CCCA Fact Sheet |

Suffering, Death, and Consolation

On Works of Memorial, Funerary, and Sepulchral Culture
in Franz Weis Oeuvre
Gnther Jontes
The artist Franz Wei expresses the images of his
mindscape not only through his candid way of
fashioning the world, and by putting them into the
adorning service of cult and ritual; he is also one of
but few contemporary artists who dedicate
themselves to interpreting the ultimate events of,
and the ministries performed during, the final stage
of a humans life. In creating unique grave markers
and profound ornamentations for buildings and
objects related to memorial and funerary culture, he
consistently addresses a distinct artistic concern. His
murals, panel paintings, mosaics and enamels bestow
upon many a graveyard, war memorial, funeral
chapel, and burial ground the vivid colourfulness so
typical of Franz Weis art, which has been a
distinctive colourful examples of faith between the
worlds of the living and the dead in the often
melancholy air of 20th- and 21st-century cemeteries
with their mainly prefabricated atmosphere
determined by stone and metal, appearing only
slightly more comforting due to colourful flower
arrangements.

Providing an insight into the development of these

tendencies should serve as a means of positioning the
artist within the content-related, formal, and artistic
practices of funerary art.

In that respect, Franz Wei has chosen a path whose

origins lie in the historical depths of funerary and
sepulchral art. Mans general attitude toward death
and dying has always inevitably determined the
artistic interpretation of all things connected to the
end of a human life. This is why cemeteries, burial
places, and graves have typically been indicative of
intellectual movements and contemporary zeitgeist,
and why, in a particular way, they constitute
testimonials and sources of history, art history, and
cultural history. In our day and in the Austrian
context particularly in his native region Franz
Wei has become a formative artist in this vein. In a
manner of speaking, his art is a-temporal. As a navely
colourful vision it transcends the intellect and fully
draws on the traditions of popular piety.
Anachronistically
foregoing
all
modern
contemporary artistic styles, it continues a tradition
of historicising Expressionism as shaped by the
generation of Weis teachers at Graz Art School,
which he, however, strips of its wistfulness and
musing as well as of its frenzy and ferocity. The
serenity and harmony of his images emanate from
Franz Weis very own Christian piety, which has
always remained deeply rooted within the nave
popular traditions of his Western Styrian homeland.

Christianity regards our overcoming of earthly mortality

as a transformed state of existence in God. It is through
believing in Christs death and resurrection that this
idea has been auspiciously incorporated into the divine
plan of creation in an, as it were, historically
comprehensible manner. Christ was resurrected in
human form and the same will come true for all
humankind. And they who are Christian profess in the
Creed their faith in the resurrection of the flesh on
the Day of Judgment, when Christ as Judge of the
World will separate the good from the evil, as it is
explicitly expressed in the Creed itself. Does that make
the grave obsolete, temporary, or something
undeserving of too much travail? The cultural history of
Christianity and the forms expression we find in various
eras of Christian art tell us otherwise, even though
ideas related to the grave and to interment have
always been strongly influenced by the respective
zeitgeist.

A longing to tend the dead even beyond their passing,

to accompany them with symbolic and practical acts
and to finally bury them that is to say, to not just
leave their remains to the dissolving powers of nature
is profoundly human and leads into the deepest depths
of spiritual and material culture. The notion that man
continues to exist beyond death in a transformed state
of being is an essential belief in all religions; it is the
origin and goal of deliberations concerning the
dimensions of human existence; it is an agonising
question and may at the same time serve as a
redemptive answer, which provides a means of
orientation as to how we as individuals ought to act
and live our lives. In all religions and in all
transcendence-oriented thinking, death is a transition
stage which mankind has envisioned as a gate to
eternal bliss or damnation, as a new beginning in terms
of reincarnation, or, less hopefully, as eternal sleep.

