Carved baptismal font, created for the Church of the Redeemer in Bielefeld, oak, Bielefeld, around 1900, loan: Dietrich-Bonhoeffer parish, Bielefeld; two christening robes made from cotton, Münsterland, 20th century, loan: Mühlenhof and private collection.

Baptism

Water in the religions

Baptism

A lot of children have been baptised at this baptismal font. It dates from around 1900 and originally stood in a church in Bielefeld. Over the years, countless proud parents and godparents have gathered around the basin to hold their child above the font. In a set ritual that takes place before the assembled congregation, the child is received into the church, into the community of Christians. The priest pours water over the child's head, blesses it and baptises it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. These basic elements are the same in both Catholic and Protestant baptismal rites. A baby is not born a Christian, but becomes one through baptism. And only as a baptised Christian can you participate in one of the central doctrines of Christianity: in the resurrection and thus in eternal life.

The child wears a special christening robe for the christening. You can see some examples in the tall display cases. The one on the right, which dates from 1948, is particularly interesting: The names of all the children who have worn the robe are embroidered into the hem. The radiant white of a baptismal robe reflects the purity of the new Christian, as original sin is washed away with the baptismal water. According to Christian belief, Adam and Eve brought original sin upon humanity through the "Fall of Man” when they ate the forbidden apple from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Water in the religions

When a person is baptised, the water washes their sins away. This is the preparation for a new start, in this case life as a Christian. In many other religions water also stands for inner purity and a new beginning. In Judaism we find the mikvah, the ritual immersion bath. This is where Jews cleanse themselves by submerging themselves completely, for example, before high holidays, or when they are "unclean", perhaps after touching a dead person, or, in the case of women, after childbirth or menstruation. Muslims always wash before they pray, i.e. five times a day. The face, hands, arms and feet are all cleansed following set rules. Every mosque has water basins for this ritual cleaning. In Buddhism, for example, ritual washing is part of the traditional Thai New Year festival, the Songkran: People clean their houses, pour water over each other, and even the Buddha statues are washed. Purification also plays an important role in the Hindu puberty ritual, Samethiyavidh. After menarche, the first menstruation, the girls are washed and dressed in new clothes: Thus they are received into the adult world and pass from childhood to womanhood.

Baptismal syringe/enema syringe, metal, wood, cork, Germany, around 1900, loan: University of Münster - Institute of Medical Ethics, History and Philosophy of Medicine.

Enema or baptismal syringe

This curious utensil reminds us that a baptism was not always a happy moment in the life of a family in the past. It is called a baptismal syringe - an instrument filled with consecrated water that had been part of the basic equipment of every midwife since the Middle Ages. The baptismal syringe was used when it became apparent during birth that the child would be still-born. The bent part was led into the womb of the pregnant woman and the child was baptised with holy water in the mother's womb. If no priest was present - as was often the case - the midwife was empowered to baptise. In fact, she was even obliged to do so by the Catholic Church.

Today we ask ourselves why the poor woman had to be subjected to this procedure when she was about to lose her child. But the woman saw it differently: She was glad that her child was being baptised and cleansed of original sin. Otherwise the child wouldn't have been able to go to heaven. It was believed that unbaptised children remained forever in the "Limbus infantum", a place between heaven and hell. The Catholic Church did not repudiate this idea until 2007. However, baptismal syringes have long since fallen into disuse because of the high risk of infection during these emergency baptisms - which often led to the death of the mother as well. 

Baptismal register with the names of the children born and baptised, Telgte, between 1803 and 1809, opened to page: 1 September to 16 December 1803, paper, Telgte, 1803, loan: Town archives Telgte

Baptismal register and godparenthood

The fairy tale "Godfather Death"

Baptismal register and godparenthood

This baptismal register was written over 200 years ago. All the children born in Telgte between 1803 and 1809 are recorded here in neat handwriting. The clerk meticulously wrote the required data: the name and date of birth of the child, whether it was born in wedlock or illegitimately - this was decisive for the child’s status in society - the names of father and mother, their address, the date of baptism, the name of baptising priest and finally the godparents.

The register shows that baptism took place only a few days after birth: Until after the Second World War, the church required that a child be baptised within four days. The reason for this was the high infant mortality rate - and no one wanted a child to die unbaptised as this would mean it could not go to heaven. Incidentally, the early baptism date often meant that the mother could usually not be present at the baptism of her own child, as she was still weak and traditionally stayed in bed for a week.

The baptismal register also shows that the child is usually given the name of the godfather - a custom that was observed far into the 20th century in Catholic areas, such as here in Münsterland.

The fairy tale “Godfather Death”

The tradition of godparents still prevails in the Catholic and Protestant churches; mostly they are family members or close friends of the parents. Their duties have remained the same, at least in theory: A godparent was supposed to educate the godchild in the Christian faith, and if the parents die, take on the responsibility for the child. Godparents are therefore originally relatives-of-choice, additional helpers in case of need. A godparent also regularly gives the godchild presents - either money or other things. You can see some typical examples in the display case on the left. In the past, the financial contribution was virtually a necessity for large families. This is the theme of the fairy tale "Godfather Death" by the Brothers Grimm from 1812. You can now read the first part of the fairy tale:

A poor man had twelve children and had to work day and night in order just to feed them. Thus when the thirteenth came into the world, not knowing what to do in his need, he ran out into the road, intending to ask the first person whom he met to be the godfather. The first person who came his way was our dear Lord God. God already knew what was in the man’s heart and said to him: Poor man, I pity you. I will hold your child at his baptism, and care for him, and make him happy on earth." "Who are you?" - "I am the good Lord." - "Then I do not wish to have you as a godfather," said the man, "You give to the rich, and let the poor starve." Thus spoke the man, for he did not know how wisely God divides out wealth and poverty. Then he turned away from the Lord, and went on his way. Then the devil came to him and said: "What are you looking for? If you take me as your child's godfather, I will give him an abundance of gold and all the joys of the world as well.” - The man asked: "Who are you?" - "I am the devil." - "Then I do not wish to have you as a godfather," said the man. “You deceive mankind and lead them astray.”  He went on his way, and then Death, on his withered legs, came walking toward him, and said: "Take me as your child's Godfather." The man asked: "Who are you?" - "I am Death who makes everyone equal." Then the man said: "You are the right one. You take away the rich as well as the poor, without distinction. You shall be my child's godfather.

Chalice "von Hartmann", silver, gold-plated and open-worked, enameled trimming with diamonds, six silver chased medallions, 1874, loan: Kirchengemeinde St. Marien Telgte.

Vasa Sacra

Eucharist or "Lord's Supper"?

Vasa Sacra

These shiny, sparkling objects here are Vasa sacra, sacred vessels. They are used in the Eucharist, the central celebration of Christianity. In the Catholic church the Eucharist is called "Communion" or "Holy Mass", in the Protestant church it is the "Lord’s Supper" as the Eucharist reminds us of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on the evening before his crucifixion. In the New Testament we are told that he shared bread and wine with them and said: "This is my body, this is my blood" and "Do this in remembrance of me". Jesus himself called on his disciples - and with them all Christians thereafter - to celebrate this rite. That is why the Eucharist plays such a central role in the Catholic Church, just as the Lord's Supper does in the Protestant Church. There are differences in the rites however - and these are also reflected in the Vasa sacra.

Eucharist or Last Supper?

The bottom one of our Vasa sacra comes from a Catholic parish and the one at the top from a Protestant parish.
The most striking difference is visible in the chalice. The goblet of the Catholic chalice is much smaller than that of the Protestant one. The reason for this is that in the Catholic Church only the clergymen drink the wine, while all parishioners get to drink from it in the Protestant Church. Therefore a bigger pitcher is needed as well, as can be seen above, in order to be able to top up the wine again and again. These pitchers are typically protestant.

The fundamental difference in the rite consists of the way in which the consecration of wine and bread into the Body and Blood of Christ are understood. In the Catholic Church the wine and the sacramental bread are transformed and from that moment onwards they are permanently the Body and Blood of Christ. Because of this no drop and no crumb is allowed to get lost. The sacramental bread is being kept in splendidly decorated containers like the ciborium on the bottom left. In the Catholic Church this meal of thanksgiving is called Eucharist. In the Protestant Church the consecration only lasts for the celebration itself. That means that after the celebration of the Last Supper, bread and wine are no longer the Body and Blood of Christ but bread and wine again.  

Pocket watch, present for First Communion in 1891, silver, Salzbergen, loan: private collection.

Taschenuhr

Presents for the First Communion

Pocket watch

A pocket watch used to be a popular First Communion gift - like this one that a boy received from his grandfather in 1891. It is a gift with a symbolic value, telling the recipient that now a new stage of life is beginning, the carefree days of childhood are over. Life ticks differently from now on: it follows the rules of the adult world.

In the 19th century the First Communion coincided with leaving school, that is at the age of 14 at the latest. This was when working life began and the First Communion marked this great step. With their First Communion, girls and boys participate in the Eucharist, the "Holy Communion” for the first time. This important act is preceded by the first confession. The solemnity of the ceremony is reflected in the faces of the first communicants you see above the display case.

