Roman Catholic Parish Church of St. John the Evangelist, Interior Views @museum.de

F: The church’s contemporary appearance continues inside the building. But what’s impressive here is the contrast between modern design and historical elements. All the artworks we’ll be discussing will also appear on your screen.

M: For a Roman Catholic church, the interior is very austere. The large Gothic crucifix with a Christ figure from the Ulm School dates to the middle of the 15th century. It spent hundreds of years in a Franciscan monastery in Tyrol and later hung on the wall of a farm. Now, it adorns our church.

F: Another extraordinary – and exceptionally beautiful – work of art is this Gothic Madonna, which once stood in the town’s funeral chapel. Mary supports the infant Jesus on one arm as she stands poised on a crescent moon. This type of Marian sculpture is called a “Madonna on the Crescent Moon”. There’s a similar Madonna, what you might call this one’s "twin sister", in the Protestant fortified church in the nearby hamlet of Wildentierbach. It’s thought both were created hundreds of years ago by an itinerant woodcarver. But... what’s the origin of the Madonna on the Crescent Moon?

M: Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. […]
And she gave birth to a child, a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron sceptre. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne".

F: The beginning of the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation – the Apocalypse. There follows the Last Judgment, the fall of the Whore of Babylon and the resurrection of the dead. It ends with a radiant city, the new, Heavenly Jerusalem with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels...…

M: … and if you turn to your right, you’ll see those twelve gates – albeit in stylised form. The ornate floor-to-ceiling window with its brightly coloured stained glass panels represents the twelve gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem. The great promise, as envisioned by the glass artist Hans Günther Schmidt.

F: The Stations of the Cross, in a side chapel called the Chapel of the Holy Blood, have also been given a contemporary treatment. The 14 stations of Christ’s Passion were sculpted in clay by the contemporary sculptor Edith Peres-Lethmate from the city of Koblenz.

M: Feel free to stay as long as you like and take in the solemn atmosphere of the church’s interior before you continue your walk. Opposite the church is the municipal media library, KULT. During opening hours, you’re welcome to go inside. There’s a library on the ground floor, while the upper floor hosts the Zeppelin Museum, the Gottlob-Haag Cabinet and the Friedrich Witt exhibit. And if you’re wondering who those people are? Head on over there and find out.

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Source: New Jerusalemer Bible