Right in front of you, you’ll spot a weathered wooden crucifix standing against the trunk of a chestnut tree, nestled behind a small iron fence at the edge of Von-Coels-Straße.
Now, let’s imagine this very spot back in 1829, when the ‘Cockerill’schen Straße’-as Von-Coels-Straße was called back then-was newly upgraded and muddy boots were all the rage! The Kind family, proud owners of a lively tavern right here, decided to place this wayside cross outside their pub. Good marketing, if you ask me-nothing says “welcoming inn” quite like a new cross! Over the years, the cross got nudged closer and closer to the road, keeping up with the changing street layout, until 1911 when Nirmer Straße met Von-Coels-Straße just as you see it today. But there’s drama too! In the 1930s, during Nazi times, some very unwelcome party members tried to remove the cross-but the pub’s owner chased them off with an axe. Now, that’s what you call fiercely protective! After many makeovers and a shiny new cross in 1955, standing tall on a crisp autumn day in 1988, it enjoyed another careful restoration. Now it rests peacefully against its chestnut, guarding number 199, watching over passersby and serving as a lively landmark with stories that just won’t quit.
