Alcove_Madonna @museum.de

F: The 1st of March 1945. A squadron of the US Air Force had taken off from a base in England. After heading to a staging area over the city of Northampton, it continued across the English Channel. Finally, the aircraft set course for Bruchsal.

M: The air raid started at 1:53 p.m. Some 900 high explosive bombs were dropped on the town, followed by more than 49,000 incendiary bombs. After 42 minutes, it was all over. A thousand people lost their lives in the attack. Bruchsal itself was 90 per cent destroyed.

F: The inn "Zum Rappen" on Kaiserstraße was one of the buildings that were badly damaged. Only part of the façade remained standing. But miraculously, it was exactly the section that included a small alcove containing the Madonna and Child, which remained largely unscathed.

M: In February 1946, the art teacher and restorer Günther Lache came across the statue and wanted to rescue it. He wanted to take the Madonna down and secure it before the building was finally demolished. Of course, with the permission of the then owners, a brewery.

F: Contrary to expectations, the Madonna wasn't made of stone, but of wood, probably cherrywood. Originally, the figure was coated with a thick layer of oil paint, presumably intended to make the wood weatherproof.