Christianity as a religion has not departed from the

basic truths dogmatically formulated in theology,
according to which death, resurrection, judgement, and
eternal life form inalienable basic positions. However,
visions of the next world are strongly determined by
elements inherent in culture, especially since the Bible
other than Mahayana-Buddhism, Taoism, or Islam
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has little concrete to offer in terms of promises of the

hereafter. You will be with me in paradise today,
Christ promises to the Penitent Thief. St. Paul only
addresses the ungraspable secret of an existence
with God in the afterlife, without describing it in any
definite way, only as removed from any earthly
experience.

from these traditional ways of burning the bodies, and

took to favouring inhumation, which incidentally also
had a marginal existence in heathen Rome. The political
development of the 19th and early 20th centuries shows
that for a century this division was noticeable also in
reverse in more recent European history. The culture
struggle between the state, political forces, and the
Catholic Church in Germany and Austria-Hungary, and
between the Church and the Free Masons in Italy and
France forced cremation as a distinguishing feature. Its
emergence can be observed in the First Austrian
Republic, where social democracy with its free thought
movements regarded the conversion to Protestantism
(not having a religious affiliation was no option under
the law) as a political variant of protest against
Christian-Social politics. Therefore, in their call to fight
political Catholicism, cremation was promoted.
Protestants of both creeds and the only marginally
represented Old Catholics had never acted against
cremation. For the Catholic Church this position was a
challenge of faith, which led to excommunication and
refusal of all burial ceremonies. After World War Two,
an increasingly flexible and more relaxed atmosphere
arose between the two blocks of social democrats and
the Church; and consequently, from 1961 onwards,
cremation was also tolerated by the Catholic Church, so
that today both forms receive equal ritual blessings. It
is clear that this vicissitude also resulted in changes of
expression in funerary culture.

In the Christian sense, the grave is therefore only a

temporary location, which receives the physical,
material remains of the mortal human being until the
trumpets of Judgement Day will sound. Judaism
views this similarly and allows the dead an
undisturbed grave, which should not be troubled by
exhumation or the addition of another body.
However, it is the arrival of the Messiah who will
fashion an ideal kingdom on earth, which all dead will
populate as newly animated.
People have been buried in many a way and form
throughout the history of humanity, ranging from the
burial in earth, quasi in the lap of Mother Nature, to
cremation as a radical way of separating body and
soul, to other forms which are necessitated by the
environment, such as Tibetan sky burials and burial
at sea. Religions, such as in Ancient Egypt and preColumbian America, where a material life in the
afterlife was linked to the complete preservation of
the mortal body, developed particular cultural forms
of burials. These enable us today to draw conclusions
about the lives of these people based on the
testament of their death.

However, let us return to the early days of funerary and

sepulchral culture. Rome, antique city of millions, had
to struggle with mounting problems in the removal of
human remains. As an alternative to the pressures of
lack of space in the growing necropoli above ground,
the building of subterranean cities of the dead was a
possibility. The catacombs were built into the easily
carved tuff surrounding the city. For a long time, the
citys predominantly Christian character and the
according inhumation prompted the misinterpretation
it were the burial place of the bodies of Christian blood
witnesses, i.e. of martyrs. The Christian burial sites
were already places of a death cult of remembrance
within the subterranean labyrinths of graves forgotten
during the times of Romes decline in late Antiquity and
the Early Middle Ages. Sepulchral inscriptions indicated
the names, social position, and sometimes biographical
details of the dead, and marked their religious
affiliation with the cross, as well as showing the at the
time common, while previously still cryptic, sign of
salvation: the Monogram of Christ and the fish.

The Bible talks about man returning to dust and ash.

Yet it also says that man will rise again in bodily form,
from which Christian theology draws the notion that
the body is to be buried unharmed, since it will regain
its form in the flesh. In dark phases, destroying of the
body through fire was therefore reserved for erring
humanity as an additional punishment for those
condemned to death as heretics and magicians or
blasphemers and witches.
An additional ideological element must not be
overlooked: In the early times of Christianity, in the
heathen Roman Empire, the most common removal
of human remains from the realms of the living was
on the funeral pyre. Moreover, already the city of
Romes oldest laws forbade interment within the city
walls, so that cremations and funerals occurred
outside of the settlement, mostly along outbound
roads. Necropoli arose, whose sepulchral monuments
gave families the opportunity to cast the right light
onto their dead, and thus themselves, depending on
the families social, economic, and cultural status.
Subterranean columbaria, where the cinerary urns
were placed in simple alcoves in the walls, were more
modest.

