Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: prosthesis

Slavic Obodrites lived in the area, where Wismar is now, until the end of the 12th century. The exact date of the city's foundation is not clear, it had civic rights already in 1229 when migrants from Holstein and Westphalia settled here. The "Lübsches Stadtrecht" (town law) was confirmed in 1266. In 1259 Wismar joined a defensive agreement with Lübeck and Rostock, in order to counter the numerous Baltic pirates. Subsequently, more cities would agree to cooperate as commerce and trade were increasingly coordinated and regulated. These policies would provide the basis for the development of the "Hanseatic League". By the 13th and 14th centuries, Wismar had grown into a flourishing Hanseatic trading hub. In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered the city, and the Swedish Crown received in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 after the end of the Thirty Years' War. Swedish rule over Wismar ended de facto in 1803 when Sweden pledged the city to the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 99 years. Formally, Wismar reverted to Germany in 1903 and Sweden waived its right to redeem the pledge. Wismar is a typical representative of the Hanseatic League with its city-wide Brick Gothic structures and gabled patrician houses and has alongside the historical old town of Stralsund been declared the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar". The Nicolaikirche (Church St. Nicholas) was built from 1381 until 1487 as a church for sailors and fishermen. St. Nicholas is a fine testaments to mediaeval brick architecture in northern Germany. In 1381, the city council commissioned the master mason Heinrich von Bremen to complete the choir. The consecration of the high altar is documented for 1403. Heinrich von Bremen continued to work until 1415. In 1434 work was carried out on the north aisle and later the south aisle. Under the direction of Peter Stolp and Hermann von Münster in 1459, the work was completed to such an extent that the church could be consecrated. From 1485 to 1487, Hans Mertens built the two upper storeys of the tower, and the spire was added in 1508. In December 1703, a storm destroyed the spire. Its parts smashed through the roof and the vaults of the nave. Many pieces of the interior furnishings were destroyed. Afterwards, the tower received a transverse gable roof and the nave a flat ceiling. The renovation of the furnishings lasted until the second half of the 18th century. It was not until 1867 that a vault was erected again. The air raids during the Second World War caused only minor damage to the church. After the Second World War, the Nikolaikirche was the least damaged of all the large churches in Wismar. Many works of art had been stored away and thus survived the war, but the churches lay in ruins and the important Marienkirche was later blown up. A close look at these carvings on the choir stalls. Below right (not as a rider and no halo) St. Martin (??) cutting his cloak. At his feet a very small beggar kneeling on prostheses. On the right, a large monkey trying to climb the tree. At the foot of the tree a small monkey and two birds. Above right on the tree on the left a goat and on the right a monkey or a woodwose with a club.

In 1043 Hemma of Gurk (canonized in 1938) founded the Benedictine double monastery of Gurk Abbey, where she withdrew during the last years of her life. After Saint Hemma´s death, the abbey was dissolved by the Archbishop of Salzburg, who instead set up the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt in 1072. The "Gurk Cathedral" is a large Romanesque basilica, built 1140 - 1220. The crypt got consecrated already in 1174 and since then hosts the grave of Saint Hemma of Gurk, still a place of pilgrimage. Six such carvings, dated 1500/1510, are located along the nave. They tell the visitors legends and stories connected Hemma of Gurk´s vita. Here it is shown, that after Hemma´s death on the "Feast of Saints Peter and Paul" (29.06.) in 1045 she was buried in the church of Gurk. Many miracles did happen there - and numerous sick and crippled pilgrims headed to the grave.

The former collegiate church Saint-Aignan was built from the early 11th to the early 13th century, so there is a transition from Romanesque to early Gothic style. The church replaced a chapel from the 9th century and was a center of pilgrimage, as the relics of Saint Aignan of Orlean (+ 453) were venerated here. The church was ruined for a long time and got renovated and restored during the 19th century. During the renovation of the nave at least some parts got recreated. Fortunately the ambulatory crypt, the oldest part of the collegiate church Saint-Aignan, got not renovated like the nave. It stayed pretty much intact and has frescoes dating back to the 12th and 13th century. A detail from the left side of the large Christ Pantocrator (see previous upload). Two pilgrims on their way. The person to the right is crippled, he has no legs.

San Pedro de Echano (aka "Ermita de San Pedro de Echano") is not easy to find, as the church is a few kilometers east of Oloriz in the middle of fields and bushland. In medieval times, when the church got erected, there might have been a village or settlement nearby, but nowadays there are no houses near to the church. The place is abandoned. Under the roof of San Pedro de Echano are more than 30 carved corbels. Some of the sculptures are really unusual, but the most impressing is the southern portal of San Pedro de Echano. There are seven archivolts! It is strange, that a small, single nave church got such a large and impressive portal. I connect this to - the pilgrims walking the camino. San Pedro de Echano is about 8kms south of the Via Tolosana/Camino Aragonés that I had just walked. Olcoz and Eunate are only about a two hours walk away. The most interesting archivolt depicts 25 people sitting on a table and having a party (?). The composition reminds strongly on the "Elders of the Apocalypse", but the characters are obviously performing a kind of game. Legs and feet of the partiers visible, as the artist carved on both sides of the archivolt. From this pov it is better visible, that the flautist with the strange hairdo, and the hornblower (right) with the knife, both have the left foot amputated and use prothesises. Crippled persons, who try to make some money by playing instruments, can still be found in many pedestrian areas worldwide. See the previous upload for more medieval prothesises.

San Pedro de Echano (aka "Ermita de San Pedro de Echano") is not easy to find, as the church is a few kilometers east of Oloriz in the middle of fields and bushland. In medieval times, when the church got erected, there might have been a village or settlement nearby, but nowadays there are no houses near to the church. The place is abandoned. Under the roof of San Pedro de Echano are more than 30 carved corbels. Some of the sculptures are really unusual, but the most impressing is the southern portal of San Pedro de Echano. There are seven archivolts! It is strange, that a small, single nave church got such a large and impressive portal. I connect this to - the pilgrims walking the camino. San Pedro de Echano is about 8kms south of the Via Tolosana/Camino Aragonés that I had just walked. Olcoz and Eunate are only about a two hours walk away. The most interesting archivolt depicts 25 people sitting on a table and having a party (?). The composition reminds strongly on the "Elders of the Apocalypse", but the characters are obviously performing a kind of game. Legs and feet of the partiers visible, as the artist carved on both sides of the archivolt. The flautist has a very strange hairdo, but even more remarkabel is that he and the musician to the very left (with a knife) wear - prosthetic legs! Obviously both had lost a foot / part of the shank, that got replaced by a wooden prosthesis.