Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Hellmouth

The fortified town of Stendal was founded by the first Brandenburg Margrave Albert the Bear and granted Magdeburg rights about 1160. A deed issued by Emperor Heinrich II in 1022, in which the village appears among the possessions of the Michaeliskloster in Hildesheim, is a 12th-century forgery. Stendal quickly prospered as a center of commerce and trade. The parish of St. Jacobi was founded in the 12th century. The construction of a Franciscan monastery began in 1230. In the 13th century, the Stendal Seafarers' Guild was formed, which traded its own ships in the Baltic and North Sea areas. The oldest documented mention of the church of St. Marien dates back to 1283. Stendal received city walls around 1300 and in 1338 a Latin school was built. The local merchants joined the Hanseatic League in 1358 and purchased the privilege of minting from the Brandenburg margraves in 1369. Just like in neighboring Tangermünde, the citizens of Stendal rebelled against the beer tax in 1488. - In 1188, Margrave Otto II and his brother Heinrich von Gardelegen, both sons of the Ascanian Otto I, founded a collegiate monastery in Stendal. The chapter consisted of twelve secular canons. It was independent of the bishop, was directly subordinate to the pope, and was, therefore, an important spiritual center in the Altmark area. The canons had church patronage over all Stendal parish churches, as well as numerous churches in the surrounding villages. Around the same time, the construction of the first collegiate church is started. It was a three-nave basilica with a transept and choir apse, similar to the monastery church of Jerichow. Of this first building, the lower part of the west facade is preserved, below the two early Gothic towers. The present building was erected from 1423 onwards. Towards the middle of the 15th century, the new church was probably largely completed. It is a three-nave, four-bay hall church with a transept and nave choir. The west building from the second quarter of the 13th century was taken over from the foundation building. The top floor of the towers dates from the 15th century and is crowned by pointed helmets. The transept has a richly decorated stepped gable on the north side. - Here are 22 medieval stained glass windows, which were created between about 1425 and 1480. These were heavily restored in the 19th century, around half of the glass is probably still original. Harrowing of Hell

When Strasbourg was first mentioned in 12BC, it was the Roman camp Argentoratum. Strasbourg was probably a bishop's seat from the 4th century. Alemanni, Huns and Franks conquered the city in the 5th century. Strasbourg was then ruled by the Strasbourg bishops until 1262 when the citizens violently rebelled against the bishopric and Strasbourg became a free imperial city and so belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. Led by two rival patrician families (Müllheim and Zorn), the city prospered, although the town hall required two separate entrances for the two families. On February 14, 1349, one of the first and largest pogroms of persecution of Jews in connection with the plague in the German area took place here. In the course of the St. Valentine's Day massacre, several hundred (some say up to 3000) Jews were publicly burned, and the survivors were expelled from the city. Until the end of the 18th century, Jews were forbidden to stay within the city walls after 10 pm. Strasbourg came under French rule in 1681, after the conquest of Alsace by the armies of Louis XIV. However, the revocation of the Edict of Toleration of Nantes in 1685, which legalized the suppression of Protestantism in France, did not apply in Alsace, and religious freedom prevailed, even if the French authorities endeavored to favor Catholicism wherever possible. Strasbourg's Lutheran, German-influenced university continued to exist. Moreover, until 1789, Alsace was a de facto foreign province , separated from the rest of France by a customs border running along the Vosges Mountains. Therefore, the city and its surrounding area remained German-speaking. In the period of the French Revolution, the city became attractive for republicans from Germany and later an exile for German oppositionists. The Strasbourg Cathedral (German: Straßburger Münster) was built between 1176 and 1439 on the site of a previous church from the early 11th century that had burned down to replace a church from the Carolingian period that had burned down in 1007. Gothic style. At least from 1647 to 1874, the cathedral with its 142-meter-high north tower was the tallest structure in human history and the tallest structure of the Middle Ages. Important contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318 are attributed to the architect Erwin von Steinbach; he was succeeded by his son Johannes and his grandson Gerlach. The west facade was created by master Ulrich von Ensingen and his successor Johannes Hültz. With its characteristic asymmetrical shape (the south tower was never built), the Strasbourg Cathedral is the symbol of Alsace today. The building was damaged by bombardments in 1870 and 1944. The figural decoration and the interior decoration were damaged in the course of the iconoclasm of the Reformation, the re-Catholicization in 1681 and the French Revolution. The sculptures on the portals of the west facade were created between 1277 and 1298, but are partly copies of the originals or free additions from the 19th century. The Last Judgement. The tombs open. Sinners are being thrown into the Hellmouth.

The small hamlet of Urschalling belongs to Prien am Chiemsee. Located in its centre is St. Jakobus, the parish church. It was built end of the 11th century and later integrated into a fortified castle, that is long gone. Under a thick coat of paint frescoes from the 14th century were discovered. When these got renovated in the 1940s, another layer of frescoes was discovered below. These frescoes were even 200 years older. The "Harrowing of Hell". Christ releasing Adam, Eve and other righteous from the Hellmouth.

Next to the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Tronoën is the large calvary, one of the landmarks of Brittany. Erected 1450/1470, this is the oldest of the great calvaries in Brittany. The rectangular base measures 4,5m x 3,5m. Under the crucifiction are two friezes, depicting themes from the New Testament. There are lots of scenes and details. Harrowing of Hell (aka "Descensus Christi ad Inferos"). Adam, Eve and the first of the "righteous men and women" can be seen, striding through the Hellmouth.