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spring – ver

The hidden message

Leaving stones as a symbolic sign at certain places has been cultivated as a ritual in many cultural circles since time immemorial. The own arrival or the leaving of a certain place is perpetuated and consciously or unconsciously an individual message is connected with it, which is supposed to work in secret.

This phenomenon, which also has a great tradition on the Way of Saint James in Galicia, was the theme of the 2006 Spring Event and was to extend throughout the calendar year 2006...

The floor picture

Already in April 2006, disabled people who are involved in the work area of Lebenshilfe at Wintringer farm and who closely followed the process of repairing the "chapel" were introduced to this ritual and its background on site. The caregivers and employees of the Wintringer farm were also invited. Together the idea was born to deposit a picture on the floor of the "chapel" with selected stones: The floor picture.

The day before the event, all participants began depositing their individually collected stones in a framed segment on the floor of the Wintringer Chapel. With deliberation, one after the other, everyone looked for a place for their stone.

On May 1, 2006, visitors to the spring event were invited all day to participate and integrate their message into the floor installation, which had already begun, by bringing a stone. Over the course of the day, the floor painting filled with stones brought by visitors of all ages. The process was accompanied by "sound paintings" by Astrid Naegele (solo violoncello).

The rich stone deposits in the fields of the Upper Saar, through whose landscape a route of the Way of St. James winds past the Wintringer Chapel in the direction of Santiago de Compostela, sometimes serve as a reservoir of finds. Overall, it was about the visualization of a structure on the stone floor of the Wintringer Chapel through the creative power of each individual who leaves a message with his stone mark and thus adds something personal to the place. This has also happened again and again since the creation of this medieval building in the most diverse layers of time with different means of expression.

The waymark

The following morning, all the deposited stones were piled up next to the driveway of the Wintringer farm.

In the meantime, the Wintringer farm has erected a wooden pole here with a handmade iron cross by the art locksmith Wolfgang Raber. Many people who visit or hike past the farm and the "chapel" now add their stones.