at the ecumenical prayer at Franziskus-Marterl - ( Upper Palatinate Network of December 27, 2005)
Fearless with Trust in God - Marterl Congregation celebrates Christmas Eve ( Memento des original from August 8, 2014 on the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - ( Upper Palatinate Network of December 26, 2013) @1@ 2

↑ Humility required - Marterlgemeinde has existed for 20 years - ( Upper Palatinate Network of October 6, 2005)

^ Alois Döring: Franziskus in Wackersdorf: Christian symbolism in political resistance. Religious rites and forms in ecological and peace-ethical protest movements. S. 449. In: Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heinz Schmitt (Hrsg.): Symbols - On the meaning of the signs in the culture. 30th German Folklore Congress in Karlsruhe from September 25 to 29, 1995. Waxmann Verlag 1997, pp. 435-449, ISBN 978-3-89325-550-4

↑ No chapel in the forest - ( Der Spiegel, March 21, 1988)

↑ Timeline of WAA history revealed - ( Mittelbayerische Zeitung, May 2, 2016)

↑ Image: "Stolen Cross from Wackersdorf" - ( The fight against the WAA in pictures - picture gallery: Bund Naturschutz )

↑ Contemporary witness interviews with Stefan Preisl from April 11th, 2015 about his engagement against the WAA Wackersdorf, the Wackersdorfer Christ figure, fears of the population, the end of the construction work and the SPD tradition in the region. Interview 1 , Interview 2 , Interview 3 , Interview 4 , Interview 5 - ( House of Bavarian History )