Coesfeld Cross

The torso, which was made in the 14th century, was carved by an unknown artist from walnut wood; from a single trunk of at least 48 centimetres in diameter.

The present smooth surface was originally embellished with wounds and veins made of filler and had a more sculpted appearance as well as being painted.

For the various festivals known as Kreuztrachten, streets and houses along the route of the procession are decorated with flags and pennants, not dissimilar to the custom in other Roman Catholic regions.

Even in the religious turmoil of the 16th century reform-minded pastors were unable to prevent ordinary folk from continuing to venerate the cross.

The initial decline in its ritual worship began with the attacks of Spanish and Dutch mercenaries on the western Münsterland during the time of the Eighty Years' War and consequent plundering and impoverishment of the population.

Only a year later, it was returned into the hands of the townsfolk of the Coesfeld who thenceforth hid the cross in the attic of a house on the market square.