Burial grounds of heathen Roman Antiquity were

epoch-wise and regionally differentiated monuments,
which served as reminders of the dead, their position in
the family and in society, their deeds and
achievements, and their lives. Cultures, religions, and
ideologies strongly bound to earthly concerns placed
great importance on such monuments, which were

Christians began to outwardly distance themselves

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deceased rests with God, and that the interment ought

to be as close as possible to holy ground, and thereby
in proximity to the execution of the mass for the dead.
It was thought that this was of crucial importance to
the quality of the fate in the afterlife. For the most part,
anonymity of the location of the burial sites of
individuals became more common, and only the
highest ranking individuals, such as monarchs and
hierarchs of the church were given a marked grave. A
number of factors contributed to this development: the
newly emerging system of indulgence, the opinion that
such sites providing a proximity to God were privileged,
and further the fact that cemeteries and burial places
were increasingly linked to the way in which the
parishes identified with church law. This attitude
caused even the burial sites of saints to be forgotten,
which is impressively illustrated by the fates and stories
of rediscovery of the graves containing the bodies and
relics of individuals such as St Peter in Rome, St Mark in
Venice, or St Virgil in Salzburg.

supposed to paint a beautified picture of the dead for

posterity. The size and expressiveness of these
monuments was in direct correlation to the social
and economic position of the deceased. Within the
structure of a funerary monument, the Romans
recounted in very formal diction the cursus honorum
on the actual gravestone, the titulus; for military
personnel it, e.g., listed the rank, affiliation with a
military corpse, honours, and years of service. A
civilians cursus honorum encompassed genealogical
relationships, ranks in civil service, titles in cultural
organisations, professions, and the age in relative
chronology. Portrait representations drew direct links
to the dead, and reliefs containing scenes of their
professional and social life illustrated the statements
made in the titulus. The religious sphere was
protected from demonic influence via apotropaic
symbols such as Medusa. The ornate monuments
were enveloped by servant figures who accompany
the offerings to the dead, and by superordinate
mythological and divine figures that fell prey to the
tolerant Roman mind-set in the non-Italian provinces
of the Empire and were consequently re-interpreted
according to the interpretatio romana and thus
added to the classic pantheon. There were also
representations of the seasons, as well as bucolic and
Elysian elements. Depictions of dolphins, which can
be understood as intermediaries between the above
and the below, were also frequent. The eagle as a
symbol of Jupiter signified Olympic heights, while
lupa accompanied by Romulus and Remus pointed at
the mythological depth of the origins of Romes glory.

It was only from the High Middle Ages onwards that

individuality was once again emphasised specifically.
Determining the location of the relicts and graves of
saints gained new importance through the increased
form of veneration of these material remains. Spiritual
and secular hierarchs adopted this notion for
themselves, which led to the rise of a new culture of
gravestones, which oriented itself on the image of the
living. This allowed a representation of the dead in the
splendour of their pontificates or secular dignities. The
artistic and formal representation developed from the
ideal image to the portrait over merely a few centuries,
from the Romanesque to the late Gothic period. The
functional step from relief stones covering graves on
the ground to wall epitaphs can be explained due to
increasingly required space for dignitary graves inside
sacral buildings. After the 13th century, when heraldry
was already governed by strict rules, the pride of the
nobility and the inclination toward representing
positions within the estates of the realm also led to
grave stones which only bore a coat of arms. During
this time, little Christian symbolism other than the
symbol of the cross and hardly any concrete
relationship between rank and belief of the deceased
were to be felt. An expression of religious affiliation
was not yet necessary, since the confessional and
cultural connection to the one Church was still
unbroken.

This kind of funerary art declined during late

Antiquity, which did not only find expression in a
growing stylisation of the figural elements toward an
expressive form and in a notable transformation of
the typeface towards a cursive volatility; it was
obviously also rooted in a new mind set which
practiced the tradition of remembrance under
Christian aspects. Funerary inscriptions point toward
the faith of the dead and express the hope of
resurrection. The misinterpretation of such
inscriptions during the rather uncritical centuries of
the catacombs early discovery i.e., actually up until
the early 19th century led to the boom of catacomb
saints, whose bones were universally regarded as
the relicts of early Christian martyrs and
consequently subject to veneration without
reflection.

