100-year-old christmas crib at Radolfzell Cathedral

The more than 100-year-old christmas crib, featuring large figures, is set up every year in the "Hausherrenkapelle" in the northern aisle of the cathedral. In doing so, it reflects the meaning of the pilgrimage to the Householder’s Altar (Hausherrenaltar): Just as the patron saints of Radolfzell, the Holy Householders, venerate the Baby Jesus, so too do the shepherds in the stable in Bethlehem. The late Baroque ensemble thus gains a lively dimension, a kind of spiritual drama, and is supplemented by the Three Wise Men starting on January 6. According to tradition, the Christmas season and the nativity season conclude on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas, February 2) with the blessing of the candles. In addition, visitors to the cathedral will find four further Christmas depictions: a medallion on the Rosary Altar from 1632/40, the old high altarpiece on the choir wall by Johann Georg Glückher from 1694, as well as on the high altar from 1897 (left panel, viewed from the front) featuring a cityscape backdrop against which the Nativity of the Child of Bethlehem takes place, and on the left wing, a bas-relief depicting the Adoration of the Magi. Finally, in 1934, a Christmas scene was painted in a Baroque cartouche beneath the organ loft, near the main entrance.