Weinsheim memorial cross

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Weinsheim memorial cross
Coat of arms and inscription
Entire facility as a war memorial

The Weinsheim memorial cross is a Gothic cross in the Worms district of Weinsheim , reminiscent of a homicide .

The cross

It is a Gothic sandstone crucifix with straight crossed ends on a pyramid-shaped base made of smaller sandstones. The total height is 285 cm, the width 155 cm and the thickness 18 cm. The legs are bruised on the body. On the front cross shaft there is the noble coat of arms of the Lerch von Dirmstein family of ministers and the slightly damaged inscription:

" ANO DMI 15 [31] VFF DEN 13 DA [G] MAY IS VERSCH [I] THAT THE EDEL [VND] ERNVEST CHRIE [ST] OFFEL LERCKE [L] THE GOT GENA [D] VON DIERMSTE [IN] "

The cross originally stood at the western exit of the village, on the old road to Dirmstein , where the inscription collector and historian Georg Helwich found it in 1615 and described it in his work Syntagma Monumentorum et Epitaphiorum (List of Monuments and Tomb Inscriptions ). It was moved to its current location in Weinsheimer Hauptstrasse in 1783, according to an additional inscription (on the reverse) that has meanwhile no longer been recognized. It is a defining feature of the site at this exposed point and was integrated into a memorial to those who fell in World War II ; As a designated cultural monument , it is under monument protection .

history

As can be seen from the inscription, the cross was erected after 1531 in memory of Christoph Caspar Lerch von Dirmstein , who died there on May 13th of this year . He died at the age of 21 in a duel with Hans Sigmund von Plieningen (Plenningen). The cause of the dispute is unknown.

The father Caspar II. Lerch von Dirmstein , court master of the Bishop of Worms , was very upset about the death of his son . At first he thought about retribution and even avoided the place of death on his frequent trips to Worms. The grandson Caspar IV. Lerch (1575–1642) wrote about this in his genealogical records:

" After Christof's death, his father was worried because of the masses, because [he] had not inherited a lot, that he no longer wanted to raise the distance from Durmstein to Weinsheim and worms and to the place where it happened, but to Nittesheim ( Großniedesheim or Kleinniedesheim ) removed. "

Through the mediation of Worms Bishop Heinrich von der Pfalz , an atonement contract was finally concluded, notarized on August 14, 1543 in Ladenburg . The perpetrator had to pay 350 guilders , of which "poor people who ire day honestly splendid" and "no longer have bread for old age and needless body maintenance" , a benefice in the hospital in Dirmstein should be donated. Hans Sigmund von Plieningen also declared himself ready to avoid all places where the dead man's father stayed or to leave them when he came there, in order not to “Caspar Lerchen, who suffered from the loss of his son naturally and naturally, not to give rise to further necessities and complaints ” . In accordance with the contract, Caspar II. Lerch set up a foundation on the same day for the already existing Dirmstein hospice , which continues to this day as the Dirmstein Catholic Hospital Foundation under public law .

According to the records of Caspar IV. Lerch, the perpetrator was also supposed to have a “stone creutz set up on his cost” , which is not mentioned in the atonement contract. Either this addition was actually agreed as it has been passed down in the family; then it would be an atonement cross erected by the perpetrator. Otherwise, the father would have donated the cross in memory of his son. The list should be scheduled soon after the conclusion of the contract in 1543.

literature

  • Andrea Storminger: Die Katholische Hospitalstiftung Dirmstein , in: Michael Martin: Dirmstein - Adel, Bauern und Bürger , publishing house of the Foundation for the Promotion of Palatinate Historical Research , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, 2005, ISBN 3-9808304-6-2 , p. 403– 414
  • Berthold Schnabel: The stone crosses in Rheinhessen , in: Alzeyer Geschichtsblätter , Heft 15, Alzey , 1980, pp. 155–159
  • Christine Bührlen-Grabinger: The Lords of Plieningen. Studies on their family, property and social history with regesta , Volume 36 of: Publications of the Archive of the City of Stuttgart , Verlag Klett-Cotta, 1986, p. 47, ISBN 3608914463 ; (Detail scan)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christine Bührlen-grave Inger: The Lords of Plieningen. Studies on their family, property and social history with regesta , Volume 36 of: Publications of the Archive of the City of Stuttgart , Verlag Klett-Cotta, 1986, p. 48, ISBN 3608914463 ; (Detail scan of Hans Sigmund von Plieningen)

Coordinates: 49 ° 36 ′ 16.1 ″  N , 8 ° 19 ′ 44.7 ″  E