Cross of Nails from Coventry

The oldest cross of nails in Germany has been hanging in the Nikolaikirche in Kiel since 1947

The Coventry Cross of Nails is a Christian symbol found in Coventry Cathedral . It is intended to spread the idea of ​​international reconciliation after the Second World War into the world.

history

The history of the Cross of Nails thought began "Operation Moonlight Sonata" of the German air force , the heavy air raid on Coventry on 14 November 1940 died in the 550 people and in which large parts of the city as well as industrial plants, the late medieval St. Michael's Cathedral were destroyed .

Cross of nails

The then cathedral provost Richard Howard had three large carpenter nails from the roof of the destroyed cathedral, which were recovered from the rubble, put together to form a cross. He also had the words "FATHER FORGIVE" chiseled into the choir wall of the ruin and made a large cross from two charred wooden beams.

A duplicate of the wooden cross can be seen in the ruins of the old cathedral, the original cross of nails is now in an artistically designed way on the altar of the new cathedral, consecrated in 1962. It is considered a sign of reconciliation and peace.

Community of Cross of Nails Centers

The idea of ​​a community of Cross of Nails Centers was developed by Bill Williams , Provost of Coventry from 1958 to 1981. Ecumenical religious communities have formed as a cross of nails community around the world . It currently has 63 places in Germany with regular prayer of reconciliation in 49 cities; There are currently over 160 worldwide. In Germany, individuals can also become members of the Cross of Nails Community.

The Cross of Nails is mainly given to parishes by Coventry Cathedral in order to strengthen them in their work for reconciliation and peace. The goals of the worldwide community of the Cross of Nails are not exclusively aimed at reconciliation after the Second World War, but are:

• Heal the wounds of history
• Live with diversity and celebrate diversity,
• Build a culture of peace.

As an outward sign of solidarity, each cross of nails center receives a cross made of three nails by Coventry, which is modeled on the original cross.

Coventry Prayer of Atonement

The Coventry Prayer of Atonement was formulated in 1959 and has since been prayed every Friday at noon in the choir of the ruins of the old cathedral in Coventry. The German translation, which has been decided by the Nagelkreuzgemeinschaft in Deutschland eV since October 2015, is:

All have sinned and lack the glory they should have with God. ( Romans 3,23 LUT )
Therefore we pray:
The hatred that separates race from race, people from people, class from class,
father, forgive.
The striving of men and peoples to own what is not theirs,
Father, forgive.
The greed that takes advantage of human labor and ravages the earth,
Father, forgive.
Forgive our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,
Father.
Our lack of participation in the plight of prisoners, homeless people and refugees,
Father, forgive.
The greed that degrades women, men and children and abuses body and soul,
Father, forgive.
The arrogance that leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,
Father, forgive.
Be kind, warm to one another and forgive one another, just as God forgave you in Jesus Christ. ( Ephesians 4.32 LUT )
AMEN
- The Atonement Prayer of Coventry Cathedral

Members

Cross of nails in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin

Cross of nails in the Gemarker church Wuppertal-Barmen

Cross of nails in the Marienkirche Stralsund

Cross of nails in the St. Nikolai Memorial, Hamburg

Cross of nails in the German Cathedral, Berlin

Cross of nails, Federal Chancellor Adenauer House Foundation , Bad Honnef - Rhöndorf

The members of the cross of nails community in Germany include, for example:

