A conciliation cross, also known as a roadside cross, is a

stone cross Stone crosses (german: Steinkreuze) in Central Europe are usually bulky Christian monuments, some high and wide, that were almost always hewn from a single block of stone, usually granite, sandstone, limestone or basalt. They are amongst the ...

, which was set up in a place where a murder or accident had happened.

Purpose

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, they were sometimes handmade by the murderer as a symbol of conciliation with the family of his victim. Conciliation crosses were also put where many accidents, disasters or epidemics had happened. These

memorial cross A memorial cross (sometimes called an intending cross) is a cross-shaped memorial to commemorate a special event or an incident, typically where one or more people died. It may also be a simple form of headstone to commemorate the dead. File I ...

es are mostly in central and western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Occurrence in Czechia

In the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, an archive of national instances is in the town of

Aš Aš (; german: Asch) is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dolní Paseky, Doubrava (Aš), Doubrava, Horní Paseky, Kopaniny (Aš), Kopaniny, ...

alongside some of these; the number of documented Czech crosses is more than 2300. Image:Smírčí kříž u silnice z Růžové do Nové Olešky.jpg, Conciliation cross close to Růžová (Děčín District),

. Image:Kleinrettbach-Grabsleber-Kreuz-2.jpg, Conciliation cross close to Kleinrettbach,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Image:Стерженский.jpg, Conciliation cross close to

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Image:Krzyż pokutny kijowice.JPG, Conciliation cross close to Kijowice,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Purpose

Occurrence in Czechia

See also