Holy Monday

Germany fully back to work and I'm back to trying to photograph something related to religion every Monday. 

The parish council published the annual population figures ast at 31.12.14 last week. This helps to show that my Blips are not biased, there simply isn't much choice!
Attenhausen Total: 712
Roman Catholic: 565
Protestant: 56
Others: 91 this includes "no religion"

One is required by law to state religion or to opt out. This is mainly for tax reasons as one has to pay 7% of one's income tax to "Church tax" which is then distributed to the churches according to number of inhabitants. The numbers are also the basis on which public holidays apply in the parish/county. Many opted out in the last years (ie they then don't have to pay the tax) especially following the child misuse cases and the various debates over the roman catholic doctrine. I suspect almost all the 91 "Others" are people who have opted out.

Today we went for a new walk between Sontheim and a hamlet called Rufen which belongs to a neighbouring parish. Afterwards visited the building called Ried Chapel built in 1895 to replace a smaller chapel built by the same person in 1877 as thanks for her husband's safe return from the Franco Prussian war of 1870/1.

More photos and a full english translation of a pamphlet on the Madonna and the chapel on Flickr

Inside the four round windows were made to remember a member of the family who died at an early age in 1925. She was in the service of a Ketcham family in New York and one of the windows was donated by them. The chapel is still owned by a family trust and voluntarily maintained by two families in the village.

Door is open 24/7 despite the very isolated position, a metal grille protecting the statues from being stolen.

The chapel used to house a wood carving of a Madonna from 1877 to 1913. The carving had been discovered in an attic in the village in 1870. Nothing known about it. In 1913, the chapel owner, a bit short of cash sold the "nice" carving to a Munich art dealer and it ended up in Berlin and now stands in the State Bode Museum there, a priceless example of the late Gothic style! Seems that when the village church was revamped  in 1762, the gothic style had to make way for the trendy baroque and thus the figure landed in the attic.

Before it was sold in 1913 a copy was made and kept in the Ried chapel until 1975 when it was moved to the Sontheim parish church for security reasons.


Weather continues it's roller coaster ride. According to a weather report today, Saturday's +20°C in a part of Bavaria in the alps was the warmest January day recorded anywhere in Germany since records began!

Our two Arabs are getting excited about sand covered alps and I have just registered a new Company "Schorschi's Hannibal Elephant Alp Crossing Co. Ltd GmbH". Discount's applicable for a limited time for early bookers and all you lucky Blipers are getting to hear this first. Planned first crossing January 2025. Watch this space or perhaps see my planned adverts on www.googleamazonfacebookblipfoto.com/universe