Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians were filled with the desire to be as close as possible to the place of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those who were able to do so made their way to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem. And wherever possible, replicas of the Holy Sepulchre created a link to the central history of the Christian faith.
The Complex, about 1710
The Görlitz Holy Sepulchre is an impressive testimony of this late medieval piety. It is part of a medieval place of pilgrimage and devotion laid out under the open sky in the middle of a garden. The entire complex, consisting of the Double Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Ointment House and the Sepulchral Chapel, is a replica of the most important parts of the large Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a place of remembrance of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Georg Emmerich (1422 - 1507)
The conception of the complex is due to the later mayor of Görlitz Georg Emmerich, who laid the foundation stone in 1465 after his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the foundation of a first chapel to the Holy Cross. The chapels were built between 1481 and 1504.
Jesusbäckerei (Jesus bakery)
The Way of the Cross
This unique complex forms the conclusion of a Way of the Cross from the Church of St. Peter and Paul, the largest five-aisled Gothic hall church in Saxony (1423 - 1497). This begins at the south portal of the church, from the so-called Richthaus des Pilatus. It leads on the Via Dolorosa of Görlitz past the "Jesusbäcker" (Jesus baker) by the suburb "Nikolaivorstadt" up to the holy grave. Like its Jerusalem model, the Way of the Cross counts just under 1000 steps.
Burial chapel, Holy Sepulchre
With this ensemble of church St. Peter and Paul, Way of the Cross and Holy Sepulchre, the town of Görlitz possesses a testimony of late medieval piety and landscape architecture of European rank. Guided tours, lectures, the Way of the Cross on Good Friday and the Easter Resurrection celebration convey the biblical context and invite visitors to meditate and reflect.
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