Holy Stairs (Bonn)

The building of the Holy Stairs on Bonn's Kreuzberg

The Kreuzberg Church with the Holy Stairs and the Friends Chapel

The Holy Stairs in Bonn district Endenich is a Passions - pilgrimage site on the Kreuzberg and belongs to the building complex of the local Kreuzbergkirche .

history

In 1751, the Cologne Elector Clemens August inaugurated the Holy Stairs , which he donated in 1746 and erected by Balthasar Neumann as his last work in the Electorate of Cologne .

meaning

The Holy Staircase is a replica of the “ Scala Santa ”, the staircase allegedly coming from Pilate's palace , which Jesus had to climb before his condemnation and which is said to have been brought to Rome as early as 326. Since then, pilgrims have been kneeling on their knees on Good Friday and Holy Saturday , each step being used for a prayer until they reach the altar with Jesus on the cross as Savior.

Such sacred stairs were very common, especially in Bavaria. They have been preserved to this day in the Kajetan Church in Salzburg, Bad Tölz, Lenggries and Windberg. The Heilige Stiege in Bonn is the only one of its kind in the Rhineland.

Furnishing

The walls are decorated with paintings by Johann Adam Schöpf with episodes of the Passion story , which were restored by Franz Thöne in 1892 . Small brass crosses on the second, eleventh and twentieth marble steps mark the drops of Christ's blood.

sightseeing

The Holy Staircase is open on Good Friday and Holy Saturday and on September 14th for the Patronage Festival, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross . It can be viewed from the outside all year round.

literature

Gisbert Knopp : Holy stairs and pilgrimage church on the Kreuzberg in Bonn (= Rheinische Kunststätten , issue 20). 6th edition, Neusser Druckerei und Verlag, Neuss 2003, ISBN 978-3-88094-906-5 . [not yet evaluated for this article]
Walter Schulten: The Holy Stairs on the Kreuzberg in Bonn: A contribution to the history of art and piety of the baroque period (= Bonn contributions to art history , Volume 8). Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1964. (also dissertation University of Bonn, 1960) [not yet evaluated for this article]