by Karl Heinz Türk (1928 – 2001)
„And the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed“ (Ex 3,2)
Photo: Max Schulz (Detail)
The large mural on the Liebfrauenkirche shows a story that Jews, Christians and Muslims know from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran: The prophet Moses sees a mysterious fire from which Adonai / God / Allah speaks to him. Moses is the recipient of a message that prompts him to see and do something (prompts him to act on a divine mission?). This story is told slightly differently in each of the three religions, but remains essentially the same: an example of the great importance of the prophet Moses in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the kinship between these religions.
More information on 'Moses before the burning bush' at the Liebfrauenkirche in the Christian tradition:
The mural consists of a shell limestone relief showing Moses stretched out before the burning bush, and a massive fire made of red Swedish granite slabs. It was completed in 1965 by the Nürtingen painter and sculptor Karl Heinz Türk.
It depicts a scene from the calling of Moses, as described in the Torah and the Old Testament.
Now Moses kept the flock at Horeb, the mountain of God, and the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. The bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses thought, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3,1-6)
Moses can be seen encountering God, who appears to him as a burning bush that is not consumed. Moses' posture, the arrangement of the panels, and the gradation of the red tones suggest the extraordinary relationship between God and Moses. Across different religions, the narrative can be understood as a paradoxically depicted encounter with God, or as an experience of the Wholly Other. The foundation that supports the cultural church named itself after this.
The facade image is to be viewed in conjunction with the two reliefs in the entrance areas, 'The Expulsion from Paradise' (left) and 'The Sacrifice of Isaac' (right). Three times the Angel of the Lord acts—first for the revealing, then the punishing, and finally the forgiving God.
There is another hidden connection between the chosen motif and the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche). It was dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, 'Our Lady'. Mary is the burning bush that is not consumed: she carried God within her without perishing.
Photo: BigBeautifulBuilding, Christian Huhn
References:
Fuchs, Martin [Bearb.]; Türk, Karl. H.: Bildhauer K.H. Türk: Werkbericht, Stuttgart 1988.
Türk, K.H.; Sediq, Milo: K.H. Türk: Kunst im Land. Leben und Werk eines Bildhauers, Königsmoos 2002.