Today the First Communion is celebrated at around the age of nine. Children go to school for quite a long time afterwards so the First Communion no longer marks such a significant transition.

Pocket watches, by the way, were only given to boys. When it came to girls, people were already thinking of the wedding trousseau and gave them china and cutlery etc. A man from Greffen in eastern Münsterland tells us what first communicants had to do around 1900 before they received their gifts.

Presents for the First Communion

“Preparation for the First Communion, i.e., the lessons, lasted 2 years. By the end, we were expected to have learned the entire catechism by heart. In the last week there was an examination and every afternoon some children had to go to the rectory. Anyone who failed badly was not allowed to take part in the First Communion. That was a disgrace that stayed with you for your whole life. Therefore the whole family including the servants were anxious that the child passed the test. Mothers in particular used to cram the catechism with their children. The lessons were given by the priest in the church. The children used to walk in a line, two-by-two from the school to the church. You were not allowed to speak on the way, and in other respects, too, first communicants were expected to give up all sorts of things and go to church diligently as well as attending the school mass. If a child acted out of line, all the other children would call him or her to order, shouting:
‘You're a First Communicant, aren't you?’ ”

"De Junges kreegen de iärste lange Bux un’n stieven Hoot." Low German quotes for First Communion.

Quote on the archway

„De Junges kreegen de iärste lange Bux un’n stieven Hoot.“

Das plattdeutsche Zitat an der Torwand stammt von Marga Hanses aus dem westfälischen Gescher, die über ihre Erstkommunion im Jahr 1895 erzählt. Sie können nun zwei weitere Zitate von ihr hören. Erst berichtet die Frau über den Ablauf am Tag der Erstkommunion und dann über die Kleidung der Kommunionkinder. Die Fotos auf dem Bildschirm am Tor illustrieren ihre Aussagen.

Eucharistic forget-me-not, prayer book in a lined box with a coloured depiction of the confirmation of a candidate for confirmation through the bishop, paper, fabric, Mönchengladbach, 1908.

Prayer book

The inscription under the picture in the lid of the lined box tells us that this little prayer book was given “In Memory of the Sacrament of Confirmation”. The picture shows the confirmation itself. A girl is standing in front of a bishop with her hands raised in prayer, dressed in her best clothes as it is such an important day: Today she professes her faith before the entire congregation. The bishop makes the sign of the cross on her forehead and confirms that she is now a full member of the Catholic Church. This is witnessed by the heavenly authority of Mary and the apostles, who are floating on a bed of clouds above the scene. Confirmation is - after baptism and First Communion - the last step in the initiation into the Catholic Church - that is, the rite of admission.

The imposing woman standing behind the girl in her elegant, dark Sunday best is not her mother, by the way. She is the girl's sponsor. The other adults waiting in line with the other confirmation candidates are also sponsors. A Catholic child does not only have a baptismal godparent, but should also have a sponsor at confirmation. However, the children are not really “children” any longer, but are already between 13 and 18 years old.

Confirmation certificate for Adolf Weber with the motive of the "Good Shepherd", paper, wood, glass framed, 1913; black-and-white photography, studio production of Adolf Weber shows him in his confirmation suit in 1913, photography on cardboard, Bad Oeynhausen, 1913.

Confirmation certificate and Confirmation photo

Coming of age

Confirmation certificate and Confirmation photo

"There he stands, dressed as a man,
feeling quite uneasy.
Suffering almost it would seem.
A sense of something lost.

His first long trousers,
His first stiff shirt.
His first false pose.
A stranger to himself for the first time in his life."

How well these lines match the photo here! This is a rough translation of the first lines of the poem "The Confirmation Candidate”, written by Erich Kästner in 1936. You can see the entire poem in German on the right.

Confirmation is celebrated both in the Catholic and the Protestant Church: In this Protestant ceremony, confirmation candidates become adult members of the church. They are now 14 years old - old enough to profess their faith themselves before the congregation. After being confirmed, young people are allowed to share in the Lord's Supper for the first time. This is officially confirmed in a confirmation certificate, like the one here to the left of the photo.

When children left school earlier at the age of 14, confirmation had a different significance than today. Children became adults. New clothes and other changes also made this clear: the first suit, the first long dress - the first cigar, the first glass of wine. For children this meant: Now I'm a man, now I'm a woman!

Coming of age

A contemporary witness from the Bielefeld area talks about what this meant in the period around 1900.

"Even though most hand weavers were very poor at the time, almost every family managed to acquire new clothes for their children for this event. Boys usually got their first pair of high boots for this occasion, laced up above the ankle, and their first suit with long trousers. These garments were carefully looked after, worn only on Sundays and usually passed down to the younger siblings. Everything was black, including the girls’ dresses, although these may have had some lace or velvet trimmings - usually on the stand-up collar. Virtually no one wore coats at that time. The boys wore capes, the girls had big woollen shawls. The girls carried a white handkerchief with a lace edging which they had usually crocheted themselves along with the hymnal, which was often a gift from a godparent. It was the custom to write the full name in gold lettering inside the cover of the hymnal. The girls still frequently had plaits or often twisted their plaits like snails around their ears. Parents wore their customary Sunday best to the celebration."

Certificate for the "Youth Initiation Ceremony", paper, Dorstfeld, 1926

Certificate of the Youth Initiation Cermony and photo

At Easter 1926 the Freethinkers Society in Dorstfeld, a suburb of Dortmund, issued this certificate for a 14-year-old girl, "In memory of the Youth Initiation Ceremony". Below you can see a photograph of the ceremony. There are 44 boys and girls. Their parents have dressed them up for the occasion: The girls in dresses and with bows in their hair; the boys with pristine white shirt collars showing over jackets. This photograph could easily be mistaken for a confirmation picture except for the words "Let the spirit be free, faith without compulsion!" - the motto of the free religious movement.

The free religious movement originated in the middle of the 19th century. Critical clergy - Catholic and Protestant - founded free communities at that time because they no longer agreed with the teachings of the official churches. They placed the values of humanism in the foreground, i.e. tolerance, freedom of conscience and freedom from violence.
The free religious communities upheld some Christian festivals, albeit with a different message. The "Youth Initiation Ceremony” first appeared in 1852, as a "Confirmation Replacement Celebration". The ceremony was later adopted by the labour movement, and in East Germany it was when youngsters dedicated themselves to the ideals of the state. Today the "Youth Celebration", as it is called nowadays, is completely detached from its Christian origins and is carried out by atheistic-humanistic associations.

Tallit, prayer shawl, cotton, Isreal, 2010; tallit bag, bag for the prayer shawl, velvet, Israel, 2012.

Tallit with bag

The Jewish religion also has a fixed rite that marks the transition between childhood and adulthood: the Bar mitzvah. The traditional gift for this occasion is a prayer shawl, the Tallit, like our exhibit here. The shawl comes with a black velvet bag embroidered with the symbols of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Bar mitzvah means "son of commandment". This rite is only celebrated for boys and always on the Sabbath after the 13th birthday. On this date, according to Jewish tradition, a boy has reached his full religious maturity. After the Bar mitzvah he is a full member of the community, with all the rights and obligations. Now, for example, he can read from the Torah, the Hebrew Bible.

Jewish girls reach religious maturity on their 12th birthday. They have a similar ceremony, the Bath mitzvah, which means "daughter of commandment". However, this festival is not celebrated in all Jewish communities, as it is strictly rejected by Orthodox Jews. Compared with the traditional Bar mitzvah for the boys, the Bath mitzvah is still quite a young ceremony and was created by the Reform Judaism movement.

Eucharist- and wedding bonnet, cotton with lace, tulle and satin, Osnabrücker Land, around 1900; golden bonnet, cotton with velvet and silk, adorned with lace, goldwork and mirror glass, Osnabrücker Land, around 1900.

Traditional bonnets

There is a German expression that literally means "She's gone under the bonnet!" - and it is still used today when a woman has got married. Here you can see where this saying comes from: The three bonnets date back to around 1900, a time when it was still customary, at least in rural areas, for a woman to cover her head chastely with a bonnet.

But the bonnet was not merely a head covering, it was a symbol. In those days everyone knew the significance of the different colours, materials and designs. The bonnet in the middle, for example, completely white and very plain, indicates that this girl is unmarried! On the other hand, when you saw a bonnet richly decorated with gold, it was clear that this woman was already spoken for - she is "under the bonnet". Here in Westphalia the bonnet was placed on the bride’s head by the married women and, through this ritual, they ceremonially accepted her into their circle. This marked the step into the next major stage of life: Everyday life from now on would be determined by marriage, family and children.

A bonnet, however, did not only indicate the status of a woman, but also her denomination. The gold bonnet with dark ribbons belonged to a Catholic woman, the other to a Protestant woman. This is revealed by details such as the gold cords on the neck. On the Protestant bonnet they hang down, on the Catholic one they are looped. The long ribbons were tied together under the chin.

Black bridal gown, long-sleeved, unlined, made from black satin adorned with tulle, velvet ribbons and lace, worn by Johanna Hermissen (born Ferber) for her wedding in Rhynern on 4 April 1894, loan: Museum Abtei Liesborn.