This was to change completely from the 16th century

(i.e., the century of Reformation) onwards, when grave
markers gained a value of political and confessional
expression. The compositions of gravestone reliefs
became more schematic: the central image of Christ
Crucified was usually flanked on either side by the
members of the family, separated by gender, who were
kneeling in worship. Most of the time, sepulchral
stones were not created for individuals, but rather

At least there are highest-ranking blood witnesses,

such as St. Peter, Prince of Apostles; his grave was
identified through authentic epigraphic traces, and its
location could be verified with modern scientific
methods.
In the Early Middle Ages, the predominant notion
was one which assumed the idea that the soul of the
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related to the entire family with parents and children,

or at least a married couple. Grave stones were
crafted during the advanced age of the father of the
family, and also late wives and children were
represented; even offspring who had passed away as
infants were incorporated. In case of deaths,
banderols bearing the inscription of names were
marked with an engraved cross. Uplifting grave
inscriptions, which had before run along the edge of
the stone relieves, mutated to captions. Apart from
the solitary image of Christ Crucified, other significant
biblical scenes can be found on the gravestones and
epitaphs of Protestants: the Resurrection of Christ,
Jonah leaving the whale, the programmatic image of
law and mercy, etc. Verbal quotations completed the
signalled confession of a pro-reformation stance in
the new times. Incidentally, Catholics also took to the
new kind of sepulchral art, so that both faiths
entered the counter-reformatory Baroque in the
same manner. The titulus specified very precisely the
markers of nobility, offices and honours, especially if
they were connected to the reigning nobility. As in
the Gothic period, coats of arms were meticulously
reproduced and incorporated to great effect. This
effect was significantly enhanced by the addition of
colour, which meant that painted reliefs first
introduced colour into the epitaphs world of stone,
especially in the protective interior of sacral
buildings. Prior to this, colour was only to be found in
landscapes with a particular tendency towards stone
in-lay in the vein of pietra dura, as we know it from
the Cosmati tradition in Rome, or as we find them on
the representative grave stones of the Knights of the
Sovereign Order of Malta. The upper echelons of the
middle classes also followed the example set by the
nobility. Usurped coats of arms, emblems of houses,
occupational titles, symbols of crafts and trades,
honours in the political and administrative realm of
the cities and markets all created the impression of
societal significance.

incorporated in the churchs exterior walls. The area

between those walls had originally been filled with a
mass of grave markers, which consisted of wood for the
lower and middle classes, or in the best cases, of
wrought iron. Here, relatively few have been preserved
in their original state. Iron crosses can be traced back
roughly into the 17th century, and the metal is also used
in cast iron memorials from the Neo-Classical period
onward. Wooden grave crosses in their original state
can only be traced back as far as the first half of the
20th century at the most. Occasionally, image sources
tell us of the appearance of cemeteries in times before
that. And yet, these grave markers did and still do
determine the appearance of Christian cemeteries
around the world, since crypts, crypt arcades, and
mausoleums in cemeteries are always only exceptions.
Today, gravestones and grave crosses are the standard
grave markers of well-organised cemeteries and thus
represent the sphere of influence accompanying
remnants of a funerary art which has been able to
make its way into the minimalist and frugal time and
society which is relatively far removed from uniformly
applicable taste and which fosters representation
differently in its social context. The repression of dying
and death in our times has also left its trace.
Cemetery structures in the
artists range of work
Cemeteries are the actual locations of Weis work in
the area of funerary culture. Entrances to and the walls
of cemeteries as well as central cemetery crosses on
the one hand, and, chapels of rest on the other hand,
comprehensively and immediately mark the realms of
death and its ritual as well as the spiritual processing of
it. Grave crosses and other forms of sepulchral
monuments, in contrast, are unique expressions of
remembrance of families and individuals.
War memorials, on the other hand, are frequently not
tied to cemeteries. They can often be found in the
centre of villages and small towns, or appear adjoining
or integrated into church buildings. Respectively, these
can only ever be places of remembrance, since soldiers
inherently meet their deaths far away from home and
are also buried there.

