Shaft cross

A shaft cross (German: Schaftkreuz) is a specific type of Latin or high cross named after its method of construction. The majority of these external monuments consist of the cross or crucifix itself, usually made of stone (often sandstone), occasionally of wood or, more rarely, of metal, above a shaft (pillar or column), almost always of stone, which is fixed to a foundation or base.

They may take various forms from a plain cross formed from two beams, a wayside shrine, a complex cross (Gliederkreuz) or a niche cross (Nischenkreuz) – but may also have elements of the variations, for example a niche in the upright post of the cross.^[1] It is thus a more elaborate and usually higher form of the simple stone cross. Shaft crosses are mostly found as wayside crosses or occasionally by churches or on cemeteries in predominantly Roman Catholic regions such as the Rhineland of Germany.

References

1. ↑ Information and illustrations on the website of the Seelsorgebereich Euskirchen-Erftmühlenbach in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne

Christian crosses Crosses by form Basalt cross Crucifix Forked cross High cross Latin cross Longinus cross Shaft cross Stone cross Crosses by function Conciliation cross Market cross Mercat cross Memorial cross Mission cross Plague cross Rood Summit cross Triumphal cross Wayside cross Crosses by culture Celtic cross Coptic cross