Predigtsäule

The Predigtsäule stands in Regensburg’s northern park, near the railway station. It is a tall stone cross with four sides, each divided into six panels filled with 24 carved religious scenes. The monument rises from a cross-shaped base with steps leading up to the shaft, where figures of the crucified Christ, Mary and John are set above scenes of the Last Judgement. The column’s name comes from a legend recorded by a monk of Schottenkloster St Peter. It tells how Charlemagne won a battle against pagan Hungarians near Regensburg after praying for divine help. According to the tale, 30,000 Christian dead were buried on the nearby hill, later called the Ziegetsberg. The story helped inspire the shift from a wooden to a stone column in the late 13th or early 14th century. Visitors find the reliefs arranged in tiers: at the top, angels blow trumpets for the Last Judgement while Christ sits in judgement; below are the twelve apostles; and at the bottom, Elias stands on a wagon flanked by embracing figures that symbolise reconciliation. Other panels show a lion for the Antichrist, kneeling believers, an angel separating good from evil, and figures rising from graves. The cross once marked the site of a medieval church fair with weeks of markets and court hearings, adding a civic meaning to its religious purpose.