Nice new things belong in a new house. This also applies to a place of worship. When the Poinger parish church of Seliger Pater Rupert Mayer, which is unusual in every respect – was consecrated in June 2018 – it is not without reason that it has won several awards for its design -, however, architectural considerations meant that neither a permanently installed cross nor a Way of the Cross were planned inside. It took a while for the former to change, but the congregation wanted to have a prayer path for the Easter penitential period directly.
It quickly became clear who should design it: Claudia Zörnweg and Sabine Christofori. The former, who was born in Poinger and had her roots in Lower Bavaria during her legal clerkship, had already made nativity figures for the Christmas season with her friend and colleague. Because these were very popular everywhere, the same design should also be used for the Stations of the Cross: natural materials and no faces.
Special needs school teacher Claudia Zörnweg designed the Stations of the Cross together with Sabine Christofori.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The idea for this had come to the special school teachers much earlier, without any reason, during one of the usually three-week stages of their common Way of St. James, which led them from Poing via Lake Constance to Switzerland and France – the last 300 kilometers are still missing. “Even back then, we kept collecting driftwood because we thought we could do something with it,” reports Claudia Zörnweg. So they took up this idea – first for the nativity figures, then, shortly after Christmas, a second time for the depiction of the Stations of the Cross.
Driftwood from the Lech and Isar pebbles
“In action, what was initially intended as a ‘temporary solution’ has grown and become something much more valuable,” explains Zörnweg. The 42-year-old also has a church teaching license and is the first chairwoman of the parish council. First of all, the two creative people created a concept, then they went in search of the right material. It should fit the situation and come from the region. “We found someone who collected driftwood from the Lech in a huge barn,” says Zoernweg, describing the process of creation. Then she went there with her friend and got inspired.
Simple and yet incredibly touching. The wood emphasizes the posture and the state of mind of the figure.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The quantity taken far exceeded the actual need – this enabled a careful selection. In this way, the impression could be designed individually for each individual figure, and the situation to be depicted could be picked up on in terms of surface and form. A crooked piece of wood made a bowed back, the pain and suffering of the crucified Christ made visible through material that became increasingly brittle and weathered.
The women found the pebble heads on the banks of the Isar around Munich. Here, too, they put a lot of thought into the selection, making sure that the character of the figures was indicated simply by their composition. The stones of the soldiers’ heads are angular and coarse – the head of Mary, on the other hand, is smooth and “soft”.
The figures are clothed with fabrics made from hand-dyed natural linen, as was used historically at the time of Jesus. The branches of the crown of thorns come from a bush that stands next to the entrance of the former Poinger parish church of St. Michael to create a point of reference here.
The crown of thorns is also symbolic. It comes from a bush next to the entrance of the parish church of St. Michael.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
“I’m not really artistically talented myself, so I’m totally fascinated and I think it’s brilliant how you can read a structure from a root, which then later turns into a figure,” comments Pastor Philipp Werner on the works that will be shown from Ash Wednesday will again decorate the chancel of his church. He himself began his service in the church in September 2019, when the Way of the Cross already existed. That’s why he counted the numbers the first time he saw him, says the priest and laughs.
Traditionally there are 14 stations, while in Poing “for various reasons” a conscious decision was made to deviate: ten for Lent and an eleventh with the Risen Lord for Easter – here, by the way, the wood is “sanded, smooth, light and unhurt”. All of this can be found in the brochure that is available in the church and is only intended to provide marginal information.
Pastor Philipp Werner is very enthusiastic about the Way of the Cross. He himself is not really artistically talented, he states.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
Rather, it is a devotional booklet with the help of which the Way of the Cross can be prayed together, but also alone. A verse from the Bible and a quote from the church patron are included for each station. The decision was made because he too “had to bear a lot of crosses in his life” and therefore knew what he was talking about, Claudia Zörnweg tells us. She created the booklet together with the then pastor Christoph Klingan, today Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, and pastoral officer Michael Wendlinger.
The latter, now working as a clinic chaplain in Munich, has the two-minute sessions Meditation Clips on the Way of the Cross, which can be found on the parish website. As one of the first video projects during the first lockdown, there are also various references to the pandemic. “The medium was completely new to us back then, today we would do it differently,” explains Pastor Werner. On the other hand, the clips are a testament to the times and he fully supports them, he adds.
The Way of the Cross inspires him with its versatility. The fact that the characters don’t have any fixed facial features leaves a lot of room for your own interpretation. During his tours with kindergarten children, it is always incredibly exciting what they see. “At one of the stations, a kid said, ‘They’re laughing at Jesus.’ I immediately asked myself: How did the boy recognize that?” Apparently the artists have succeeded in transporting what is meant.
The square-headed soldiers mock Jesus, as a child recognizes.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
They do that in very different ways. At first glance, a face with eyes, a nose, a mouth and even a crown of thorns seems to be recognizable on Veronica’s veil. If you take a closer look, there are nothing but negative terms like exhaustion, fear, rush, envy, lonely, powerless, crying. “They are connected to the issue at hand and can also be a mirror for the viewer,” Werner explains. His favorite station is the one right next to the tabernacle where the Way of the Cross starts. “I explain to the children: Here you see a king with a beautiful cloak, but without a country and without power. He has a crown, but it hurts.”
And so the sculptures, created in the hobby workshop in the basement of the Christofori family’s house in Taufkirchen, have an incredible depth in their simple appearance. They are definitely anything but a “temporary solution”. That’s how the members of the congregation see it, who repeatedly state that they are “very touched”, as Claudia Zörnweg knows. This also applies to the numerous visitors, some of whom only visit the church to admire the Way of the Cross.
Of course you can also “complete” the stations together or alone, i.e. stop there with short prayers and think about what is happening. Pastor Werner says about this form of devotion, which lasts about 35 minutes, that a connection can be made to various occasions in one’s own life and one has the opportunity to pray at the individual stations for people who have experienced a similar fate.
During Lent, the Stations of the Cross are alternated once a week in the Old Parish Church of St. Michael and the Parish Church of Sel. Fr. Rupert Mayer prayed. The exact dates can be found online side of the parish under “News”.