Bamberg Way of the Cross
The Bamberg Way of the Cross from 1503 is the oldest completely preserved Way of the Cross in Germany.
history
The Way of the Cross in Bamberg goes back to the foundations of the knight Heinrich Marschalk von Ebneth zu Rauheneck, who was related to the Benedictine Abbey of Michelsberg .
In the years 1500 and 1503 Marschalk von Rauheneck donated Friday masses in the Elisabeth Chapel and in the Provost Church of St. Getreu . The sculpting of the Way of the Cross by an unknown sculptor probably fell into this period. Possibly it was the master of the Mount of Olives attached to the Upper Parish in 1502 .
In 1519 Heinrich Marschalk von Rauheneck bequeathed an annual interest of five guilders to preserve the figures from the Sand Gate at St. Getreu. It can therefore be assumed that he is also the founder of the Way of the Cross. Heinrich Marschalk von Rauheneck donated the Way of the Cross in Nuremberg designed by Adam Kraft , of which only a few stations have survived.
After the last restoration of the Bamberg Way of the Cross in 1975 by Hermann Leitherer , the latter proposed that the seated soldier in the last station before St. Getreu was a self-portrait of the sculptor. Numerous conservation measures over the centuries obliterated the original condition. The Way of the Cross was already badly damaged in the Peasants' War of 1525. In addition, a so-called “ nose surgeon ” gave the figures uniform noses during the restoration in 1907.
description
The Way of the Cross leads in seven stations from the hospital church St. Elisabeth to the provost church St. Getreu and should allow the faithful to feel the suffering of Christ in Jerusalem. With the first late medieval Stations of the Cross it was customary to transfer the distances between the individual stations of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to local conditions in order to enable the faithful to follow the path of suffering in prayer. It is not known whether the founder wrote down the number of steps between the individual stations during a pilgrimage in Jerusalem or took it from somewhere else. The distance from the Pilatushaus is engraved in steps on each station.
Stations
Of the traditional 14 stations (see Way of the Cross ) only nine have been completed in Bamberg.
| station | No here | description | Bible passage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is missing | Jesus is sentenced to death. | Gospel according to Matthew : 27, 22-23.26 |
| 2 | 1st station | Jesus takes the cross on his shoulders. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 27-31 |
| 3 | 6th station | Jesus falls under the cross for the first time. | - |
| 4th | 2nd station | Jesus meets his mother. | - |
| 5 | 3rd station | Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 32 |
| 6th | 5th station | Veronica gives Jesus the handkerchief. | - |
| 7th | is missing | Jesus falls under the cross for the second time. | - |
| 8th | 4th station | Jesus meets the weeping women. | Gospel according to Luke : 23, 28-31 |
| 9 | is missing | Jesus falls under the cross for the third time | - |
| 10 | is missing | Jesus is stripped of his clothes. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 33-36 |
| 11 | is missing | Jesus is nailed to the cross. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 37-42 |
| 12 | 7th station | Jesus dies on the cross. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 45-50, 54 |
| 13 | 8th station | Jesus is taken from the cross and placed in his mother's lap. | Gospel according to John : 19, 38 |
| 14th | 9th station | The body of Jesus is placed in the grave. | Gospel according to Matthew: 27, 59-61 |
Jesus leaves Pilate's house and is led away to be crucified
overall view
left pillar
right pillar
- Inscriptions
- left pillar: "Shepherd Cristus discharged from Pilatus haws carrying his cross"
- Right pillar: "Pilatus haws" (the "us" in the name Pilatus is represented by an abbreviation )
- Location
- Sandstrasse , next to St. Elisabeth in the property wall of the correctional facility
The first station shows how Jesus is led away to be crucified after his death sentence. In the Gospel according to John (19, 16-17) it says: “He carried his cross and went out to the so-called place of the skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha .” Pilate followed the scene in the door of his house with interest, behind him crowd as signs his power five soldiers.
Five torturers force Jesus to put on the cross. The first looks back with a questioning look whether one can finally proceed to the execution. He carries a hammer and a basket with pliers and nails, the tools of the crucifixion. The second torturer tries to pull on the rope with which Jesus is tied, but another torturer straddles his legs over it. This man and another man beat Jesus and pull his hair. The last to come is a man who carries an ax to sharpen the cross beam.
With the crown of thorns on his head, Jesus patiently endures hostility, bent under the weight of the cross.
The relief is bounded on both sides by a symbolic urban architecture. The left pillar represents a city gate. The right pillar forms the house of Pilate, from which his wife and her two daughters follow the events.
Jesus meets his weeping mother
overall view
Maria passes out
Jesus is beaten
Inscription:
- “Christ meets his future dear mother, who becomes true to great hertzenleyd. ii c . step from pilatus house "
Location: in the lower third of Aufseßgasse
Maria passes out when she meets her son on the way to his execution. After counting the Way of the Cross it is 200 steps from the "House of Pilate" to this point. The distance information “ii c . schrit “(200 steps) is written using the hundreds-numbers spelling that was widespread in the 16th century.
