Fotoausstellung „Totholz & Wunderland“

Photo exhibition for Lent at St. Andreas Church in Klein-Winternheim

“Dead Wood & Wonderland” featuring images by Bodo Witzke
Event for the exhibition opening on March 16, 2025, starting at 5:00 PM

The exhibition is open during the day until April 5, 2025

These are images that inspire reflection and are simply beautiful and rewarding to look at, says Pastor Simon Krost, who, together with the photographer and members of his congregation, selects the photographs that will be enlarged for an exhibition at the St. Andreas Church in Klein-Winternheim. The photographs titled “Dead Wood & Wonderland” invite one to take a step back during Lent and see things anew. In his images, photographer Bodo Witzke draws attention to something that usually gets no notice: dead trees, tree stumps – and in doing so, he discovers new growth and fascinating beauty, because our world is surprisingly rich, vital, and worth seeing in many places, he believes. For this purpose, the wall sculptures of the Stations of the Cross will be removed from mid-March until April 5 at St. Andreas. “We don’t just put on an exhibition like this,” says Pastor Krost, “these photographs have a connection to the Stations of the Cross, they show not only death but also how new life emerges, that death does not have the final word in our lives, an important message of hope for us Christians.” For Krost, an exhibition like this is also a way to find artistic access to tabooed topics. Religious educator Gitta Schwank confirms this, stating that the relationship between death and life is incomprehensible to many. “These images from nature clearly show that life goes on. Translated, that means: Even if I have died, something remains.” Ute Kipping-Karbach from the parish council sees such an exhibition as a way to open the church to people beyond the classical churchgoers: “The church should be there for everyone!” They all agree that one of the strengths of the images is that they can be viewed from very different perspectives, from aesthetic, ecological, and spiritual viewpoints. The photographs were taken over several years, featuring motifs from Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, but also from Klein-Winternheim and the Ober-Olmer Forest. “Discovering the greatness in the small!” is one of the mottos of journalist and photographer Bodo Witzke, who has received numerous awards for his work as a television reporter. During the exhibition period, the Klein-Winternheim Church will be open during the day and invites visitors to view images of decay and renewal and let their thoughts wander.