Wedding dress

The bride wears black - that's hard to imagine today. In poorer families and in rural areas, however, this custom was common practice until the 1950s. A white wedding dress only became popular with affluent circles during the course of the 19th century.

There were very practical reasons in favour of a black wedding dress: A black dress could be used again after the wedding: as a best dress, as a Sunday dress for church, for happy celebrations or for funerals. Black fitted every occasion. Only rich families could afford to dress the bride in a wedding dress that was only worn once.

For the bride in black, it was the obligatory bridal veil that turned the dress into a bridal gown. And this was white, as you can see on the photos next to the display case. Generally speaking, photographs are important testimonies for us. They provide information about clothing and accessories, but also about how people presented themselves to the viewer at certain times. All of these souvenir photos are staged, then as now.

The white wedding dress on the left tells another story: It was made for a wedding in 1947. At that time parachute silk was used, a material that was actually intended for military purposes. It was not unusual in the post-war period to use material in this way.

Crucifix for All Souls Rest with six shields, property of the backers' and butchers' guilds, lime wood, Münsterland, around 1675, loan: LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur.

All Souls Rest

The dead Christ on the cross. What we see here is a central theme in Christian art. And yet this cross is something special: The ends of the crossbeam bend backwards - so the cross fits perfectly onto a coffin, as the reconstruction shows. However, the crucifix was not intended to be permanently attached to a coffin; it was used again and again. This is indicated by the wooden shields on the sides showing scenes from the Passion of Christ. On two of them there are "guild signs" - symbols of craftsmen's associations: On one it is a pretzel for the bakers' guild; and on another two crossed axes for the butchers' guild. These guilds probably came from Telgte. Whenever one of their members died, the coffin of the deceased was adorned with the cross and shields. After the funeral both were removed and stowed in a specially made box - until the next death. It is a rare stroke of luck that the crucifix and the shields together with the box have survived to this day.

From the Middle Ages onwards, guilds ensured that their members received a dignified burial. For example, they provided stretchers, candlesticks and mourning coats, and the apprentices and journeymen acted as coffin bearers. It was particularly important, however, that the deceased was cared for AFTER the funeral in prayers and remembrances. According to Catholic belief, this shortens the long and tormenting time in purgatory before the dead person can enter the kingdom of heaven.

Skull, plaster cast, place unknown, 1930s.

Skull

"Memento mori!", "Remember that you are mortal!" No other symbol makes this as clear to us as the skull. "Now you're still alive," it murmurs to us, "your eyes shine. But that will soon change; soon you'll be like me!"

Since antiquity, the skull has been a symbol of vanitas, the idea of the transience of everything earthly. In art, the skull - like the hourglass - has always been a reminder that life is passing by relentlessly for everyone. You can see some examples here.

In Christianity "Memento mori” means that you must be ready to die at any time - and to be "well-prepared” for death. That means: You should live a good life on earth and do good deeds - in short: be a good Christian. Only then will the doors of heaven open for you on the Day of Judgement. Your entire life is a time of preparation for death. This idea was particularly strong in the Middle Ages and the Baroque period. But this skull shows that even today people are moved by this thought. The skull stood on the desk of the Catholic priest Albert Coppenrath in Rochus Hospital in Telgte, where he spent his last years until 1960.

Cash box of the burial brotherhood in Lünen, oak, Lünen, 1801, loan: Museum of the city Lünen.

Brotherhood fund

“Burial fund of the laudable Brotherhood in Lünen, the second of September 1804” - this is what is written in the abbreviated inscription on this massive oak box. It is secured with two locks because the money that was kept in it served a very important purpose. The Brotherhood used it to ensure that its members and their relatives received a proper burial.

Such Christian burial or death brotherhoods were widespread from the Middle Ages on. Receiving a good and honourable burial was of great importance. Nobody wanted to be buried in a mass grave when the Day of Judgement came. But during their lifetime, people did not only make provisions for their funeral. Other brotherhoods ensured that prayers were regularly spoken for their fellow brothers - be it for a merciful death or for a safe passage into the afterlife. For, in Catholic piety, it was thought that at the moment of death the devil once again fights for the soul of man. So-called attendance books or notes ensured that prayers were spoken around the clock. They recorded precisely which brother was to pray and when - which is why they were also called “hourly brotherhoods". Examples of such attendance books can be seen in the display case on the right.

Burial brotherhoods of the dead still exist today, by the way. In Westphalia, Saint Matthias Brotherhood in Dielingen near Osnabrück has existed since 1654. Two leaders and eight pallbearers ensure that their fellow brothers receive a dignified funeral.

Passion garden, oil on linen, artist unknown, Westphalia, 18th century.

Passion garden

We are looking into a garden. It is planted with flower beds and protected by a high fence. The only way in is through the tall narrow gate at the bottom. The garden is full of people - so it seems at least, because some figures appear more than once. Christ, for example: We see him in various scenes of his passion. Each one is followed by an angel who leads a crowned woman, the symbol of a Christian soul, and shows her the suffering Christ took upon himself for humanity. The Passion ends with the death of Christ on the cross, here in the middle. The crowned woman, i.e., the soul, gives Christ a flaming heart as a sign that she has devoted herself to him completely.
The cartouches in the corners of the picture show Mary in the top left and the sky top right, death as a skeleton in the bottom left and in the bottom right corner the jaws of Hell - the place the soul must avoid under any circumstances. In Christian belief, you can start preparing for this during your lifetime - for example by praying to devotional pictures such as this one.

Death is the last passage when we pass from this world to the next. What awaits us there, no one knows. The main world religions give people hope that death is not final: Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the resurrection after a Last Judgement, Buddhists and Hindus believe in rebirth.

J"Wheel of the year", revolving disk with Christian (red) and worldly (blue) holidays over the course of the year.

"Wheel of the year"

Many people today are no longer aware that most of the holidays throughout the year that give us time off from work have a religious origin. What about you? You can brush up on your knowledge at this turntable - a kind of "wheel of high days and holidays" - made especially for our museum.

The little flags mark the holidays: The Christian ones are marked in red, the secular ones in blue. Some have fixed dates, such as May 1st, Labour Day, or Christmas Eve on December 24th. But there are also movable festivals - most notably Easter. You can see this on the second disc of our holiday wheel, which is also movable. The date of Easter days is calculated each year anew, since no specific date has been fixed. Easter Sunday is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring, i.e. the first full moon after 21 March. The date for Easter Sunday may therefore be any time between 22 March and 25 April. This was established in early Christian times. It is important to know that all the other movable Christian festivals of the year depend on the date of Easter. For example, Whitsun or Pentecost is always celebrated exactly 50 days after Easter. Hence the name, because the Greek word "pentecoste" means fifty.

Take your time to play around and find out about the high days and holidays here. You can find out more about the individual festivals in this exhibition area.

Fool's cap belonging to the carnival society Black-Gold Telgte, yellow silk with applied decor of brass wire, brass wrapped around thread and sequins, Telgte coat of arms sewn-on to the front, a brass bell and a tassel on two tips, Telgte, 1970s.

Fool's cap

A fool's cap: In the Middle Ages this cap was worn by the court jester. He was the only person who was allowed to act out of line. The same is still true today: Those who wear this cap have the proverbial fool's freedom - at least during the carnival season, which begins every year on 11 November and ends on Ash Wednesday.

Since the Middle Ages, Christians have been able to let their hair down at Carnival one last time before Lent began on Ash Wednesday. During Lent believers were supposed to give up meat, eggs, milk and cheese every working day for 40 days, until Easter; on Sundays they were not required to fast. This is probably the origin of the name, because the Latin "Carne vale" means "meat, farewell". In some regions of Germany the "foolish time" is called “Fastnacht” - the night before the fast. And the South German word “Fasching” - also used for the carnival period - probably goes back to the medieval vaschang, which means "the last drink served". Because alcohol was of course also taboo during Lent. Today fasting is often an individual decision. A lot of people - not just faithful Christians - give something up that they really like during this time: For some it’s jelly babies and chocolate, and others cigarettes or computer games.

Passion case to be hung on a wall, wood, glass, Münsterland, around 1800.

Passion case

This Passion Case is an extraordinary example of deep popular piety. The central figure is the dead Christ on the cross. His wounds are bleeding. At the bottom there are three people; they are grieving, their hands clasped together: On the left Mary and John and on the right Nicodemus, the person who will take Christ down from the cross.

On either side of the cross we see the Arma Christi, the so-called Instruments of the Passion, arranged as if they were on little shelves. On the left the hammer and pincers used for the nails on the cross and the scourge with which Christ was beaten. The nails themselves are here on the right, next to the tool with which the holes were drilled in the wood. At the top right we see the holy robe of Christ for which the soldiers cast lots at his crucifixion. Their dice are still lying beneath the cross. The cloth on the left is the so-called Veil of Veronica. When Christ was on the road to Calvary, she handed him a cloth so that he could wipe his sweat and blood away. The image of his face is said to have been imprinted on the cloth.

