How should one deal with anti-Jewish abusive plastics on churches? In the case of the Wittenberg “Judensau” the parish church council has now come out in favor of keeping it. The site of the reminder should be preserved as a whole.
In the dispute over the anti-Jewish insulting relief on the Wittenberg town church, the parish church council (GKR) spoke out in favor of preserving the sculpture. The site of the reminder should be preserved as a whole, said Jörg Bielig, chairman of the GKR. The decision in the city parish was made “unanimously”, said Pastor Matthias Keilholz of the dpa.
The relief, which historians say was created in the Middle Ages, has long been a source of debate. It shows a sow whose teats are being suckled by two people who are supposed to be identified as Jews by their pointed hats. A figure believed to be a rabbi raises the animal’s tail and looks into the anus. In the Jewish faith, pigs are considered unclean. The site of the “Judensau” abusive relief is now to be further developed as an overall ensemble on site, with “permanent contextualisation” and an educational concept, according to the GKR.
That means you want to talk to people more intensively, impart knowledge, explain history. In addition, the explanatory text for the relief is to be revised. The core is the request for forgiveness to the Jewish people. Martin Luther (1483-1546) preached in the town church, which is considered the “mother church of the Reformation”. Luther was also criticized for his anti-Semitic statements.