If one considers how grave memorials were created

in the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern period,
one must not be misled by assuming that the
remaining heritage of funerary culture of these
epochs is representative for the phenomenon as a
whole. In reality, the amount of memorials has been
greatly reduced by both internal and external events.
Only where the favour of conservation through
constant care or through negligence and therefore
preservation was present, where buildings and
locality have remained, is where grave memorials
endured, with some luck, until our exploratory and
investigative times. This occurred most frequently in
the context of sacral buildings, whereby a cemetery
surrounding a parish church is often only
recognisable as such due to the remaining wall of the
church yard and the memorials and gravestones

Cemeteries in designated areas of cities show an

almost uniform picture in our present area under
consideration. The spaces in front of them offer
corresponding car parks, due to comprehensive
motorisation and cemeteries being located outside
built-up areas. Often, cemeteries are also integrated
into the public transport system. Over a long time, we
have become used to finding stone mason businesses
with their display areas of funerary memorials as well
as flower shops and gardening centres in the proximity
of cemeteries in urban areas. Within the cemetery
walls, orderly paths dominate, or, corresponding to the
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cemeterys age, avenues with an older population of

trees, hedges, and areas of grass. Forest cemeteries
are rare in our part of the world. Park benches
designate the cemetery as a location of recreation
and reflection. Waste disposal and water points serve
relatives who care for the graves. Even the devices of
the cult of light are available at all times through
candle vending machines.

numbers, understandably dedicate themselves often

only to urban showpieces, and primarily to those of
famous individuals or historically interesting works of
sepulchral art. What is common and therefore
determines the very essence is often neglected.
Generally, the graves of financially powerful families
achieve a greater age. On the one hand, these families
can care for and preserve graves over generations due
to their economic power. On the other hand, interested
parties often bought unchanged older funerary
monuments, which had frequently been erected as
burial crypts or mausoleums along the outer or
partitioning cemetery walls, after the expiration of the
circle of carers. These monuments were obtained
because they had been built in times of figurative
conciseness, high craftsmanship, or even artistic quality
during the periods of Historicism, Symbolism, and Art
Nouveau/Secession and enabled those who bought
them to found their own familial tradition of tombs,
which continues to have a sociological factor
influencing representation of the present day parvenu.

The first renewal phase of funeral and ceremony halls

which had been built at the same time the
cemeteries were founded and had been fully
sufficient in the 19th century started in the late
1960s and early 1970s. As the practice of laying out
the dead at home ceased, the frequency at the
cemeteries increased to an unmanageable extent.
This forced a building boom, which placed the
resulting buildings architecturally in a prepostmodern style, but created functional structures
which allowed for administration, laying out and
depositing the deceased within one building complex.
Covered areas for ceremonies, which could be used
in all weather, changed the image of the place of
bidding farewell: no more berths or niches for the
few hours before the funeral or wake, but rather
friendly, wide open areas without gloomy grandeur,
allowing for new opportunities of directing the light.

Today the new and newest gravestones and crosses,

which are undergoing a constant process of change,
form the main type and greater number of grave
markers. Here, the formal designs are rather
conservative. Today, gravestones are, for the most
part, ready made products of common ashlar from
around the world. It is possible that the native Slk
marble or the unhewn alpine rock carries with it certain
emotional associations because of its origin in the
home land. Valuable labradorite or other exotics from
overseas, right up to the famous marble from Carrara,
can once again be a measure of the clients need to
impress.

While before black velvet, silver decorations, plants

with dark green foliage, and candles determined the
setting (also emotionally), the turn in cemetery
architecture may also mean that art represents a
consoling element and a decoration of the rooms
where we spend our last hours with the deceased.
Long since, the cross, obligatory in Christian funerals,
has no longer been the sole decoration. Abstract as
well as figurative glass windows integrated into the
architecture, murals functioning as paintings, mosaics
of relief as well as sculptures can be part of the
inventory of a funeral or ceremonial hall. Their
artistic quality as well as that of the architecture
which houses them depends on so many differing
factors that they cannot be listed here. Our world of
emotions is always inextricably linked with kitsch,
which is offered to us and demanded by us
unconsciously. The acoustic irradiation with all kinds
of music, yet still adhering to a very narrow
spectrum, appears to be an inescapable part of it.

While column and pyramid monuments are only

present in the historic stock, the most prevailing form
of gravestone since the Second World War is the ledger
slab, which is positioned above ground, with an
inscription and symbolic or figurative decorations. One
observable common trend in terms of content is the
sparse expression in the inscription. Once it was
common for gravestones to display rhymes or
aphorisms citing the classics, glorification in the titling,
functions and achievements, mentions of a noteworthy
cause of death, a portrait in relief or photograph, and,
apart from the dates of birth and death, also other
notable life events. A religious symbol was
indispensable.