Someone went to a lot of trouble with this case to depict the suffering of Christ down to the very last detail. It is very vivid - and also quite dramatic in a way. This was after all the real purpose of the Passion Case: People stood in front of it and immersed themselves in prayer, remembering the sufferings of Christ, which - according to Christian theology - he inflicted upon himself in order to save mankind.

Easter eggs with traditional decor from the collection Barbara Kruhöfer, various countries, 1970 - 2000.

Easter eggs

What a lot of Easter eggs – it’s almost like a competition for the prettiest egg! They come from all over Europe: from Russia to South Tirol, from Crete to the United Kingdom. Wherever Christians celebrate Easter, we find Easter eggs. For centuries, on Easter Sunday children have excitedly gone on Easter egg hunts in their houses and gardens. And who hid the eggs? The Easter bunny of course! He was first mentioned in 1682, surprisingly in a medical paper warning against the excessive consumption of eggs.

The egg and bunny are still very characteristic of Christian Easter traditions today and are offered by the confectionery industry in all manner of tempting varieties. What lies behind these symbols has almost been forgotten.

Easter is the most important celebration in the church year: On Easter Sunday the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The egg is a symbol of this, because new life hatches out of the hard, cold shell. The rabbit has also been a symbol of fertility and rebirth since ancient times, as they are infamously known to reproduce prolifically. And incidentally, before the Easter bunny took over the job of hiding the eggs, other animals did it: In Switzerland it was the cuckoo that brought the eggs, in Thuringia the stork and here, in some parts of Westphalia, it was the Easter fox.

Family christmas, giving of Christmas presents in a well-to-do bourgeois family, paper, coloured lithography, Germany, around 1870.

Family christmas

A view of the living room of a well-off family. It is Christmas, or rather Christmas Eve, December 24th, the tree festively decorated, the candles burning. Underneath the tree there are gifts and the well-dressed children have started playing with some of them. On the left, for example, one of the boys proudly sits on his new rocking horse. The present-giving is presumably over. Before this, the family sang some Christmas carols together - we can still see the sheet music on the piano. The father looks benevolently at his many children; the mother lovingly holds the youngest in her arms. Everybody's happy. A perfect, idyllic family.

And that's what this is all about: The lithograph was produced in around 1870, at a time when Christmas as a FAMILY festival was quite a new tradition. The picture is like an instruction manual that tells you what Christmas Eve is supposed to look like in a cosy and loving home. Only a few decades before, Christmas had been a pure church festival, celebrated only in church, i.e. in a service. And not on the 24th, as is the tradition in Germany now, but on the 25th of December: On this day, Christians traditionally celebrate the birthday of Jesus, the Son of God. Christmas only became a family event in around 1800 with the emergence of the middle classes. The "Feast of Love" has become a symbol of the values that define civil society: privacy, the family and, in particular, the high personal value of each individual. The religious aspect of Christmas is increasingly receding into the background.

"Knubben" crib, oaken tree stump with carved scenes depicting Mary and Joseph looking for shelter, the birth of Jesus and the escape to Egypt, Josef Grasedieck, Feldhausen, 1962.

The "Knubben" crib

A gnarled old oak root, a “Knubben” as we say in Westphalia, serves as shelter for the holy family. The "Knubbenkrippe" combines three scenes from the Christmas story: On the right you see the pregnant Mary with Joseph looking for shelter. In the middle, the birth of Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem, and on the left the holy family on their flight to Egypt in order to save the baby Jesus from the slaying of the innocents by King Herod.

Like Christmas itself, cribs were originally found only in churches, not in private homes. It was not until Christmas had become a family celebration in the 19th century that people started putting up cribs in their living rooms - as a show-piece under the Christmas tree.

The “Knubbenkrippe” was made by Josef Grasedieck, a gardener who passionately carved cribs all his life. There are two more examples of his work a little further along on this wall. The story told by the oak beam on the pedestal is particularly moving: When Josef Grasedieck created this relief in 2006; he was already 84 years old - and almost blind. But it is precisely the rough, almost archaic-looking structure that gives the work its incredible power. You can feel this if you close your eyes and stroke the wood with your fingers. In this particular case: Please touch!

"Dugout crib", ebony, carved, polished, manufactured by the carver Edward Nangundu, Tanzania, around 1974.

Dugout crib

This is one of the most unusual specimens in our large crib collection - and one of the most impressive: the "dugout crib" from Tanzania. It was made by a member of the Makonde tribe who are famous for their carving and is a powerful representation of the birth of Jesus created out of a piece of ebony. The scene does not take place in the usual stable or cave, but in a boat, a dugout canoe. The tiny little baby Jesus lies alone in the middle, bedded on brushwood. Other figures are lined up like rowers on both sides: Mary is sitting directly opposite her son. She has pulled the robe over her head. Next to her, Joseph and the shepherds worship the child and angels with pointed wings rejoice. The carver didn’t miss out anything; it even has the animals and the shooting star.

This dugout crib has everything a crib needs - and yet it is completely different. This is typical of cribs from those countries of the world where European missionaries spread the Christian faith: be it in Africa, as here, in Asia or Latin America. In these places, the representation of biblical figures, their faces, hairstyles and clothing, is based on the traditional formal language of the respective country. If you look around the room, you will find more extraordinary examples of this.

Krakow "Szopka", crib in the form of a cathedral, tall scenery of houses and towers made from wodden scaffolding and cardboard covering, decorated with glued-on tinfoil in silver, gold, copper, green and blue, in some windows minimised watercolour painings on tracing paper, in others on coloured paper, Krakow/Poland, 1969.

The Kraków szopka

The crib in front of us here looks like a fairy-tale castle, with its glittering pillars, towers and flags. But if you look more closely, you will discover little paper figures depicting the birth of Jesus on a porch. This is a typical Krakow "Szopka", which is the Polish name for a crib in the shape of a cathedral.

And it’s not surprising if it makes you think of a puppet theatre: In the 19th century, Krakow masons began to make cribs in the winter months, as they had no work in the cold season. They made their cribs from light materials such as cardboard, covered them with tinfoil paper and took them from door-to-door, re-enacting the Christmas story with moving figures in order to earn extra money. Over time, the cribs became more and more elaborate and larger, so that it turned into a real competition for the most beautiful "Szopka". Since 1937, passionate crib builders have been presenting their masterpieces every year in December on Krakow market square. Prizes are given to the most beautiful nativity scenes and they are then exhibited. Today, by the way, anyone can take part in this famous competition, not just masons. The only condition is that they are built in the traditional style, as this example from 1969 in the purest form shows.

Crib from St. Dionysius' Church, heads and hands made from wax, clothes according to the fashion of the time (Biedermeier), in addition to the usual figures there is also a mohel who circumcised the Baby Jesus on the eight day after his birth, Recke, around 1840.

Historical church cribs

All the cribs in this room are "church cribs", which means that they were intended to be put up in a church. That’s why the figures are so large. The models on the central stand follow the sequence of the Christmas story. The first one, here on the corner, shows the annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary. We then continue to the right.

For many people the crib is an integral part of Christmas, just like the Christmas tree, carols or a turkey. The crib is, in fact, one of our oldest Christmas traditions: The first cribs appeared way back in the 16th century, in the age of the Counter-Reformation, when Jesuits, above all, wanted to consolidate the Catholic faith. Nativity scenes were intended to bring the stories of the Bible to life for people who could not read. The repertoire of early cribs was therefore not only restricted to the Christmas story, but also told of other events from the Gospels. Cribs had their origins in the church - and until the 19th century cribs were only seen there, and not in people’s homes.

While walking around the pedestal pay attention to the crib figures at the narrow side: With an age of nearly 200 years they belong to our oldest and most valuable pieces.

Reliquary box with a baby wrapped in swaddeling cloths, relics of saints, consecrated "Lamb of God" medallions and the Christ Child, box made from wood, glass, the Christ Child made from wax, Palestine, 1756 and Westphalia, 18th century

Reliquary box with a baby wrapped in swaddeling clothes and authentic relics

We don't know who this box once belonged to - but the owner must have felt very well protected. Behind glass there are three types of salvation offerings: on the one hand, physical relics of Christian saints, all preciously wrapped in small bags. On the other hand - below - a contact relic: the wax reproduction of the baby Jesus. A Latin document from the year 1756 - here on the left - certifies that the small figure touched the very spot in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where the crib of Jesus is said to have stood. Catholics therefore believe that this doll connects everyone who touches it with this holy place. The oval wax medallions depicting a "Lamb of God" were, after all, consecrated by the Pope himself.

What interests us particularly about this extraordinary exhibit is the Jesus doll: a so-called “swaddled baby”. It takes its name from the cloths, the swaddling bands, with which such replicas of Jesus are usually wrapped. You can see a typical example here on the right in the lower display case. A special tradition with such dolls was "child cradling", which was practised in nunneries in the Middle Ages. The nuns wrapped the Jesus dolls in swaddling clothes like real babies during the Christmas season and cradled them in their arms. In this way they re-enacted a stage of Jesus’ life. This tradition of child cradling was therefore one of the direct precursors of cribs as the nativity scenes also tell biblical stories - albeit statically, but with lifelike figures.

