St. Maria zur Höhe (Soest) – Scheibenkreuz and wall paintings

 Soest is an old city in Germany some 100 km north east of Cologne, that is rich in Churches. in this post we take a closer look at the Sankt maria zur Höhe and its Crucifix and wall paintings.

The church is not so big, and from the outside not immediately drawing attention. it is a so called hall church, with three naves next to eachother and not in the shape of a cross. 

in the right nave we can find the ‘disc-cross’ (scheibenkreuz), it dates from around 1200. and is 3.89meters high and 2.72m wide. originally, there was a corpus on the cross which is now not there anymore

Originally, there was a corpus on the cross which is now not there anymore.  In the middle ages, a disc was a symbol for the cosmos, but it can also symbolise truth. The cross has a theme, the redemption work of Christ, which is illustrated with the help of 8 woodcarved scenes: four medaillons close to the center, represent scenes before the crucifixion, the square ones on the ends, scenes after the crucifixion, completing the redemption.

the bottom 2 medaillons are the entry of Jesus in Jerusalem (right) and jesus teaching in the temple (left)

on top is Jesus and the disciples in the garden of getsemane (left) and the betrayal of Judas (the Judas’ Kiss) (right)

at the bottom of the cross is the burial of Jesus

On the right side of the cross is Jesus descending into hell

on the left is the resuerrection scene with soldiers asleep and the three women meeting an angel at the empty tomb

on top is the ascension

so going up from burial through hell and resurrection to heaven.

two angels with incense ornament the bar of the cross:

the church has also very beautifull wall and ceiling paintings. the paintings in the left and main apsis have a very byzantine feel, knowledge or a school of byzantine painting may have come to Soest after the crusades.

the main apse ceiling shows Mary enthroned surrounded by 2 saints and angels

the left apse ceiling shows the coronation of Mary:

There is another interesting wall painting on the left side of the church. in the picture below the sides of the “chapel” are not visible

on the outside there is two figures (apostles?, while the inside has a central image (though in a bad state) of the crucifixion

The interesting part is, when you get closer and see the paintings on the side walls, they are all on one theme, the resurrection. on top there is an image of the lamb

on both sides next to it there is an image of the risen Christ

below are two scenes, with on the one side the women arriving with annointments and on the other side the angel waiting at the empty tomb

the church is rich in its art, but one would not expect that when entering, so really worth a visit.

In writing this the German wikipedia article was really helpful  (link)

All photographs by me and copyrighted, taken on 24 September 2024