nader - Oct 5, 2005 5:56 pm - Voted 10/10
Summit crossWhere did the tradition of putting crosses on European summits come from? Is that a religious thing?
Gangolf Haub - Oct 5, 2005 6:42 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Summit crossIs it a religious thing? Certainly! Somehow in the old tomes crosses were put up at each remarkable location, starting from simple crossroads. People where awed by anything in nature - so they put up a cross. Often it was superstition - put up a cross and evil will be banned. And often the mountains were seen as the root for evil, especially by the locals. They witnessed avalanches, landslides, heavy weather around the mountains and connected this to evil spirits. Mountain names often reflect these beliefs (like in Böses Weibele (Evil Woman = witch) or Wilde Sender. The crosses were put up to keep a tab on these spirits. "Where there is something holy - the evil spirits have a hard time" - that's how the reasoning went.
Today (and for a long time already) crosses on summits are more of a summit marker than anything religious anymore. Often artists create a cross to be put up on a summit, mainly for artistic reasons - though I'm sure they do feel the religious side.
nader - Oct 6, 2005 9:26 am - Voted 10/10
Re: Summit crossThanks.
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