Kindel, Wiege, Windel: Zur Interaktion mit sakralen Objekten in Weihnachtsritualen und Weihnachtsspielen

• Regina Toepfer ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Würzburg

     University of Würzburg

     Kreisfreie Stadt Würzburg, Alemania

     
• Localización: European Medieval Drama, ISSN 1378-2274, ISSN-e 2031-0064, Nº. 25, 2021, págs. 119-142
• Idioma: varios idiomas
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This contribution is concerned with forms of interaction and intimacy between the Christ Child and his worshippers in the Middle Ages. It concentrates above all on how the Hessian Nativity Play and Benedikt Edelpock’s Christmas comedy represented the Christ Child, but also on the religious custom of Kindelwiegen (‘rocking the Christ Child’), which was not performed on stage. The author posits that, even if figures of the Christ Child were material objects, they took on lives of their own within the context of intimate worship. They thus differed from theatre props on the one hand and devotional images on the other. They were neither a means of creating an illusion of reality on stage nor mere objects of pious contemplation. Rather, they were meant to be touched and felt as a way of making the Christmas miracle more comprehensible.