Kleverschusskreuz

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The Kleverschusskreuz from 1436 in Roeckstraße

The Kleverschusskreuz (also: Klever Schusskreuz or Wilsnacker Kreuz ) is a wayside cross from the first half of the 15th century in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck . The stone cross made of limestone showed pilgrims the way to the Wunderblutkirche in Bad Wilsnack (Brandenburg). A mile of the path to the Wunderblutkirche, which was often walked barefoot, gave the pilgrim a day of indulgence .

The cross is about 1.70 meters high and one meter wide. It is made of Gotland limestone .

history

The Wilsnack distant in 135 line kilometers was after 1383 through the blood miracle - hosts one of the most important places of pilgrimage become Europe. The Lübeck citizen Johann von der Heyde had the wheel cross made from Gotland limestone in 1436 and set it up in today's Lübeck district of St. Gertrud at the fork of the military roads to Wismar and the Mark Brandenburg. The streets are now called Arnimstraße and Marlistraße in the urban area. The connection via Schwerin, Grabow, Perleberg and Havelberg used to be known as the Dreibückenweg . In addition to the Mark Brandenburg, this road also led to the Magdeburg area. Immediately north of Wilsnack, the road from Wismar and Rostock via Meyenburg and Pritzwalk was added. The pilgrimage destination was therefore conveniently located at a junction of widely used trade routes.

The cross bears the heavily weathered Middle Low German inscription “biddet got for den ghever des wisers na der wilsnak” (Pray God for the founder of the signpost to Wilsnack). In the middle of the arms of the cross, the pilgrim sign Wilsnack, three hosts each in a circle, is carved. On the right cross arm, which points out of the city, there are three holes where a bronze hand is said to have been attached as a directional sign. In 1520 the publishing house of the Lübeck printer Steffen Arndes distributed prints of the Wilsnack blood miracle legend under the title Historia inventionis et ostensionis vivifici Sacramenti , as did Ludwig Dietz in Rostock a year later . Wilsnack lost its importance as a place of pilgrimage after the Reformation and after the city's first Lutheran cleric, Joachim Ellefeld, burned the blood hostels in 1552.

The way cross owes its name to a legend that originated after the Reformation. The businessman Hans Klever was accused of murdering his friend; he was held prisoner in the Absalonsturm near the Hüxtertor on the Hüxterdamm . He protested his innocence and stated that the shot had accidentally been released. To prove his accuracy, Klever shot the cross three times. It has not been proven that the three holes in the right cross arm are bullet holes.

In 1963 the cross was damaged by a car that was thrown against it and broke in two. The damage can be recognized by a crack on the left front. During the restoration, a metal bracket was inserted and a stone strut was attached to the rear for stabilization.

After the restoration, the cross was erected on May 25, 1966, a few meters from its previous location on the western side of today's Roeckstraße opposite the confluence with Krügerstraße at the level of property 42 between the roadway and the footpath under the protection of an avenue tree.

meaning

The significance of the Kleverschuss cross lies in its shape as a ring cross in the form of a Celtic cross, which is rare in Germany . The only other cross of this kind in the region is the Ansverus cross near Ratzeburg . Such crosses are otherwise only widespread in the Celtic regions and Gotland .

literature

  • Klaus Bernhard: Plastic in Lübeck. Documentation of art in public space (1436–1985). Publications of the Senate of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Office for Culture, Lübeck 1986, ISBN 3-924214-31-X .
  • Uwe Müller: St. Gertrud. Chronicle of a suburban residential and recreation area . Small series on city history, published by the Archives of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Lübeck 1986, ISBN 3-7950-3300-4 , p. 19.

References and comments

  1. ^ Probably the Schonenfahrer and councilor Johann von der Heide († around 1447), cf. Emil Ferdinand Fehling , Lübeckische Ratslinie, Lübeck 1925, # 458.
  2. Hartmut Kühne: "I went through fire and water ..." Comments on the Wilsnacker Heilig Blut legend. Hall 1999, digitized version ( Memento from May 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. Recorded by Ernst Deecke in the Lübische Stories and Legends published by him under No. 140 as Der Kleverschuß and assigned to the year 1479 there.
  4. Built in 1450, demolished in 1805
  5. But also unimaginable at the claimed distance.

Web links

Coordinates: 53 ° 52 ′ 30 "  N , 10 ° 42 ′ 14.9"  E