The Longinus cross''Arise and go toward the south: 2000 years of Christianity in Ethiopia'' by Annegret Marx and Alexandra Neubauer, IDP, 2007. Retrieved 11 Apr 2015. (german: Longinuskreuz) is a special form of the

Arma Christi Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ ...

cross, which occurs mainly in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

, but also occasionally in other regions of

South Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

. In addition to the

instruments of the Passion Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Chris ...

, Longinus crosses depict the figure of

Saint Longinus Longinus () is the name given to the unnamed Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance and who in medieval and some modern Christian traditions is described as a convert to Christianity. His name first appeared in the apocryphal G ...

as a horseman to the side of the crucified

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. These crosses are usually made of wood and are about 3–4 metres high. Often they are topped by a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

that resembles the roofs of

Black Forest house The Black Forest houseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 154. . (german: Schwarzwaldhaus) is a byre-dwelling that is found mainly in the central and southern parts of the Bla ...

s, and a back wall on which the figures bearing the instruments are depicted. The history of Longinus crosses is closely bound up with the monastic orders that provided spiritual care in the Black Forest: the

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Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from t ...

and Cistercians. The popular missionaries of these religious communities erected

mission cross A mission cross (german: Missionskreuz) commemorates a "people's mission" (german: Volksmissionen) that has taken place in a parish. These were common throughout Europe prior to the 20th century, and the tradition continues. The cross is usually i ...

es, on which the instruments associated with the suffering of Christ were displayed. The links between the Anterior Austrian parts of the Black Forest and the imperial capital of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where the

Holy Lance The Holy Lance, also known as the Lance of Longinus (named after Saint Longinus), the Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Spear, is the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion. Biblical references The l ...

was kept, could have played a role here. The design of these mission crosses was subsequently copied by private wayside and household crosses. The feature of the Longinus crosses, the depiction of the figure of Saint Longinus as a rider beneath the cross, is probably explained by the popularity of the saint as a patron of farmers. On older crosses, his figure is usually shown in the uniform of a Baden dragoon,Althaus (2003), p. 1. often accompanied by the verse ''"Truly, this was the Son of God"'' (from Mark 15:39) on his shield. Many Black Foresters served as cavalry in the wars of the 19th century, due to their familiarity with horses and, on their return from war, made Longinus crosses in memory of their own military service. Little is generally known about the woodcarvers who made the crosses. Stylistically, however, several individual artists can be distinguished and, in some cases, even their names are known. Of great artistic quality are crosses by the so-called "Herrgott Mattheubis", who came from the area of Schonach. Often the figures of Christ were ordered from professional sculptors, whilst the instruments were carved by members of the rural population themselves. Even today Longinus crosses are occasionally made. The older crosses are protected as ''Kleindenkmale'' ("little monuments").

References

Literature

* Friedbert Andernach und Martin Ruch: ''Arma Christi- und Longinuskreuze im Erzbistum Freiburg. Blauer Reiter unterm Kreuz.'' Editions du Signe, Strasbourg, 2001, , 50 Seiten
''Rezension
by Hermann Althaus, Review of Andernach and Ruch, 2003. {{Christian crosses Crosses by form European folk art Black Forest