In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus it is reported that Jesus met his weeping mother, who then passed out. Here it is shown how she faints and her right arm hangs down limply. She is caught by Jesus' favorite disciple, John, and by a woman, presumably Mary Magdalene, who were both particularly close to Jesus. Another companion desperately holds a piece of clothing in front of her mouth.
In the middle of the picture a henchman raises his hand to strike Jesus. The second henchman has a hammer in his right hand. A small detail shows a man stepping on Jesus' foot with his shoe to make it harder for him.
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross
overall view
Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene
Inscription:
- “Hir will force Symon to help Cristo carry his cross. ii c lxxxxv. step by pilatus haws. "
Location: in the middle of Aufseßgasse
Simon of Cyrene , returning from field work, is forced to help Jesus carry the cross. With his right hand, Simon, who is conspicuously small, carries the crossbar, with his left he defends himself against the henchman standing in front of him, who grabs him by the shoulder and hits him with his right fist.
Jesus meets the weeping women of Jerusalem
overall view
inscription
Inscription:
- “Hey, said Cristus Jr. daughters of Jherusalem, don't weep for me but for you and your children. iii c lxxx step from [on] p [ilatus] house. "
Location: in the upper third of Aufseßgasse
On the way to Golgotha, women in Jerusalem mourn Jesus' fate. Jesus turns to them and tells them to weep for themselves and their children. Jesus' expression demonstrates his interest in the lot of his fellow men even in distress. Three women dry their tears while a fourth wring their hands. This woman could represent Jesus' mother Mary. This assumption is confirmed by a comparison with the second station. Incidentally, the Johannes depicted there has the same hairstyle and similar facial features.
Veronica gives Jesus the handkerchief
overall view
Veronica with the handkerchief
in the restoration workshop
Veronica hands Jesus the handkerchief on which the imprint of his face is preserved. Inscription:
- “Christ has pressed his holy face of the Frawen Feronica in jren slayr before irem haws. v c step by pilatus haws "
Location: at the confluence of Aufseßgasse and Michelsberg
The fifth station refers to the fourth century legend that one of the weeping women gave Jesus a handkerchief. Jesus pressed the handkerchief to his face, and an imprint of his face remained. This handkerchief of Veronica was considered one of the most important relics of Christianity in the Middle Ages.
Jesus falls under the weight of the cross
overall view
Soldier with a spear; (self-portrait of the artist?)
Soldier with rope
Inscription:
- “Before the great eve, Cristus is here velting the earth under the Kreutz Ernider. Eleven hundred steps from pilate's house "
Location: in St. Getreu (south wall)
Jesus has collapsed and is sprawled on the floor while the henchmen try to pull him in different directions.
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Inscription on the cross
right thief
Location: Wall of the former cemetery of St. Getreu
According to the Gospel of John (19: 19-22), Pilate had a tablet made on the cross of Jesus with the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Usually only the Latin abbreviation INRI can be found on crucifixes . The group of the cross shows the trilingual board in accordance with the Scriptures. However, the Hebrew and Greek versions of the inscription contain errors. In the Latin version of Ihs nazarenus rex iudaeorum , the ae in iudaeorum has also dropped out. According to the Gospel of John (19, 25-27), John and his mother and three other women (his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary of Magdala ) stood by the cross . The Gospel of Luke also reports that two criminals were crucified with him, the right one repenting his wrongdoings while the other remained obstinate.
The year 1500 on the shaft of the cross indicates that this part of the Way of the Cross was already completed in 1500. It was part of the Way of the Cross at the St. Getreu cemetery, which was closed in 1838 and whose group of the cross was then moved to the church.
Jesus seems already dead. The left thief looks up to Jesus, while the right turns away from Jesus and has his left leg in front of his right.
Lamentation of the dead Jesus
7th and 8th station
Lamentation of Jesus
Inscription:
- “Hertz wants to go to the grave. alone. My heart should then be his resting place. "
Location: St. Getreu (integrated into the crucifixion group)
The lamentation of the dead Jesus is not described in the Bible, only the removal from the cross is reported. The body of Jesus is placed in the kneeling Mary in the lap.
Jesus is put in the grave
Entombment
Jerusalem
Funerary arch with allegories
_Bamberger_Kreuzweg.JPG)
Inscription:
- "Nicodemus iustus" ("Nicodemus the Righteous"; on the hem of the left man's coat)
Location: in St. Getreu, behind the cross altar
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took care of the burial of Jesus in a rock tomb. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are about to lower the body of Jesus into the sarcophagus. Behind the sarcophagus, Mary bends over Jesus.
The station is in good condition as it has never been exposed to the elements. The Latin inscriptions mention the “propitiatio” after eleven sufferings, God's reconciliation with sinful man.
meaning
The Bamberg Way of the Cross is not only of art historical importance, but still of religious importance. Once a year, believers in the cathedral parish walk through it praying, which means that the donor's concern is still fulfilled after 500 years.
literature
- Johannes Otto Först / Annette Glück-Schmidt: The Bamberg Way of the Cross . Bamberg: Kaiser-Heinrich-Gymnasium , 2006
- The art monuments of Upper Franconia, city of Bamberg, bourgeois mining town , Volume VI, page 1621