"Leave the church in the village." - Westphalia as a religious landscape is the topic of this exhibition space.

"Life around the village church"

The theme of this exhibition area is the religious landscape of Westphalia. The focus is on "life around the village church", which we have symbolically portrayed with a church placed on the map of Westphalia. We ask ourselves the question: How have faith and religion shaped the people, their environment and thus the history of Westphalia? And what is left of it today?

The historical area of Westphalia was much more extensive than the modern-day region in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Westphalia consisted of a lot of territories, small and large, which all went their separate ways, not only politically but also denominationally. In accordance with the motto "cuius regio, eius religio" the sovereign was free to determine the religious confession of his subjects. Consequently, some regions remained Catholic after the Reformation, others were Lutheran or Protestant Reformed. This had a great influence on the economic and social development of the regions. The various confessions have left their mark, and are still visible today - even if the confessional boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred.

Courtyard beam with inscription, oak, inscription with flat-cutting, older colouring (grey/black), rose and star representing the Lippe coat of arms on the headbands, Blomberg-Großenmarpe, 1693.

Courtyard beam with inscription

This huge gate beam originally formed the entrance to the hall of a farmhouse in Blomberg in Lippe. Written here in large letters are the first words of the Lutheran hymn "Who trusts in God, a strong abode" and the psalm saying "The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore". In this way the occupants of the house proudly reveal their Protestant confession and ask for divine protection for the house and home. It is the Word alone that allows access to God - no image, no saint as is customary in Catholic faith. This focus on the Bible, on the word alone, is typical of the Protestant church, in which preaching plays the central role.

Paired reliquary in baroque monstrance form, manufactured in a convent from decorated oak, glazed, reliquaries on a bed of silk, decorated with silver wire, sequins, glittery metal flakes and mirror, from the chapel of House Stapel, Havixbeck, end of the 17th/beginning of the 18th century.

Reliquiare

Relics and images of Christ, Mary and the Saints are characteristic of the Catholic religion, which makes greater use of images than the Protestant faith. The visualisation of holy figures in paintings or sculptures plays a central role in Catholic pious practices, since communication with God often takes place through the picture - for example by praying in front of a miraculous image, such as the statue of “Our Lady of Sorrows“ in the pilgrimage chapel next door.

Although God is not visible to man on earth, he has, according to the Christian idea, taken on human form through his son Jesus Christ. Images of Christ remind the faithful of his life and work and thus also of God. At the same time, the pictures offer a glimpse of what people hope for in the next life: To come face to face with God the Father. Relics of deceased saints or the reliquaries in which they are kept also serve as reminders or to anticipate the future. In a way that surpasses mere abstract words, the pictures used by Catholics help the faithful to access their inner religious world of imagery.

Crucifixion group with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Anthony of Padua. It originally stood in the chapel of the hospital for the poor in Telgte, which was consecrated to Anthony among others. Oak, edged with colour, Westphalia (?), 1385-1400.

Crucifixion group with Saint Anthony

Anthony the Great, here on the right, is one of the most popular saints in the traditionally Catholic Münsterland. The crucifixion group originally stood in the chapel of Telgte’s pauper hospital which was consecrated to several saints including St. Anthony. The occupants of the poorhouse were called "The Poor of St. Anthony’s” after him.

Like every Catholic saint, Anthony has a special function. The fact that he is the patron saint of the poor can be explained by his own life story: Anthony was born in Egypt around the year 250. He came from a wealthy family but gave away everything he owned to the poor and lived as a hermit in the desert. There, legend has it, he fought demons that resembled pigs. Therefore, one of the typical attributes that accompanies him is a pig, as we see here - and Anthony also became the favourite saint of cattle breeders and farmers.

Letter of safe conduct, facsimile, original made from parchment with the rest of an old seal, Raesfeld, 8 March 1685, Original: LAV NRW W, Prince-bishopric Münster, State Archives, document Nr. 4741 a.

Letter of safe-conduct

This document tells us a lot about the life of the Jews in Westphalia in the past. Jewish history here was as unstable as elsewhere in Europe: Sometimes Jews were tolerated as believers of another faith in a purely Christian environment, and at other times they were ostracised or persecuted.

This letter of safe conduct was issued by the Count of Raesfeld in 1685. In it the Count allows the Jew Joseph Burgel to settle and trade in his territory. Without this permission, Burgel would not have been allowed to do this. Jews had no civil rights at that time and were completely dependent on the goodwill of the rulers. And they made people pay dearly for these rights - either in the form of protection money or payment in kind. In the case of Burgel, who was a butcher, that meant:

"For the right of residence the Jew shall pay four Reichstaler annually and deliver a fat goose and all ox and beef tongues of the animals slaughtered by him.”

Saint Liborius, lime wood, carved, edged with colour, from the estate of Prelate Franz Wüstefeld of Paderborn (1913-2006), Upper Bavaria, first half of the 18th century, loan: Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum Paderborn.

Saint Liborius

Saint Liborius is the patron saint of Paderborner Land, the traditional Catholic territory in eastern Westphalia. In 836 his relics were brought to the then young diocese of Paderborn, which was founded by Charlemagne. Bishop Badurad hoped that the miraculous bones of the saint would strengthen people's faith. His hope was fulfilled: Liborius is still greatly revered and regularly celebrated in the Paderborn region today: Every July the whole of Paderborn celebrates "Libori", one of the oldest and largest folk festivals in Germany. And this is just one of several annual festivals in honour of Liborius.

Liborius lived in the 4th century and was the Bishop of Le Mans in France. This explains the episcopal robes, and crook and mitre. Here we see his typical attribute of stones which he balances on the Bible, for it is believed that Liborius can cure people with kidney, bladder and gall stones.

Easter lantern, lead glazing done by Anton Bischoff, a tinsmith from Attendorn, Attendorn 1808, loan: private collection, Sauerland, 1808.

Easter lanterns

Four Easter lanterns play a central role in the Easter customs of the town of Attendorn. One is exhibited here. On the front we can see the Lamb of God and on the back a flaming heart and the date "Anno 1808". Attendorn is in the Sauerland, a traditionally Catholic region in the south of Westphalia, where numerous Christian traditions are carefully cultivated to this day. Easter customs in Attendorn involve quite a lot of drama. They start in the evening of Maundy Thursday when the bells fall silent. On Good Friday the night watchman blows his horn once every hour and the children run around the church with ratchets. On Holy Saturday the parish priest blesses the traditional Easter bread. On this day too, the trees for the Easter crosses are felled and brought to the market place where the Easter fire clubs of the town compete to see who has the longest and thickest tree trunk. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, the tree trunks are erected as Easter crosses at the fireplaces in front of the four town gates. At nine o'clock in the evening the church bells begin to ring - as a sign that the Easter fires can be lit with the Easter candle. Then a procession forms at each town gate and the people walk to the parish church. Each procession is preceded by a lantern and the people sing the hymn "The grave is empty, the hero awoken". The celebration ends with the Easter prayer service in the church.

Deaconess' robe with pelerine and bonnet, cotton, Bielefeld, mid-20th century.

Deaconess' robe

This is the typical dress of a Protestant deaconess: a dark dress and a white bonnet, simple and modest. Deaconesses are unmarried women who live together in communities of sisters and work in the diaconate, for example in the care of children, the elderly and the sick. In the traditionally Protestant area of Minden-Ravensberg, in the north-east of Westphalia, the diaconate - as elsewhere in Germany - was founded in the 19th century in connection with industrialisation: The prospect of wages and food lured people from the countryside into the cities, but even there the factory workers often lived in abject poverty. As there was no village family structure in the cities, the diaconate set up institutions such as orphanages and hospitals.

The people from Minden-Ravensberg are still intensely pious - and the diaconate is still one of the largest employers in the region.

Mechanical piggy bank, derogatory "Jolly Nigger Bank", ceramics, Glandorf, middle of the 20th century, loan: Stadtmuseum Gütersloh.

Mechanical piggy bank

Missionary Walter Moritz

Mechanical piggy bank

This piggy bank seems rather bizarre today: If you throw a coin through the slot in the black boy's lap, he will politely nod his head in thanks. True to the motto "Remember the Gentile Mission", the Protestant Church used these piggy banks - called Jolly Nigger Banks in the past - until the 1960s to collect money for schools, hospitals and pastoral institutions in Africa. In Catholic churches, these mechanical piggy banks often stood in front of the crib during the Christmas season. Meanwhile the understanding of mission has changed significantly: Today, the central guiding principles are helping people to help themselves and partnership.

The mission has shaped church life in traditional Protestant Minden-Ravensberg since the 19th century.

Berleburg Bible, The Holy Scripture, Old and New Testament/ According to the original text assessed and translated anew: Along with some explanations of the literal sense […], letterpress print, Berleburg, 1726.

