The Hülfensberg (called Stuffenberg in the Middle Ages) is a 448 m high, heavily wooded mountain in the Geismar municipality in the Eichsfeld district , Thuringia , Germany . The mountain has been a pilgrimage site since the late Middle Ages, and on its summit are a church containing a 12th-century crucifix , a Franciscan friary, a chapel dedicated to Saint Boniface , and a large free-standing cross.
21-469: The medieval name for the mountain was Stuffenberg , from which the supposed Germanic god Stuffo derives his name. According to some sources the name was changed in the 14th century (or around 1400) because of a famous crucifix in the church, the Hülfenskreuz ; another etymology for the modern name was given in 1575, based on the legend that Boniface had defeated an army of unbelievers on the mountain, which
42-494: A crown. A renovation in 1850 reconnected the legs with the cross. While the 12th-century origin of the cross is oft-repeated, Georg Dehio 's Handbuch der deutschen kunstdenkmäler states that it may well be a later imitation. The crucifix is placed on a red background covered with gold stars. The frame bears a motto in Latin, Salve Crux Pretiosa (Hail, precious cross). According to the local Franciscans, occasionally miracles happen on
63-702: A dozen mountains of a similar name in Hesse alone ( stouf meaning something like "sharp mountain peak"). The source for the latter designation comes from the 1602 Historia S. Bonifacii by Johannes Letzner , who claims that after Boniface destroyed the Donar Oak near Geismar (now in Fritzlar , Hesse ) he traveled to the Stuffenberg in Eichsfeld, where the god Stuffo was worshiped by the local population. Boniface fought and defeated
84-806: A god through which a demon called Stauff spoke, and at the mountain he defeated an army of unbelievers, which is why he named the mountain Hülfensberg"). A nineteenth-century Eichsfeld historian, Dr. Konrad Zehrt, combines the Donar Oak and the Stuffo accounts, and locates them both on the Hülfensberg. Various etymologies were offered for the name, including derivation from the Middle High German word sûfen ("drinking to excess"), which led to Stuffo being associated with drunkenness. Graf's Gardenstone , which accepts Stuffo's existence, lists Becher ("drinking cup") as
105-600: A kilometer from the border , on the eastern side, meaning that opportunities for pilgrimage were restricted to a small number of people. According to Father Heribert (one of the Franciscan friars, 2010), attendance dropped by two-thirds in 1953, the year after the Hülfensberg was placed inside the expanded and protected border area. Permission for visits to the mountain was usually only granted to locals; all others interested in pilgrimage had to request permission, and half were denied. As of 2010, some 250 pilgrims attend Sunday mass in
126-1245: A possible etymology. However, as early as 1802, Eichsfeld historian Johann Vinzenz Wolf had stated that "seine Gottheit hat Stuffo der falschen Deutung des Wortes Stuffenberg zu verdanken" ("Stuffo owes his divinity to a false interpretation of the name Stuffenberg"). Genex Look for Genex on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Genex in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use
147-668: A provisional church. During the Kulturkampf , the monastery was forced to close for twelve years. When in May 1952 the East-German government strengthened the nearby border and its Sperrzone (which placed the Hülfensberg inside the protected zone), the monastery and the church suffered a steep drop in attendance. As of 2011, four Franciscans live in the monastery, which belongs to the German Franciscan province of St. Elisabeth , whose seat
168-629: Is dated 30 May 1352; at this time the Hülfensberg belonged to the St. Martin monastery in Heilbad Heiligenstadt , which in turn handed over the patronage to the Cistercian monastery of Anrode in 1357. Pilgrimages to the Hülfenskreuz , found at the church's Gnadenaltar , started from Anrode. In 1583 the area and its church were transferred to the Archbishopric of Mainz , and remained Catholic during
189-503: Is in Munich . Konrad Martin , Bishop of Paderborn from 1856 to 1875, was born in nearby Geismar. In his honor, a steel cross was erected on top of the Hülfensberg and dedicated on 7 August 1933. The cross is 18.60 m (61.0 ft) tall. It was taken down in 1990, restored and put back up in May 1991. In March 1990, after the Unification of Germany , a plaque was dedicated at the foot of
210-615: The Protestant Reformation . In the course of time, the St. Salvator church was expanded and renovated a number of times, most notably during the Baroque era. In 1810, the Anrode monastery was dissolved by Jérôme Bonaparte and sold, with all its possessions, to Franz Just Wedemeyer, of the Wedemeyer family , making the Hülfensberg private property. Eleven years later, Wedemeyer gave the top of
