A jewel – just across the Bavarian border…

On 28 September 2025

A modest group of interested ladies from the ÖFT set off for Ottobeuren on Saturday morning. Their first destination was the crypt beneath the magnificent basilica there. It is dedicated to the Swiss national saint Brother Klaus and was turned into a wonderful space of meditation and stillness in the eighties by the Catholic rural community through voluntary commitment. A particular highlight is the large stained-glass window designed by the artist Erich Schickling (1924 – 2012).

Christine Silla – Kiefer was able to show the connection between the saint's old meditation picture and the composition of the stained-glass window. She spoke of the timelessness within God's reality, told the biblical stories of the individual medallions and assigned the listeners their personal place beside the lamenting Jeremiah, who nevertheless hopes for God's help. Ulrike Meyer, chair of the Erich-Schickling-Stiftung, then answered the guests' questions in detail.

The journey continued to the Foundation complex down in the Günztal to Eggisried. By the cosy tiled stove the ladies warmed up and enjoyed the plentiful picnic they had brought with them. Now there was time for deeper information about the artist's life, work and family.

The extensive exhibition of the pictures cannot possibly be taken in during a single visit. This time, therefore, the viewers focused on the design for the stained-glass window and a few pictures in the room of the emerging „Davids Harfe“ exhibition. In luminous reverse glass painting the ladies rediscovered individual motifs from the window.

The Galerie am Turm was also visited. Here Elisabeth Schickling, the artist's eldest daughter, has exhibited her works. The large-format pictures in intense colours show a quite different hand from her father's. A successful combination arose here through the impressive woodwork of the artist Wilhelm Hartmann, which visitors were allowed to take in not only with their eyes but also with their hands.

The ladies concluded this first visit in the meditation room, where a further facet of the glass art left them amazed. "We must come back, because there is so much we have not yet seen!" was the unanimous view of the women from Wurzach. "We had no idea what a jewel is to be found just across the Bavarian border!"

Text: Christine Silla – Kiefer