• in Bad Oeynhausen :
  • Cross of Nails Center Resurrection Church in Bad Oeynhausen-Altstadt (since 2006)
• in Berlin :
  • Cross of Nails Center Action Reconciliation for Peace Services (since 1961)
  • St. Mary's Church
  • Cross of Nails Center Evang. Vocational school work - Church in the working world "Haus Kreisau" (since 1993)
  • Cross of Nails Center Evang. Reconciliation Congregation "Chapel of Reconciliation" (since 1999)
  • Cross of Nails Center Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (since 1987)
  • Cross of Nails Center Old Parish Church "To the Four Evangelists" , Alt-Pankow (since 1962)
  • Cross of Nails Center Martin Luther Memorial Church (since 1962)
  • Ev. Pastoral care in the Bundeswehr
• in Cottbus
  • Cross of nails center Schlosskirche (since 1984), since February 14, 2015 in the upper church of St. Nikolai
  • Human Rights Center Cottbus eV (since 2016)
• in Dachau
  • Concentration Camp Memorial (since 2012)
• in Darmstadt :
  • Cross of Nails Center City Church (since 1976)
• in Dresden :
  • Ev.-luth. Kreuzkirche (since 1985)
  • Ev.-Luth. Deaconess Institution (since 1965)
  • Frauenkirche Foundation (since 2005)
  • Ev.-Luth. Maria am Wasser Church in Hosterwitz (since 2006)
• in Erfurt :
  • Augustinian Monastery (Erfurt) (since 2008)
• in Essen :
  • Kreuzeskirche (since 2007)
• in Esslingen :
  • Ev. Esslingen Church District (since 2018)
• Gunzburg
  • Cross of Nails Center Hofkirche (since 2006)
• in Halle (Saale) :
  • Cross of Nails Center Hospice at St. Elisabeth Hospital (since 1988)
  • Cross of Nails Center Heilig-Kreuz (since 1988)
  • Church Foundation Petersberg near Halle / Saale (since 2014)
• in Hamburg :
  • Cross of Nails Center Memorial St. Nikolaikirche (since 1993)
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Katharinen (since February 2, 1961)
• in Hanau
  • Walloon-Dutch municipality (since 2011)
• in Heilbronn
  • Evangelical Kilians Community (since 2009)
• in Heiligengrabe
  • Kloster Stift zum Heiligengrabe (since 2011)
• on Hiddensee :
  • Protestant island community (since 1999)
• in Karlsruhe :
  • Working group of Christian churches (since 2006), the cross is in the Christ Church
• in Kiel :
  • Cross of Nails Center Nikolaikirche (since 1947)
  • University Church (since 1948/2002)
• Cologne
  • Ev. Antoniter CityKirche (since 2016)
• in Kranenburg :
  • St. Peter and Paul (since 2003)
• in Lagerlechfeld :
  • Cross of Nails Center ev.-luth. Lechfeld Reconciliation Church (since 1966)
• in Leipzig :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Nikolai (since 1996)
• in Lemgo :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Nicolai (since 1989)
• in wages :
  • Ev. Parish of Matthew (since 2006)
• in Löwenstein :
  • Ev. Conference site (since 2002)
• in Lübeck :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Marien (since 1971)
• in Magdeburg :
  • Cross of Nails Center Evangelical Church District Magdeburg Wallon Church (since 2003)
• in Mainz :
  • Cross of Nails Center Gossner-Haus (since 1971)
• in Mannheim :
  • City Church Concord (since 2006)
• in Meinerzhagen :
  • Cross of Nails Center Haus Nordhelle (since 1996)
• in Meschede :
  • Cross of Nails Center "Common Church Center" (since 1986)
• in Mönchengladbach :
  • Cross of Nails Center Evangelical Main Church Rheydt (since November 2011)
• in Munich :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Barbara (since November 2014)
• in Münster :
  • Cross of Nails Center Andreaskirche (since 2007, taken over by the Reconciliation Church since 1963)
• in Neuendettelsau :
  • Cross of Nails Center Diakonie Neuendettelsau / St. Laurentius
  • Ev. Augustana University Neuendettelsau (since 2017)
• in Neuruppin :
  • Cross of Nails Center Monastery Church of St. Trinity (since 1994)
• in Nuremberg :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Sebald (since 1999)
• in Obersulm :
  • Evangelical Paul-Distelbarth-Gymnasium
• in Ottobeuren :
  • Cross of Nails Center Ottobeuren Monastery (since 1964)
• in Pforzheim :
  • Cross of Nails Center Evangelical Church Congregation Huchenfeld (since 1992)
  • Cross of Nails Center Evangelical City Church (since 2005) and a hiking nail cross (since 2010), which is passed on to a different region every year.
• in Potsdam :
  • Garrison Church Foundation - International Reconciliation Center (since 2004)
• in Rostock :
  • St. Marienkirche in Rostock - Evangelical Lutheran Inner City Congregation Rostock (since 2018)
• in Saarbrücken :
  • Cross of Nails Center Ludwigskirche (since 2019)

• in Sachsenheim
  • Evangelical Lichtenstern High School
• in Schliersee
  • Cross of Nails Center Study center for ev. Youth work in Josefstal eV (since 1967)
• in Schwerte :
  • Cross of Nails Center Haus Villigst, Office for Youth Work of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia (since 2002)
• in Sievershausen (Lehrte) :
  • Anti-War House Sievershausen and Ev. Parish Sievershausen (since 2014)
• in Stralsund :
  • Cross of Nails Center St. Marien (since 2005)
• on Usedom :
  • Protestant parish Karlshagen (since 2009)
  • Youth meeting place Golm (hiking nail cross, since 2009)
• in Weimar
  • Herderkirche (Weimar) (since 2012)
• in Witten
  • Evangelical Church Community Annen (since 2011)
• in Würzburg :
  • Cross of Nails Center Würzburg (since 2001), in the Christian Churches Association in Wuerzburg mitwirkend
    • Würzburg hiking nail cross, every year in a different Würzburg church
    • Grafeneckart's documentation room in the town hall
    • Marienkapelle on the market square
• in Wuppertal - Barmen :
  • Gemarker Church (since 2007)

literature

• Cross of Nails Community in Germany V .: The Cross of Nails from Coventry. Symbol of reconciliation. May 2014 (leaflet, PDF, 99 kB).
• Helmut Gröpler: The angels held their breath. The Coventry Cross of Nails: History and Stories. Wichern, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-88981-054-3 .
• Oliver Schuegraf: Forgive one another as God has forgiven you: Coventry and the worldwide community of the Cross of Nails. Lembeck, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-87476-564-0 .

Web links

Commons : Cross of Nails  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Scientific services of the German Bundestag for the Cross of Nails Community ( Memento from September 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 58 kB)
• The Cross of Nails Community Germany
• Community of the Cross of Nails (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Coventry Prayer of Atonement .
2. ^ Cross of nails community in Germany. In: The Cross of Nails from Coventry. Symbol of reconciliation. May 2015 (leaflet).
3. ↑ Get to know the centers and regions. .
4. ↑ website .
5. ↑ Antoniterkirche receives cross of nails from Coventry (domradio.de, February 21, 2016)
6. ↑ http://www.innenstadtgemeinde.de/evig/nagelkreuz-zentrum/
7. ^ Ludwigskirche becomes the center of the cross of nails. Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, September 23, 2019, accessed on October 9, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Michael Hollenbach: Ludwigskirche becomes part of the cross of nails community. Saarländischer Rundfunk, Saarbrücken, September 30, 2019, accessed on October 9, 2019 (The linked page receives an audio report on the topic.). 
9. ↑ Martin Elze: Further Christian churches and other religious communities. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 495-498, here: pp. 495 f.