A wayside shrine, is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mountain. They have been a feature of many cultures, including Catholic Europe. Some commemorate a specific incident near the place – either a death in an accident or an escape from harm – but others are erected for a variety of motives by persons, parishes or other bodies. Some mark parish or other boundaries, such as the edge or a landholding, or have a function as convenient markers for travellers to find their way. The very grand medieval English Eleanor crosses were erected by her husband to commemorate the nightly resting places of the journey made by the body of Queen Eleanor of Castile as it returned to London in the 1290s. Some make it clear by an inscription or notice that a specific dead person is commemorated, but most do not.
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The pre-Christian cultures of Europe had similar shrines of various types; many runestones may have fallen into this category, though they are often in the nature of a memorial to a dead person. Few Christian shrines survive in predominantly Protestant countries, but they remain common in many parts of Catholic and Orthodox Europe, often being repaired or replaced as they fall into disrepair, and relocated as roads are moved or widened. The most common subjects are a plain cross or a crucifix, or an image of the Virgin Mary, but saints or other scenes may also be shown. The surviving large stone high crosses of Celtic Christianity, and the related stone Anglo-Saxon crosses (mostly damaged or destroyed after the Protestant Reformation) are sometimes outside churches, but often not, and these may have functioned as preaching crosses, or in some cases just been wayside shrines. The calvaires of Brittany in France, are especially large stone shrines showing the Crucifixion, but these are typically in villages.
Bildstock is the German term, and in Austria and Southern Germany Marterl, Helgenstöckli or Wegstock. Shrines are common in Austria and Southern Germany but also occur in Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
A Bildstock normally resembles a pole or a pillar, made either of wood or of masonry, and is sometimes capped with a roof[1]. In a setting resembling a tabernacle, there is usually a picture or a figure of Christ or a saint. For this reason, flowers or prayer candles are often placed on or at the foot of the Bildstock.
Other shrines are decorated with reliefs or with religious statues. Some feature a small kneeling platform, so that the faithful may pray in front of the image.
In Germany, they are most common in Franconia, in the Catholic parts of Baden, Swabia, in the Alpine regions and Catholic areas of the historical region of Eichsfeld and in Upper Lusatia. In Austria, they are to be found in the Alpine regions, as well as in great numbers in the Weinviertel, the Mühlviertel and in the Waldviertel. There are also similar structures in the South Bohemian Region and the South Moravian Region.
In the Eifel in particular, Bildstöcke that consist of a pillar with a niche for a depiction of a saint are known as Schöpflöffel (German for a ladle or serving spoon). Some of these icons date from the Late Middle Ages, but for the most part were put up in the 16th century.
Near Arnstadt in Thuringia, there is a medieval Bildstock that is over two metres tall and that boasts two niches. According to a legend recorded by Ludwig Bechstein, this Bildstock was once a giant’s spoon, and it is therefore known as such - Riesenlöffel.
Bildstöcke were often erected to honour the memory of the victim of an accident, which explains their prevalence near roads and paths; in Carinthia for example, they often stand at crossroads. They were also erected along old pilgrim routes, such as the Via Sacra that leads from Vienna to Mariazell. Other icons commemorate the victims of the plague. Bildstöcke and calvaries are furthermore frequently noted on maps and therefore represent important orientation aids.
The Austrian/south German designation Marterl hearkens back to the Greek martyros, martyr.