Berleburg Bible

Commentary Berleburg Bible

Berleburg Bible

Eight thick volumes - and yet only one book: the Bible. You are looking at some copies of the so-called Berleburg Bible, which was printed between 1726 and 1742 in Berleburg, a town in the region of Wittgenstein in southern Westphalia. What makes this Bible so extensive are the commentaries: Every sentence in the Old and New Testaments is explained in detail. Count Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, at whose court the Berleburg Bible was written, wanted no question left unanswered. At that time, Wittgenstein was a stronghold of radical pietism, a strongly emotional form of Protestant piety. Even Casimir's mother, Countess Hedwig Sophie, gathered the most famous Pietists of her time around her - including those who were considered too fanatical elsewhere -
and sensational ecstatic prayer meetings took place in Wittgenstein. A portrait of the pious countess can be seen here on the back.

Commentary Berleburg Bible

In the Old Testament story of the Fall of Man, the serpent tempts Eve to eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge. The commentary on the snake explains how this could happen:

"Painters and engravers all depict serpents without feet, but since they were not condemned to move on their bellies until after the fall of Adam, when they were created they must have had feet and a completely different form than the animals we know under this name nowadays: as the judgement of God about them reveals sufficiently. Scaliger remarks that even today there are winged and quadruped snakes in the landscape of Calicut. But there are some who even believe that the serpent, as the most beautiful and most graceful of all animals was almost the same in shape as humans, that it had hands and feet, walked upright and spoke like men; because God created the serpent before all other animals for the pleasure of man. This is why Eve and the serpents became close."

Benches from the community house Mausbach. There is a shelf for the hymn book on the back rest and a flap which could be opened after Bible study for drinking coffee together. Siegerland, pine, stained, beginning of the 20th century.

Bench from the community hall in Mausbach

The two benches from the Siegerland are typical for the far south of Westphalia. As you can see here and in the photos, the benches serve a dual purpose: They are used for Bible study and also afterwards for tea and cakes. Such benches are usually found in the parish hall, not in the church. Nearly every town and village in the Siegerland has a meeting place similar to this where believers gather to read the Bible or sing and pray together. This community or “Gemeinschaft” movement developed in the 19th century out of a deeply devout, reformed form of piety. These community meetings take place alongside regular Sunday church services even today and testify to the great religious needs of the people in the Siegerland.

Alexander Zeiss (1861-1938) founded a Christian bricklayers' union, the bricklayers' association Lippe. As a delegate in the Lippe federal state parliament he advocated especially for the rights of seasonal bricklayers from the Lippe region. Reproduction from: Museumsführer Ziegelei Lage.

Alexander Zeiss

Report on preaching tours between 1898-1901 from Alexander Zeiss

Alexander Zeiss

The man second from the left on this photo is Alexander Zeiss, the energetic "bricklayer priest" from the traditionally Protestant Reformed Lipperland. In the photo above you can see him absorbed in work at his desk.

But what does a pastor have to do with bricks? Lippe was once a small principality where it was difficult to find work and earn a living. Poverty was particularly prevalent in the 19th century. About 40 percent of the men from Lippe used to work as seasonal labourers during the summer in brickyards far away from home. But in the places where they found work, there were often no Reformed services, so itinerant preachers would be sent out from Lippe to attend to the spiritual welfare of the bricklayers working away from home. These preaching tours were organised by the "Commission for the Spiritual Care of Bricklayers" - and its chairman was Alexander Zeiss.

Report on preaching tours between 1898-1901 from Alexander Zeiss

In his "Report on the preaching tours to brickyard areas in the years 1898-1901" Pastor Zeiss tells of 10 preaching tours in 6 districts. The report also describes why Westphalia was particularly important for the preachers from Lippe:

"In Rhineland-Westphalia, the brickyards are generally all located quite close together, not spread out, and are easily accessible for the itinerant preachers thanks to the excellent rail connections. Pastors were therefore able to reach a large number quite quickly. In the administrative districts of Arnsberg and Münster, there were around 3000 labourers from Lipperland compared with 7000 others from elsewhere."

As far as the special problems of bricklayers far from home are concerned, Zeiss says:

"Among the moral dangers prevailing in the brickyards, intemperance and drunkenness are undoubtedly the most dangerous and this was also the main theme of itinerant preachers and also preachers at home. There are many signs of hope that the efforts have not been in vain in this respect. All these endeavours are greatly supported by the special Sunday newspaper for bricklayers, the "Ziegler-Sonntagsblatt”.

You can see a copy of the title page here below the photo of Zeiss.
Although Zeiss emphasises the great success of the preaching tours, he also admits that, despite all their efforts, the itinerant bricklayers were not exactly more generous than they were at home:

"On four trips, an attempt has been made to hold collections after church services. The idea has always been well received, but the yields have been relatively low. For the time being at least, our bricklayers seem to have less sense that it is more blessed to give than to receive than our other rural groups."

Banner of the "Brotherhood of the Living Rosary of the Polish People in Wanne Eickel in 1901", silk painting, around 1900, dated Wanne-Eickel 1901, bunting around 1930.

Banner of the so-called "Ruhr Poles"

The silk painting on the banner shows Christ praying on the Mount of Olives and below it the Polish inscription "Brotherhood of the Living Rosary of the Polish People in Wanne Eickel in 1901". Wanne-Eickel is in the Ruhr district, which in the 19th century was still called the "Rhine-Westphalian industrial area". The name said it all! Industry there developed so rapidly that the local labour force was no longer sufficient. The firms had to recruit foreign workers, especially a lot of Poles. Poland did not exist as a separate country at that time - it was divided between Prussia, Russia and Austria. Maybe it was precisely because of this that these men and women far away from home were so very keen to group together in associations where they could practice and maintain their language, their traditions and their deeply rooted Catholic faith. The state authorities were very critical of associations such as the "Rosary Brotherhoods": They were suspected of politically advocating a free Poland under the cloak of the church.

Workers and their families from other countries also moved to the Ruhr district at that time. To this day, the region is characterised by the coexistence of different nationalities, religions and denominations.

The nearly 400-year old Telgte Lenten Cloth, one of the most important lenten cloths in Germany, linen, filet lace technique on a meshed net with 33 pictures showing the Passion of Christ and his resurrection, reinforced with silk fabric, Telgte 1623.

Telgte Lenten Cloth - Introduction

The Telgte Lenten Cloth, dating from 1623, is one of the most valuable cultural assets in Westphalia. The annex you are in was purpose-built to house this precious exhibit. Originally the Lenten Cloth was stored next door in St Clemens church. Every year during Lent it was hung in front of the chancel, from Ash Wednesday to shortly before Easter. In 1910, after almost 300 years, the Lenten Cloth was taken out of use and sold to the Museum of Folklore in Berlin - although this decision was regretted soon afterwards. In 1971 the Lenten Cloth was finally returned to Telgte, to this museum.

The Telgte Lenten Cloth was always only displayed during the 40 days of Lent. Then it was rolled up again and stored. The purpose of a Lenten Cloth was to conceal the altar during Lent. The assembled congregation was not allowed to see either the Holy Mass or the altarpieces. For people in the Middle Ages this meant great hardship, similar to the renunciation of meat.

Hunger cloths or Lenten cloths were widespread in the entire Western church during the Romanesque period. After the Gothic period and the Reformation, they survived longer here in Westphalia and in the Alpine region than elsewhere. The early examples were probably quite simple, without any figurative decoration. It was not until the late Middle Ages that biblical pictures were either painted or embroidered on Lenten cloths, as was the tradition in Westphalia. They were intended to focus the minds of believers - especially those who could not read - on the central contents of the Christian faith.

The Telgte Lenten Cloth was created in 1623 as a donation from Burgmann Heinrich Voss and his wife Catarina Droste for the neighbouring parish church St. Clemens, where it was hung in the choir annually during lent until 1907. Photography on cardboard, Telgte, beginning of the 20th century?

Telgte Lenten Cloth - Description

It was roughly 400 years ago that busy hands created the pictures on the Telgte Lenten Cloth with needle and thread using the filet lace technique. The images are embroidered onto a knotted net. The parts that appear dark from a distance are the net. The light figures and inscriptions are the embroidered areas. The Cloth is made of linen and consists of six rows with 33 squares containing individual pictures alternating with 33 plain squares.

The coats of arms in the bottom row of pictures reveal to whom we owe the Lenten Cloth: The family of Henrich Vos donated the Cloth and it was probably embroidered by the ladies of this aristocratic house, although they most certainly had a lot of industrious helpers. The theological background and Latin inscriptions were provided by the pastor at that time whose coat of arms are here in the middle: „Bitterus Willge Pastor Telgetensis“,  as the four letters B W P T tell us. The precise year of its manufacture is shown in the dedicatory inscription on the far right: "Embroidered in memory of the redemptive suffering and to adorn the Church of Telgte in the year of our Lord 1623."

