Spandau Cross
The Spandau Cross is a circular pendant about two and a half centimeters in diameter, which represents a stylized crucifix in a wheel with four spokes .
origin
An original of this cross is not known, but parts of a corresponding clay mold were discovered in 1982 during excavations on the west Slavic Spandau castle wall , where a wooden hall church built around 980 had stood. The Berlin district of Spandau gave the cross its name.
With the help of the shape, the cross could be reproduced. The shape and a replica of the cross are exhibited in room 206 ( Migration and Middle Ages ) in the Neues Museum in Berlin-Mitte .
presentation
The depiction is reminiscent of Romanesque wheel crosses , which are of pagan origin and symbolize the sun . This custom has been transferred to the Christian tradition with this cross, in which Jesus Christ in the light of his resurrection is represented in the spokes of the wheel in the posture of the crucified , the spoke that represents the head and goes upwards is shortened so that it does not touch the tire of the wheel. The two horizontal spokes represent the arms, and the downward spoke symbolizes the legs. The two hands and the foot are each represented as three limbs encompassing the hoop, which historians interpret as an indication of the Trinity . The Spandau Cross is one of the oldest known Christian symbols from the Berlin area.
Others
Prelate Hubert Muschalek took part in the excavation of the casting mold and suggested making the Spandau Cross the symbol of Berlin's 750th anniversary celebrated in 1987. This was taken up by Joachim Cardinal Meisner , and replicas of the cross were distributed mainly to young people.
Joachim Cardinal Meisner also gave the Auxiliary Bishop in Berlin at that time, Wolfgang Weider , a pectoral with a reproduction of the Spandau Cross, when the Bishop's Cross with the outline of the divided city had lost its symbolic power after German reunification in 1990.
literature
- Adriaan von Müller, Das Spandauer Kreuz , in: Alfons Kluck and Burkard Sauermost (editors), 75 Years Diocese of Berlin, Berlin 2005
Individual evidence
- ^ Matthias Brühe: Catholic Church in the West and South of Berlin (2000), page 9
- ^ Matthias Brühe: Catholic Church in the West and South of Berlin (2000), For the escort of Wolfgang Weider
Web links
- Spandauer Kreuz - In the cross there is hope in the Archdiocese of Berlin