The grave fields of a cemetery in our time and in our

everyday culture are subject to constant change. This
means that the original substance of grave markers
and memorials from the time of their inceptions is
continually diluted. Ethnographers and art historians
require a predominantly pictorial documentation of
the stock, since communal and church
administrations can or want to deal with this only in
exceptional circumstances. Cemetery monographs,
which are published nowadays in increasing

Today, name, title, and basic dates are standard on

ready-made gravestones. Symbols of salvation are
usually restricted to a reduced cross. In cremations, the
brazier or tongues of flames no longer carry
significance of ideological or political character. Due to
the growing number of cremations, fields of urns and
walls of remembrance are now a part of every large
cemetery. One can also notice the multicultural foreign
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infiltration in the existence of Muslim graves, whose

appearance and orientation has been fed by very
different traditions.

to the dead was erected at the site of the accident; the

victims bodies resting somewhere below it. Victims of
mining disasters, who died together, are like soldiers
frequently also buried together.

In urban areas, a growing number of wrought iron

crosses have been noticeable over the past few
decades, which had previously only been associated
with rural or village cemeteries in more recent
cemetery culture up to the 20th century. Even those
are now ready-made and have been commercialised
to the point of being warehouse goods. The myth of
the village smith appreciative of art is gone, and there
are now only few craftsmen who are able to create
either traditional forms appropriate to style or
material, or new ones which are aesthetically
pleasing and suitable for the purpose. Here lies one
of the starting points for the work of Franz Wei, who
has replaced the folkloristic form of decoration with
impermanent paint on metal with the durable
enamel technique. He thus introduced a new,
colourful element into a world dominated by stone
and monotone colour gradation, which up to that
point had only been enlivened by the decoration of
graves with seasonal flowers.

Despite all iconoclastic tendencies at the end of the

20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the societal
value of war memorials has remained and can
therefore still be linked to more or less artistic activities
in village environments. War and the experiences of
war, to cause and suffer death as a soldier all of this
the artist Franz Wei had experienced himself during
World War Two. It is well known that his most personal
work the chapel Maria Knotenlserin (Mary Untier
of Knots) in the Tregist Valley near Voitsberg, not far
from his home and studio arose out of this personal
drama and trauma.
Veterans organisations such as the Austrian Fellowship
of Comrades (Kameradschaftsbund) play an important
role in the village life, even if their significance is
diminishing due to the gradual erosion of the division
between rural and urban areas, as well as the war
generation slowly dying out. They are also of the
utmost importance in ordering or initiating war
memorials and their restorations.

Possibilities of applying artistic composition

in the area of funerary culture

However, not everything should be interpreted as a

war memorial. Thus, a borderless relief engraving by
Franz Wei, created in 1993 in Stiwoll, Western Styria,
was commissioned out of a different motivation,
namely to address the soldiers responsibility for peace.
It commemorates the 110 year anniversary of the
Austrian Fellowship of Comrades and refers to Swiss
peacemaker Saint Nicholas of Fle (14171487).

One glance at the types of objects of memorial

culture now present in the artists sphere of work in
Austria, and especially in his home region of Styria,
where his studio is located, also indicates the
possibilities and restrictions which the artist is subject
to with regard to his work and other contributions to
the decor of funerary and sepulchral art. Not
everything here is pictorial design of graves.

In the decoration of funeral halls and their

environments, Wei enters the ritually and societally
relevant realm of ceremony surrounding those who lie
in repose, of spiritual accompaniment, ceremonies of
farewell, of remembrance, consecration, and of the
spiritual and human consolation surrounding the loss of
a human life. As a Christian artist, he does not lose
himself in nature symbolism, which can so often be
found in more strongly secularised urban areas.
Instead, he follows the religiously pre-determined path
of the prophecy of resurrection within Christs
overcoming of death.

