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The Beheaded Jesus

1 - Anyone visiting Basel will surely also take a look at the famous Basel Minster. It is one of the city's main attractions and a landmark. The two church towers define the city skyline. Particularly striking are the red sandstone masonry and the colourful roof tiles, known as beavertails.

2 - A minster is a church that was originally part of a monastery. Minsters are generally large churches with a special significance and history. Basel Minster took almost 500 years to build. It was not completed until around 1500, and was adorned with many precious paintings and statues. Originally a Catholic bishop’s church, it now belongs to the Protestant Reformed congregation.

3 - Soon after it was completed, the Reformation—the renewal of the Church—also began in Switzerland. While many people in Germany turned to the teachings of Martin Luther, the views of the reformers Jean Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli prevailed in Switzerland. One of their reforms was to ban depictions of God or Jesus, the Son of God, in paintings and statues, because they went against one of the Ten Commandments.

4 - The following happened in Basel: At around 1 p.m. on February 9, 1529, a group of 40 armed men entered the cathedral. An altarpiece was destroyed. The armed men then left the church to get reinforcements. The priests locked the gates. But the group of armed men, now numbering 200, forced their way back in. Crucifixes, images of Mary and depictions of saints were smashed and trampled, and altars were ransacked. Other churches in Basel were also damaged.

5 - The famous scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam witnessed the event that has since been known as the Iconoclasm. He wrote: “Not a single statue was left intact, whether in the churches, the vestibules, the cloisters or the monasteries. Every painted image was covered with a coat of whitewash; anything flammable was thrown onto the pyre, and anything that wasn’t was smashed to pieces. Neither value nor artistry could save anything from destruction.”

6 - Today, little remains to remind us of these events. But, for example, a richly decorated tomb depicting the crucifixion of Christ can be found in a cloister. The head has been cut off the figure of Jesus on the cross. And between the two doors of the main portal stands a column. It once held a statue of the Virgin Mary. Today, it stands empty.

7 - Some of the damage caused by the iconoclasm was later undone. Many images inside and on the exterior walls of the cathedral were restored, and painted-over images were uncovered. Stained-glass windows on the exterior walls, installed in the mid-19th century, depict the apostles and Jesus Christ.

The towers of Basel Minster define the city skyline

Inside Basel Minster

The colourful roof tiles

A depiction of Saint Martin has been preserved on the outside façade

A statue of the Virgin Mary once stood on the column between the two doors

This portal of a side chapel is called the Gallus Portal. It is decorated with depictions of scenes from the Bible

This depiction of Christ with the angels of the Last Judgment on the south façade was created in 1857 - Images: Hamsterkiste