Head west on the S-Bahn out of Heilbronn, and you’ll reach the small town of Eppingen. Within the confines of this beautifully quaint town, you’ll find some astonishing treasures - and a really astounding beer.
Dominating the ‘skyline’ of this small Baden town is the spire of Kirche Unsere Liebe Frau* (or ‘Church of our Dear Lady’ referring to the Virgin Mary).
However, before you head in there, make sure you take in the astonishing frieze across the front of the former latin school, right next door.
While the mural isn’t old - it’s only approaching twenty years of age, being painted in 2002 by local artist Friedbert Andernach - what it represents is centuries old, and quite local in focus.
This is a Totentanz or ‘Dance of Death’, an artistic motif that exploded in popularity in the French and German-speaking lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Faced with a cataclysmic combination of plague, war, famine and other unpleasantness, medieval Europeans began to ponder their mortality in greater depth, and this fascination with death was reflected in both secular and religious art.
In the Totentanz, dancing skeletons are depicted with members from every level of society, demonstrating that no matter who we are, death comes for us all. A fantastic version of the Totentanz was created by the artist Hans Holbein the Younger - you can see it here*.
At either end of the frieze, the following words are written (my paraphrasing):
“Come on people, young and old / watch the dance that’s been painted
you should ponder and understand / how little of what’s mortal is to be respected”
and
“Think about death often / that’s how you’ll become happy
and make yourself a note / today for me, tomorrow for you!”
Once you’ve pondered your mortality, the inside of the church is astonishing. While the interior has been modernized, medieval wall-paintings have been left where they were uncovered - and they completely cover the chancel.
Here, have a look.
These channel paintings, dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, act as a kind of pocket bible for the largely illiterate medieval population of Eppingen. You have the Gospels depicted, several important scenes from elsewhere in the Bible, and a couple of other other saints to boot.
I particularly like the swordsman, weapon held high behind his head, ready to decapitate some poor holy figure, now lost to time.
The church has another treasure, beside the chancel paintings. Over one of the doors, you can find a very rate depiction of a milchhexe or ‘milk witch’. Despite the name, a milchhexe isn’t a witch but the demon featured on the right
In folklore, this entity was responsible for both spoiling milk, and causing cows to dry up. While it may seem a little random and strange to us, spoiled dairy products, or milk shortages were a lethal threat, particularly when you consider that not only did dairy products constitute a staple food source, but bacteria in milk could kill.
As a fairly rural town, a couple of hours from Heilbronn before the arrival of road and rail, much of Eppingen’s town centre has been left fairly intact. You could easily spend a few hours wandering the streets, taking photos, as my father and I did on our trip.
On that subject, sure you get a shot of the alte universität, or ‘old university’. This half-timbered building, dating from around the 16th century, was commandeered by the academics of Heidelberg University during a particularly nasty bout of plague. They stayed for around seven months, leaving when the plague reached Eppingen. Cheekily, the town still refers to itself as a universitätsstadt, or ‘university city’.
Another photographic highlight is the pfeifferturm, or ‘piper’s tower’. The oldest still-standing structure in Eppingen, it used to be the watchtower and habitation for the piper, who would warn the inhabitants of approaching troops - a fairly regular occurrence up until the late 18th century. After that, it became a prison, where criminals and prisoners of war were kept. Some poor bastard scrawled Hier ist bös sein or ‘This is an evil place’ on a cell wall at some stage, and this has become the name of the museum charting the tower’s use over eight hundred years. Check it out if you’re there between April and October.
Finally, I commend to you the town’s esteemed brewery, Palmbräu*. Founded in 1835, it has been producing a large range of quality beers for almost two hundred years. You can get it almost anywhere, and I particularly recommend Palmbräu Unser Bestes, or ‘Our Best’.
Want to see more of my pictures of Eppingen?
Address: 75031, Eppingen will get you to a car park close to the train station.
From the S-Bahn stop outside of Heilbronn Hauptbahnhof, catch the S4 towards S4 Karlsruhe Albtalbahnhof and get out at Eppingen.
From Eppingen station, it’s a five minute walk to the centre of town - you can’t miss it.
More info:
*-Link in German