Unique relic of peasant-religious art
At the lower exit of the village of Rapperath, amidst a powerful group of buildings located directly on the banks of the Dhron, one can find two small chapels.
The left chapel houses the "Great Lord God of Rapperath." The body of the crucified figure and the cross are carved from a single tree trunk. The arms are inserted at the shoulders and attached to the crossbeam. The figure is painted in old colors, lifelike over the entire body. The work is considered a unique relic of medieval peasant-religious art from the Hunsrück.
According to tradition, the crucifix originally stood in the village church of Wirschweiler. After the introduction of the Protestant faith, the cross was removed from the church. For a long time, it was used as a footbridge over the Altenbach. The population had to endure much misery in the following time. A farmer, who sensed the cause, loaded the cross onto an ox cart and drove the team away.
At the spot where the cart stopped, the cross was later erected, and a chapel was built over it. Following a cattle plague in 1800, the believers of the parish community of Rapperath and the surrounding villages have since made a pilgrimage every year at Easter to the "Great Lord God" to pay their respects to the cross.