Let's look at the pictures for a moment. More detailed information about the pictures and their inscriptions can be found at the media station, where other Lenten cloths are also displayed.
The "redemptive suffering” that the Cloth wants to remind us of, according to the dedicatory inscription, is of course the death of Christ on the cross. It is the Christian belief that Christ, the Son of God, saved mankind through his suffering. Four out of the six rows alone are dedicated to the Passion of Christ. This is remembered during Lent, when the Lenten Cloth hangs in the church.
Each row of the Cloth is to be read from left to right. It starts at the top left with Christ saying farewell to the disciples. In the next square we see Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane and then two squares depicting Judas’ betrayal of the Saviour. Then Jesus is taken before the high priest and in the second row stands with tied hands before Pontius Pilate who condemns him to death on the cross. The next three squares show the mockeries he has to suffer before his death. Then we see Jesus carrying the cross, followed by the Veil of Veronica, on which it is said that the face of Christ was imprinted.
Here, in the second row, a technical peculiarity of the Lenten Cloth is also clearly visible: Look at the figure on the left in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th square that has a raised arm as if about to strike. They are all identical. It would seem that the embroiderers used templates for these. If you look closely, you will find more examples of this. The entire third row shows scenes of the crucifixion: Jesus being nailed to the cross and - on the far right - the dead Christ being taken down. The three squares in between together present the crucifixion scene in its entirety with the crucified thieves on either side.
The fourth row begins with the scene in which two soldiers cast dice to decide who should take the robe of Christ. The next picture depicting the dead Christ on his mother's lap is the subject of much discussion. Telgte has another example of this scene - called a pietà: the famous miraculous wooden statue in the pilgrimage chapel. It is possible that this sculpture was taken as a model for the picture on the Lenten Cloth. The next squares show the burial and the three women standing by the empty grave; then we see Christ’s descent into Hell followed by his resurrection from the dead.
The fifth row is completely different. It shows individual figures in diamond-shaped frames: the symbols of the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and in the middle the Lamb as a symbol of Christ.
In the last row we see five scenes from the Old Testament: the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark and Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac. The next two squares show Moses putting up the bronze serpent on a pole and the spies with the bunch of grapes.
The complex pictorial representation of the Lenten Cloth ends with the dedicatory inscription. When people sat in the church looking at the Cloth during Lent, they were meant to contemplate on the fact that Christ died for them - and that he rose again at Easter, the feast for which they were preparing through fasting.

In the lowest row of the lenten cloth scenes from the Old Testament are depicted, with the first square on the left showing the fall of man.

Telgte Lenten Cloth - Five scenes from the Old Testament

The first is the Fall of Man, in which Adam and Eve eat the forbidden apple from the tree of knowledge. By doing this they bring original sin upon mankind and are banished from paradise.
Next we see the ark in which Noah, his family and a pair of each kind of animal are the only beings to survive the Flood. God had brought this Flood upon mankind because he was angry at their many sins. On the right a dove with a branch in its beak is flying away - a sign that the Flood is over and that new life is growing on earth.
The next square shows the moment when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son Isaac. God placed this heavy burden upon him to test whether Abraham’s love for him was unconditional. This was now proven! At this moment God sends the angel of mercy - here on the left - who stops Abraham from performing the deed and on the right in the bush stands the ram, which is then sacrificed in place of Isaac.
The following picture here on the left tells us how God sent poisonous snakes to the Israelites to punish them for their impatience. But at God's command, Moses creates a bronze snake, a replica made of ore, and puts it on a pole. Everyone that was bitten was healed when they looked at this replica. 
The last picture shows two of the spies Moses sent out during the Israelites' journey through the wilderness to explore God’s Promised Land. The two return with a huge bunch of grapes, proof that this is indeed the Promised Land “flowing with milk and honey".
All five Old Testament scenes have a connection with the Passion of Christ shown above, they are so-called typologies. The sacrifice of Isaac, for example, indicates that God sacrifices his son for mankind, and the erection of the Bronze Serpent is a prefiguration of the crucifixion of Christ.

Votive painting for Baron Matthias Korff-Schmiesing's rescue from drowning by invocation of the miraculous image of Telgte 1668, oil painting on linen, origin unknown, first half of the 18th century, loan: Kirchengemeinde St. Marien Telgte.

Votive picture Korff-Schmiesing

The accident happened on the 8th of October 1668. The carriage of Matthias Korff-Schmiesing, an important churchman of noble Westphalian descent, was crossing a river near Osnabrück when a wheel broke and the passengers in the carriage plunged into the water. The baron could not swim, and he narrowly escaped death. He considered his rescue to be a miracle - the work of God through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God. Korff-Schmiesing had begged her for help in his distress and at the same time saw before him the miraculous image of Telgte, seen here above on the left. It shows Mary with her dead son on her lap: a pietà carved from wood in around 1370. In the foreground of the picture you can see Telgte, with St Clemens pilgrimage church and the domed pilgrimage chapel, in which the miraculous statue stands.

The painting precisely documents the accident, the miraculous rescue and the place where the miracle happened. This is typical of votive pictures. The picture acts as proof that Mary came to the rescue - once again! For the Mother of God had often put in a good word to God for the many who prayed before the miraculous statue in Telgte. Catholic believers are still convinced of this today. Every year about 100,000 people make the pilgrimage to Telgte. The miraculous statue is the focus of the following exhibition area which is about pilgrimages - a cultural practice that exists in most religions, as the photographs show.

Votive offerings for the miraculous image of Telgte, votive offerings made from silver tin as well as offerings of thanksgiving for prayers that were answered, origin varies, 18th - 20th century, loan: Kirchengemeinde St. Marien Telgte.

Collection of votive offerings

Eyes, legs and hearts: a true hotchpotch of human body parts! But you can also see babies in nappies, Christ on the Cross - and the miraculous statue of Telgte: pious pilgrims have bequeathed these gifts to this statue. The small silver sheets are so-called votive gifts. They tell of illnesses that were successfully overcome, for example, and of the desire to have children that was finally fulfilled. All thanks to the help of the miraculous statue of the "Sorrowful Mother" to whom the faithful had prayed. According to Catholic belief, Mary, like the other Christian saints, conveys the concerns of people to God. And in some places this mediation succeeds better than elsewhere. These are miraculous sites to which believers make pilgrimages in the hope of being heard. One of them is Telgte.

Such votive gifts are known to have existed back in ancient times. Long before Christianity existed, people in distress called on their deity and promised to make a gift if their request was answered. If they were ill, they consecrated body parts made of wood, clay or silver in thanks for their healing. Many of these gifts bear the Latin inscription "Ex voto", i.e., "from the vow made". This is why they are called “votive” gifts". Christians adopted this custom and continue to cultivate it to this day.

Double wayside shrine, miraculous image of Telgte and the crucifix of St. Lambert's Church in Coesfeld, oak, carved, edged multicoloured, restored and expanded, from Middeldorf farm in the farming community Weese near Recke, around 1675.

Double wayside shrine

Originally this huge shrine stood on the roadside. The pictures on it made it unmistakably clear to every passer-by: Here in the diocese of Münster you are walking on Catholic territory. The depictions very proudly portray two important places of pilgrimage in the area: the miraculous statue in Telgte and, on the back, the crucifix in St. Lamberti Church in Coesfeld, some 50 kilometres west of here.

The wayside shrine was erected around 1670 at the instigation of the Prince-Bishop of Münster, Christoph Bernhard von Galen. He also marked the borders of his diocese with such shrines in order to demonstrate his area of power to his Protestant neighbours. It is not surprising that the two miraculous images are depicted on the wayside shrine. The Prince-Bishop had devoted great energy throughout his entire life to promoting the two places of pilgrimage. It was Christoph Bernhard von Galen who first officially started the pilgrimage to Telgte in 1651 and then declared it to be the main place of pilgrimage in his diocese. A short time later he laid the foundation stone for the Chapel of Mercy to enable large groups of pilgrims to file past the statue. Before this, the sculpture was probably attached to the outer wall of the church of St. Clement, under a covered wooden construction. It was there that the statue of the Virgin Mary performed its first miracles, and it was there that the miraculous statue of Telgte had its origins.

Treasure chest, iron, forged, for transport and safekeeping of the festive decorations for the miraculous image, with three locks, origin unknown, 1734, loan: Kirchengemeinde St. Marien Telgte.

Engravings, jewellery and transport chest

Anyone who came to Telgte as a pilgrim in 1754 could acquire such a copper engraving as a souvenir: with the highly elaborate miraculous image at the top and a view of Telgte below. And a lot of people came in that year! For it was the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for the pilgrimage chapel by Christoph Bernhard von Galen, the Prince-Bishop of Münster and devotee of the miraculous image of Telgte. This was when pilgrimages to Telgte really started. In order to do due justice to this anniversary, his successor, Clemens August of Bavaria, organised celebrations, the likes of which the Münsterland had never seen before or since during the course of this century. The Prince-Bishop invited his entire diocese to make the pilgrimage to Telgte and thousands came daily.

