Morový sloup Nejsvetejší trojice / The Most Holy Trinity Plague Column - Teplice (North Bohemia)
N 50° 38.264 E 013° 49.515
33U E 416929 N 5610198
The Most Holy Trinity Plague Column (Morový sloup Nejsvetejší trojice) in Teplice, work of renown Czech Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernard Braun, belongs among the most beautiful and artistically valuable Baroque plague columns in Czech lands.
Waymark Code: WMMM0A
Location: Ústecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 10/06/2014
Views: 68
The Most Holy Trinity Plague Column (Morový sloup Nejsvetejší trojice) in Teplice, work of renown Czech Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernard Braun, belongs among the most beautiful and artistically valuable Baroque plague columns in Czech lands.
In Catholic countries were similar columns built in the 17-18th century as a thank-you or a request for protection. They attained their special importance in times of plague. Bohemia suffered the worst plague epidemic during the Thirty Years' War, i.e. in the first half of the 17th century. The Black Death raged in the Czech lands in 1713, too, but it avoided Teplice - so the Teplice demesne owner, Franz Karl Clary-Aldringen, had this magnificent column erected.
The column, designed by the workshop of Matthias Bernard Braun and built by a local stonemason Baumel, was erected between 1718-1719. The monument is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. On the earthly sphere God the Father and Jesus Christ as the Son are seated, with the Holy Ghost in the form of a golden dove perching above them. In the lower part six saints can be found. St. Charles Borromeo with a cardinal's hat. The saint with a dog is St. Roch. The last saint is St. Sebastian, tied in chains and pierced with arrows. All three were worshipped as patrons against plague. The three above them are St. Jerome with a skull and the bible, St. Paul with a golden cross and St. John the Baptist, the patron of town Teplice.