Gerechtigkeitsspirale
| Gerechtigkeitsspirale | |
|---|---|
| Spiral of justice | |
 |
|
| Artist | Erhart Falckener |
| Year | 1510 |
| Type | Wood, relief carved |
| Location | St. Valentin, Kiedrich, Germany |
| 50°02′28″N 8°05′05″E / 50.0412°N 8.0847°ECoordinates: 50°02′28″N 8°05′05″E / 50.0412°N 8.0847°E | |
Gerechtigkeitsspirale (German: "spiral of justice") is a relief carving of a poem at the pilgrimage church of St. Valentin in Kiedrich, in Hesse, Germany. The text is carved in the form of a spiral on the front of one of the pews for the congregation, creating possibly the earliest known shape poem in the German language. The carving is one of several decorative designs on the pews in the church, and was created in 1510 by the master carpenter Erhart Falckener.
The pews, including the spiral of justice, were commissioned by the former minister of Kiedrich, Zweifuss, who also went by the Latin name Bipes. The artist was Erhart Falckener, a master carpenter, who made the relief carving in late Gothic style in 1510. He created a spiral of text surrounded by flower ornaments of acanthus (left) and thistle (right). The tendrils are stylized and include a caricature in the form of a human face in profile, just above and to the right of the last letter of the word "verlorn" (lost). The church and its late Gothic interior have remained intact over the centuries, a very rare case.
The text is carved in German in capital letters, creating in a spiral read from the centre outwards. The height of the letters is 4 centimetres (1.6 in) at the centre, growing to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) at the edges. The original German text, and two possible translations into modern English, read:
DIE GERECHTIKEIT LIT IN GROSER NOT
DIE WARHEIT IST GESCHLAGEN DOT
DER GLAVBEN HAT DEN STRIT VER LORN
DIE FALSCHEIT DIE IST HOCH GEBORN
DAS DVT GOT DEM HERN ZORN
O MENSCH LAS AB
DAS DV NIT WERDES EWIGLICH VERLORN
LOBT GERECHTIKEIT
Justice suffered in great need.
Truth is slain dead.
Faith has lost the battle.
Falsehood is of high birth.
That makes God the Lord angry.
O man, let go
that you may not be lost eternally.
Praise justice.
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Wikipedia