The miraculous image is virtually buried here underneath the lavish decorations. Mary wears a crown, a veil and a red velvet coat. The Blessed Mother and her son are hung with votive offerings. A kind of apron has been hung in front of Mary’s legs, a so-called Gremiale, which is also made of red velvet, embroidered in silver and decorated with baroque women's jewellery - lapis lazuli set in gold and a ladies' watch. A few remnants of the velvet cape and the Gremiale, both gifts from Prince Bishop Clemens August of Bavaria, have been preserved: You can see them here in the display case on the right. The baroque jewellery of the Gremiale, on the other hand, has been handed down in its entirety. This is very rare and makes it extremely valuable. The lapis lazuli stones and the ladies' watch are therefore kept separately. This extraordinary treasure also includes the huge chest here at the back. The precious Gremiale was carried to Telgte in this chest and stored in it.

Banner of the Telgte guild of craftsmen, depiction of the miraculous image of Telgte with festive ornamentation and of Pope Clement I, the parish patron of Telgte, inscriptions and craftsman's marks, oil painting on linen, applied to silk, pictures on the banner by Franz Rudolph Löltgen (1772-1853), Telgte, 1821.

Pilgrimage banner

Pilgrimages can be made alone or with other people. When the Telgte craftsmen took part in a procession, they proudly carried this banner. The Telgte guild of craftsmen had the banner made in 1821. Images have been painted in oil on oval linen patches and then sewn onto both sides of the red silk fabric. Here, on the front, you see the miraculous image of Telgte with its festive ornamentation: the crown, veil and opulently decorated red velvet cape, which are exhibited in a display case on the right-hand wall. A particularly beautiful embellishment in the lower part of the banner is the ladies' watch, a special ornamental gift for the festive mantle made in 1734. On the back we see a picture of Pope Clement I, the parish patron of Telgte.

Devotional objects, candles as a keepsake of the Telgte pilgrimage, sales goods from the trade with devotional objects in Telgte, stearin, Telgte, 1988.

Devotional objects

It is probably a basic human need to want a souvenir of a place that is close to your heart, a place where something special happened, a place that is considered sacred. Telgte is such a place. All the objects here in this display case were made for pious pilgrims to take home with them, so-called devotional objects. The little statues, candles, plates and cups differ in material, design and size. But they all have one thing in common - they show Telgte and the miraculous statue - and of course they all serve the same purpose: They are souvenirs that are intended to inspire the owner to pray even far away from the place of pilgrimage.

Believers therefore not only take something to the place of pilgrimage - a votive offering, for example, as thanks for a prayer that has been heard - but they also take something away with them. This principle is as old and as widespread as pilgrimage itself. Even in ancient times pilgrims used to take something home with them from their pilgrimage: a pinch of dust from a holy place, for example, or oil from a lamp burning there. Commercial trade in devotional objects also flourished very early on - and continues to do so today at Catholic places of pilgrimage, such as here in Telgte.

"Tree of the knowledge of good and evil" with Tanakh, Bible, Quran and the German Civil Code.

Tree of the knowledge

One tree, five books. The tree stands for the "tree of knowledge of good and evil", from which Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple and thereby lost their innocence. Only then did they realise that they were naked - only then did they learn to distinguish between right and wrong. The books are the holy scriptures of the three great world religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam: the Torah, the Bible and the Koran. All three tell the story of the first human couple that God banished from Paradise because they disobeyed his commandment. There is also a copy of the German Civil Code which is based on the values of the 10 commandments of the Old Testament.

This arrangement is meant to encourage you to stop and think: What values guide me when I make a decision? What role does my conscience play in this, my faith, my religion? It is no coincidence that the "tree of knowledge" stands just here in this position. It has significance for the two exhibition areas that it connects: On the right, pilgrimages where people hope to come a little closer to God at the miraculous site. And on the left, the life of Cardinal von Galen during the National Socialist era that tells us something about decisions based on faith, conscience and courage.

Cardinal von Galen, oil painting, painter: Adolf Deussing, Münster, 1965

Cardinal von Galen:
Transcript of sermons and portrait

Three sermons

Cardinal von Galen: Transcript of sermons and portrait

Clemens August Graf von Galen was a Catholic priest, bishop and cardinal, reverently called "the Lion of Münster". He was beatified in 2005. Galen was indeed a great and brave man: Great was his courage when he publicly denounced the inhuman Nazi regime which despised the church. Great was his stature, standing at six and a half feet tall as you can see in the portrait on this stele.

Three sermons in particular, delivered by Bishop von Galen in Münster in the summer of 1941, achieved fame. In these sermons he protested against the terror of the National Socialist regime loudly and clearly. Von Galen attacks the cruel euthanasia killing of psychiatric patients carried out during that time. And he condemns the arbitrary attacks of the state, the banishment of Catholic nuns and monks from their nunneries and monasteries, the violence, the expropriations. His courageous and open words reached out to many people, not only in Münster, and not only in Germany. Galen's sermons were secretly copied and distributed. You can see one of these copies here in the display case. The sermons even reached soldiers in distant areas via the army postal service. Even the Allies were familiar with the bishop’s sermons: And some copies ended up on the American President's desk.

Three sermons

Bishop von Galen held the first of his three famous sermons on 13 July 1941 in St Lambert's Church in Münster. In it he protests against the expulsion and expropriation of Catholic clergy and against all the arbitrariness of the Nazi regime:

"None of us is safe — and may he know that he is the most loyal and conscientious of citizens and may he be conscious of his complete innocence — he cannot be sure that he will not some day be deported from his home, deprived of his freedom and locked up in the cellars and concentration camps of the State Secret Police. I am quite clear about this: this can happen to me today or any other day. And because then I shall not be able to speak in public any longer, I will speak publicly today, publicly I will warn against the continuance on a path which I am firmly convinced will bring down God’s judgement on men and must lead to disaster and ruin for our people and our country.

The second sermon, a copy of which we see here, was given on 20 July in the Church of Our Lady in Münster. In it Bishop of Galen calls on believers to remain strong in their faith, even against the regime:

"At this moment we are the anvil, not the hammer! Remain steadfast and firm and unshakable like the anvil that bears all the blows that rain down upon it; in the most faithful service to the people and the fatherland, but also ready to act at any time in the spirit of supreme sacrifice: "Men must obey God more than men!" (...) It may be that obedience to God, faithfulness to conscience costs me or any of you life, freedom, home. But: "Better to die than to sin!"

In the third sermon of 3 August, Bishop of Galen denounced the Nazi euthanasia killings:

"Once it is admitted that people have the right to kill unproductive fellow human beings - and if at first it only affects poor, defenceless mentally ill people - then in principle the murder of all unproductive human beings, i.e. the incurably ill, the disabled cripples, invalids of work and war, then it will be possible to murder all of us, when we are old and weak and thus have become unproductive.

Death mask of Clemens August Graf von Galen, plaster, cast, tinted eggshell, manufactured by Albert Manzotti (1882-1951), Münster, 1946.

Death mask

The death mask of Clemens August Cardinal von Galen. Von Galen died on 22 March 1946 at the age of 68 of a ruptured appendix. A few days before, an enthusiastic crowd had cheered him in Münster. Von Galen had just returned from Rome, from the Vatican, where the Pope elevated him to a Cardinal in a solemn ceremony. With the war finally over - the Catholic Church now paid homage to the brave position maintained by the bishop under the National Socialists. Von Galen's attitude towards the Nazi regime fully reflected the motto that he chose for himself as bishop at his consecration in 1933: Nec laudibus, nec timore: Neither praise nor fear shall guide me.

Cardinal von Galen’s path was greatly influenced by his deeply religious parental home. He comes from an old Westphalian aristocratic family and was born in 1878 as the eleventh of thirteen children at Dinklage Castle near Oldenburg. After studying theology, Galen was ordained priest in Münster in 1904. He then spent more than 20 years as a pastor in Berlin before returning to Münster for good in 1929. Bishop von Galen also enjoyed visiting Telgte during these years: He often made a pilgrimage here in the early hours of the morning, unrecognised in simple hiking clothes, in order to celebrate the holy Sacrifice of the Mass in front of the miraculous statue of the "Sorrowful Mother" or simply to pray.

Set of glasses belonging to Cardinal von Galen consisting of delicate reading-glasses similar to metal-rimmed glasses, elongated glasses case with rounded ends and spring lock, lens cleaning cloth with cut sheet margin, manufacturer: graduate optician Josef Viehoff, Münster, around 1910.

Personal objects of the cardinal

Hat, sweater and shoes, watches and wallets. The long pipe is also rather impressive. Everyday things really, and yet they are something special. Because they belonged to Clemens August Cardinal von Galen, the "Lion of Münster".

The veneration of Galen began in his home diocese, the diocese of Münster, immediately after his sudden death in 1946. His personal belongings were reverently kept and shortly afterwards exhibited here in the museum. His legacies also include the cardinal red robes of the newly appointed Cardinal: for example the silk gown and, particularly noteworthy, the red shoes in size 12.

It is never without its problems when people worship another person - be it a pop star, a film hero or a clergyman. It is always an idealised image that people see - or rather: want to see! With Cardinal von Galen it is no different. From a historical point of view, he is viewed critically in some respects, for example for his attitude towards democracy and Hitler's wars. It remains undisputed, however, that he courageously stood up for human dignity, for freedom, faith, conscience, without fearing the reprisals of the Nazis. In this way he has given many people stability and hope in difficult times.