Heppenheimer Cross
The Heppenheimer Kreuz (also Holy Cross ) is a late medieval red sandstone cross in the south of the district of Worms-Pfeddersheim . The designated 1557 Flurkreuz is a protected cultural monument .
description
The altogether about 3 m high cross made of red sandstone stands on a two-step square base, the lower step of which is now completely in the ground. The actual cross is about 2.60 m high, the arms each measure about 0.50 m; the shaft is roughly square. The upper part of the cross, labeled 1557 on the north side of the transom, is a more recent addition, which is connected to the older shaft by two iron clips.
The cross is roughly at the intersection of the old road from Pfeddersheim to Heppenheim an der Wiese with the former elevated road from Worms via Obersülzen and Kleinbockenheim in the direction of Kaiserslautern , today's B 47n . Although it can be proven that it was moved at least once, it has been in the same district since it was first mentioned in 1443.
history
Although the local tradition connects the Heppenheimer Cross with the Battle of Pfeddersheim in June 1525 and suspects the graves of the rebellious farmers there, the cross is verifiably older, the first mention comes from April 4, 1443, when a Peter Sengel "a half in morgin wingarts on Heppenheimer wege nahir the holy creucz ”gave as a pledge. Another mention dates from 1521.
The indication in 1557 on the pointing Pfeddersheim side of the cross bar may refer to the Pfeddersheimer Colloquy of 25 August 1557 between 40 Baptists from the region and Lutheran theologians Johannes Brenz , Jakob Andreae and Johannes Marbach , with the Elector Ottheinrich of the Pfalz the spread wanted to prevent the Anabaptist movement in the Electoral Palatinate. Like the Frankenthal Religious Discussion of 1571, there was no agreement.
The area around the cross was archaeologically examined in 1938 during land consolidation work. Below the cross, a floor made of sandstone slabs was found, which was surrounded by wall foundations. Possibly these belonged to a chapel mentioned in 1525 in the south of Pfeddersheim; Schnabel suspects that the cross was placed inside the former church after the chapel was destroyed.
literature
- Berthold Schnabel : The "Holy Cross" near Worms-Pfeddersheim: In: The stone crosses in Rheinhessen. Alzeyer Geschichtsblätter, Heft 15, Alzey 1980, pp 152-155. ISSN 0569-1613 ( online )
Coordinates: 49 ° 37 '25.9 " N , 8 ° 16'15.8" E