Antisemitic pig gargoyle at Church in Germany gets reprieve

The Judensau gargoyles can be seen on about 30 churches in Germany
The Judensau gargoyles can be seen on about 30 churches in Germany
THOMAS VICTOR

A medieval church in Germany has been told to restore an antisemitic sculpture to its collection of gargoyles after the local authority ruled that it had protected status.

The stone carving depicts a male Jew crouched in an obscene pose with a pig, in a motif known as the Judensau, or “Jew-sow”.

St Stephen’s church in Calbe, a town 45 miles northwest of Leipzig, is one of about 30 churches and cathedrals around Germany with Judensau sculptures, most of which date back to the high Middle Ages, a period of virulent antisemitism.

The carving was recently taken down from the church’s north wall along with 13 other gargoyles, including mythical beasts, naked women and pot-bellied monks, so that they could be restored.

In March