231-460: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Genex " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for
SECTION 10
#1732858139810252-472: The church, and 1000 to 2000 people participate in each of the four major pilgrimages per year. The focal point of pilgrimage on the Hülfensberg is the Hülfenskreuz , a 12th-century Romanesque crucifix. It is one of the most popular pieces of sacral art in the Erfurt diocese as well as one of the most important. The wooden sculpture is of Christ as a king looking straight ahead (in a "strong frontality"), wearing
273-426: The cross to remember the "victims of the fascist and stalinist dictatorship". Stuffo Stuffo is the name of a supposed Germanic god , who originates from various late medieval legends from Germany related to Saint Boniface . Stuffo first appears in a few late medieval/early modern Bonifacian legends. A 1756 image of the god being overthrown by the saint is found in the village of Küllstedt . The legend
294-909: The god, who fell into a hole, still called "Stuffo's hole," a story retold by Johann Nepomuk Seppin Die Religion der alten Deutschen (1890). Afterward, Boniface turned the pagan place of worship into a church in which he placed a priest to teach Christianity to the locals. Later versions expand on the account, conflating it with popular myth about Charlemagne; Erfurt bishop Nikolaus Elgard wrote in 1575 that "der heilige Bonifatius dort ein Götzenbild, durch das ein Dämon redete mit Namen Stauff, zerstört und bei dem Berge ein Heer der Ungläubigen geschlagen habe. Darum nannte er den Berg Hülfensberg ( Inde salvatus salvatoris montem vocavit )" ("there, Saint Boniface destroyed an image of
315-516: The local place names Wanfried , Frieda (in Meinhard) , Schwebda (likewise in Meinhard), and Aue (in Wanfried). Franciscans founded a monastery (the oldest in the Eichsfeld area), also named Hülfensberg, on top of the mountain; on 16 April 1860, two priests and two lay brothers dedicated the monastery—originally, these were to found a new sanctuary at Klüschen Hagis , with the Hülfensberg being nothing but
336-461: The mountain, with its church, to the bishop. In 1890, the church was again expanded, in a neo-Gothic style , by Franciscan architect Paschalis Gratze . The original Boniface chapel, adjacent to the church, was torn down and rebuilt on a different location; the foundation of the old chapel was the base for the new apse , with altar and choir . In 1984, while the church was located in East-Germany,
357-494: The proximity of the village Geismar, a place mentioned in the Boniface vitae —but, scholars agree now, this is in reference to another Geismar, now a part of Fritzlar in northern Hesse . Another legend says that Boniface stood on the top of the Hülfensberg and said, Wann wird endlich Frieden schweben über dieser schönen Aue ("when will peace at last hover over this lovely forest?"). Folk etymology derived from his supposed words
378-458: The roof on a church tower was renovated with materials paid for in West-German money through Genex , the East-German commercial exchange. Next to the church is a chapel dedicated to Saint Boniface , built in 1903 on the foundations of an earlier chapel. According to local legend, this is where Boniface cut down a Donar Oak , a sacred, pagan tree, in the early 8th century. This legend is based on
399-405: The site. On top of the Hülfensberg is the St. Salvator church, which was built circa 1360–1367 as a sanctuary , on the remains of an older church (on the south side of the current church, next to the sacristy ), dated circa 1000. The oldest document pertaining to the Hülfensberg is a papal deed from 1351, which names the parish St. Salvator auf dem Stuffenberg . A later deed naming the location
420-511: Was subsequently named Hülfensberg ( helfen : to help) in reference to divine help . The Hülfensberg has been a pilgrimage site since the late Middle Ages, and at one point was one of the seven most popular such sites in Germany; the goal of these pilgrimages was a 12th-century crucifix. Today pilgrimages occur throughout the year. During the East-West division of Germany , the Hülfensberg was less than
441-665: Was taken up by German Romanticism in the 18th and 19th centuries, which saw in Stuffo even a legendary origin for noble families like the Stauffenbergs . Such etymologies and myths of origin are no longer accepted. Two mountain-top locations have been proposed as sites of worship for Stuffo: the Staufenberg near Gießen , in Hesse ; and the Stuffenberg, now Hülfensberg , in the Eichsfeld district , Thuringia . At any rate, there are over half
SECTION 20
#1732858139810#809190