Visiting Bad Mergentheim (Germany) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Bad Mergentheim is a must-see destination for lovers of iconography developed by the early Christian military and charitable orders in the Holy Land. This site “was chosen as headquarters for the Knights of the Teutonic Order in the sixteenth century” according to the French guide Michelin.
The Teutonic Order in the Holy Land was developed to protect and profit from the pilgrims to Jerusalem. The Teutonic Order became a religious order in 1198 after its knights came back to Germany following the failure of the last crusade to secure Jerusalem.
The Teutonic Order has both Catholic and Protestant members, reflecting the religious divide in contemporary Germany. The order was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806 and later reconstituted as a religious and charitable institution in Vienna.
Hitler outlawed the Teutonic Order in Germany in 1938, because it was loyal to the papacy and not to him. However, Hitler retained the powerful and emotive icons of the Teutonic Order for use by the Nazi party. Perhaps Nazi adoption of the symbols of this order may have made Nazism more palatable to everyday Germans, who associated the order with its charitable works.
While my husband toured the Teutonic Order’s museum, which is housed in a twelfth century castle, I sat in the castle’s courtyard as a bell concert was going on in the castle church. I made sketches of signs and symbols in the castle’s courtyard.
After the bell concert, a group of children came into the courtyard and played a cute game of some sort of tag called “Moustache.” Safety was tagging the church. Crows flew around the church spire, making shadows every now and then.
After the swastika, the iron cross is the icon most associated with the Nazi party. This is an evil use of an icon devoted to the Virgin Mary, but it does not need to be the eternal association of this icon.
In fact, I think Germans should proudly display this icon, with its original form with the white background around it. When the black cross is displayed with its white background, the icon works benevolently.
In the book Deutscher Orden 1190-2000: Ein Führer durch das Deutschordenmuseum im Bad Morgentheim (Spurbuchverlag, 2004) by Hg. Von Maikie Trentin and Udo Arnold, which is only available in German, the authors state that the black cross on a white background represents Jerusalem and refers to the Virgin Mary. Some icons may represent the dimensions of towns, but in the case of what is called the “Hochmeisterkreuz (Grand Master’s Cross)” I think color and not sacred geometry is at work.
White is a reference to the purity of the Virgin Mary, which Deutsche Orden 1190 – 2000 also says refers to lilies associated with the Virgin Mary as well. This color association is not innate, but it is taught so early to Catholic and Orthodox children that it becomes culturally innate.
Black is what I would call an innate color reference, because our brains associate black with soil without hardly thinking about it. Soil gives life through food just like a good mother and probably explains why we call the ground beneath our feet “Mother Earth.”
Both the cross, which became associated with Christianity, and the white field surrounding the black cross make strong associations with caring motherhood. The Nazi party certainly wanted to acquire the devotion that mothers have, and that is why they adopted the Hochmeisterkreuz of the Teutonic Knights.
The difference between innate and culturally acquired color associations explains why the Nazis dropped the white background. Culturally acquired color associations such as white with the Virgin Mary are not as strong as innate color associations such as the black of soil that comes from nature.
Did the Nazis know this when they adopted just the black cross? Most probably. German art historians pioneered the study of the hieratic and highly iconic work of prehistory. They appear to have been especially familiar with the artwork of the militaristic Akkadians.
In Bad Mergentheim, I liked seeing how contemporary Germans are repossessing the Hochmeisterkreuz (Hochmeistercross). This April (2011), throngs of Germans were visiting this place to understand the good and bad of the Teutonic Order. One café, in particular, called the Café in the Schlossgarten makes a pastry featuring little Hochmeisterkreuz decorations that you can enjoy after visiting the museum.
Grandparents and parents can easily bring their children and grandchildren to a fun outing in Bad Mergentheim and finish visiting the museum and grounds with cake.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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