Kreuz von Saarburg

About

The Cross of Saarburg German: Kreuz von Saarburg) is a field cross in Buhl-Lorraine, which became a popular postcard and flag motif because of its special history during the First World War.

Story: As the inscription on the basis indicators, the cross was donated in 1875 by Nicolaus Schiwi and Margarete Schiwi (née Fillinger), who lived in Buhl/Bühl. Until the outbreak of the First World War, it was just one of many wayside crosses in Lorraine. It is located on the road from Buhl to Saarburg (now Route départementale No. 96). As part of the Battle of Lorraine, the Battle of Saarburg took place here in August 1914. French troops had advanced into what was then German territory on this sector of the front and were repulsed with heavy cases. During this fighting, on 20 August 1914, a grenade or rather a shrapnel hit the drilled wayside cross. The wooden cross made of massive beams was completely torn away. Only the stone figure of the Savior maintained upright and intact on its base. It did, however, have light support in the form of a metal rod on the back, without this has been airbrushed out in most images. From the very beginning, the standing...