Race Mountain Cross
The Rennberg Cross is a wooden cross from the 18th century. It stands on the races mountain in the municipality of Ruppichteroth in North Rhine-Westphalia .
location
Years ago, when the valleys of the Bröl and Derenbach rivers were still swampy and barely passable, Winterscheid could only be reached from Hennef via the path ascending on the southern flank of the Rennenberg and then running over the ridge. At the point where this path coming up from the Derenbach valley meets the high path that leads to Winterscheid on the right and to the Rennenburg castle on the left , the Rennberg Cross stands under an old oak tree.
execution
The cross has several Christian symbols, which are executed as carved carvings and are highlighted in color: At the head of the cross is the title INRI in a banner , below the head of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns . On the crossbeam, below the crossing and on the cross shaft, the "five saints wounds" are depicted: the pierced hands and feet and the heart wounded with three nails. Finally, at the cross base, the skull with two crossed leg bones symbolizes the transience of human existence on earth.
The ends of the crossbar are decorated with large shell-like appliqués .
The sacrament niche above the base indicates its use as a station altar in Corpus Christi or corridor processions .
inscription
The inscription on the base provides information about the year of origin, the motif for its installation and who was responsible:
1788
DIS CHREUTZ
TO HONOR
GOD IN
COURT
FIRM
ELISABET
SCHMITZ
UND ADOLF
SCHMITZ
Such crosses were often set up to express gratitude for fulfilling a special wish. Richard Jilka suspects due to the fact that the two fiancées had the same name that they were blood relatives who were not allowed to marry under church law . The reason for the erection of the cross could have been the ecclesiastical dispensation of the Vicariate General in Cologne, finally received after a long processing time . However, this exception to the rule was by no means so rare: in parts of the Bergisches Land , marriages between close relatives were concluded in around a third of all cases up until the 19th century, as a result of the rural remoteness of these regions and the lack of mobility of their residents.
Lore
The vernacular relates the following legend about this cross , which the Cologne teacher Rosenthal wrote down in 1899:
“A hunter once roamed through the high forest of the ridge, but had no luck, because none of his shots hit a target. Exhausted, in the light of the setting sun, he reached the Rennberg Cross and sat down to rest - disappointed with his bad luck and knowing what ridicule he would be exposed to because of his unsuccessful return home.
The sun threw blood-red bundles of light through the branches of the oak on the hunter and the cross, when suddenly a lost deer jumped over the path. But again the hunter was not lucky: the deer had disappeared before he had thrown up his rifle. So a terrible rage rose in him and he laid on the cross and shouted: 'And if I can't hit anything else, I won't miss you!' The shot was fired, the hunter cursed, but the cross stood there unharmed, surrounded by the rays of the evening sun. The hunter aimed once more at the cross, the last bullet was worth it, mad with anger he looked into the light of the low sun flickering through the branches. The shot cracked, but struck by the blow, the wicked hunter lay at the feet of the cross, the rifle still clutched convulsively in death. The shadow of the cross covered him gently.
Since then, hikers moving over the heights of the Rennberg at night sometimes hear a great hunt in the forest, because the wild hunter finds no rest in the grave, but is condemned to roam the forest until the last day in the dark. "
The cross today
The Rennberg Cross was restored in 1975 at the suggestion of Countess Marina Droste zu Vischering von Nesselrode-Reichenstein. The attached carvings were repaired or newly made, and the cross beam made from an oak trunk was renewed. The originally existing roof-like connection of the beam ends was not restored.
During a renewed restoration around 2018/19, which became necessary after the oak had buried the cross under itself during the storm Friederike , the roof was also reconstructed.
The cross is entered under serial number 11 in the list of monuments of the municipality of Ruppichteroth .
literature
- Heimatverein Winterscheid e. V. (Ed.): Winterscheider Heimatblatt . 6th edition. Winter divorce May 2003
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werling, Michael: "From the churchyard to the cemetery" - considerations on the preservation and design of the burial areas in Winterscheid . Cologne University of Applied Sciences , Faculty of Architecture, Edition Blattwelt, Niederhofen 2007, ISBN 978-3-936256-28-4 , p. 61 ff.
- ↑ Richard Jilka, MA: “Rennenburg and Nutscheidstrasse”. In: Heimatblätter . No. 19. Heimat- & Geschichtsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid e. V. (Ed.), 2004, p. 22.
Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ' N , 7 ° 21' E