In terms of intellectual and spiritual function, there

are three large areas in which Wei has pictorially
expressed his mindscapes concerning the final things
in life. These will be dealt with here in the respective
order of reference.
In War Memorial (Kriegerdenkmal) in the War
Memorial to Soldiers and Victims (Krieger und
Kriegsopfergedenksttte), Wei puts emphasis on a
sector of memorial culture which is not necessarily
linked to specific sacral locations, but rather to the
public milieu. Especially in rural areas and villages,
such memorials form the epicentre of many
celebrations in the course of the year, and of identityestablishing local associations and clubs. Since the
dead soldier usually rests in foreign soil, such a
memorial is also a replacement for an individual
grave inaccessible for mourning. The lack of a grave is
still a psychological problem today, which in Styria
was, for instance, discussed after the Lassing mining
disaster in 1998, where the bodies of ten miners
could only have been recovered with enormous
effort and under great danger. Therefore, a memorial

From 1986 onward, Franz Wei also created two types

of work which had thus far not been found in his
oeuvre. Both can be decidedly assigned to the imagery
of funerary culture. These are monumental decorations
of cemetery entrances, which lead from the world of
the living to that of the dead.
Also grave crosses belong to the furnishing of cemeteries.
With their central position and monumentality, they form
a connection between Christ and the death of man, and at
the same time they announce the fundamental religious
truth of the resurrection of the dead.
6

Through grave markers, the artist finally approaches

the individual whose grave decor is supposed to
create a relationship between the death and eternal
life of a very specific human being, laid down by
name and biography. The persons Christian name in
particular offers Wei an important starting point for
the Christian characterisation of the grave and of the
individual sheltered within it, through the traditional
form of the respective namesake saint.

catafalque, the printing of ceremonial scripts,

decorations for mourning, etc. Of course, in such cases
the localities available for the mourning pageantry
were the representative buildings of the rulers, such as
their castles and the royal chapel. The funeral itself was
no longer a journey into the womb of the earth, but
rather ended in the subterranean princely crypt. Here,
the free-standing sarcophagi allowed a representation
of political and religious symbols, as well as aesthetic
categories, beyond the death of the deceased and
towards earthly eternity.

Coffin painting (Sargbemalung) represents a special

case within Franz Weis oeuvre; he developed it
after the death of the cultural anthropologist and
local politician Hanns Koren ( 1985), who had been
his friend and benefactor. Nothing in his body of
work had been as impermanent as this truly unique
creation. One would have to go back as far as the late
Baroque or Neo-Classic periods in order to find local
models for this.

In contrast to this, victims of epidemics were regarded

as a source of danger to the health of the living, and
were thus disposed of unconventionally and as swiftly
as possible. Often, these exceptional dead were
transported to mass graves within hours of their death;
evidence of plague pits and similar can be found in
historical facts and legends. However, the rationalism
of the Enlightenment and the 19th century led to the
creation and development of a new type of cemetery
building within the standards of funerary culture: the
funeral hall or funeral parlour. In contrast to Western
Europe (Paris, London), big Austrian cities did not
establish city morgues, which located away from the
cemeteries abetted the macabre curiosity of the
citizens on the one hand, and served to concentrate
potential carriers of epidemics in the form of the
bodies.

On funeral halls as monumental forms

Weis architecture-related decorative art for funeral
halls and war memorials draws closest to his works of
church art, both formally and in terms of size.
A funeral hall is not a sacral building in the Christian
sense; it is neither a church nor a chapel. In terms of
its function, it has not been rooted in European
funerary culture for very long. In Christian tradition,
taking farewell of a deceased has always been
characterised by a period of time restricted by
specific factors. The course of activities and
ceremonial acts following the death of a human being
consisted of shorter and longer events. These took
approximately three days in total, which corresponds
to the hygienic requirements determined by the
beginning decomposition of the human body. Leading
up to the actual funeral were the following events:
washing and dressing the body; ordering and delivery
of the coffin by the nearest responsible craftsman;
putting the body into the coffin; laying out the
corpse; death vigil; prayers; visits of condolence and
the invitation to the funeral. This was followed by the
final blessing at the grave site, the death mass, and
the funeral meal.

In the 18th century, when human anatomy, physiology,

and pathology increasingly developed into areas of
research in serious science, the social phenomenon of
fearing a state of apparent death arose. Far into the
19th century, it caused mass psychoses, which people
sought to alleviate with rational, and in some cases
rather bizarre, methods and practices. Already during
the time of Josephinism it was believed that true death
was best determined by closely observing the body
during the time it was laid out until the first signs of
decomposition could be observed. For this purpose, the
installation of so-called packing chambers in the
cemeteries was ordered. In principle, these constituted
the first funeral halls. However, they were used with
little appreciation, since the social prestige associated
with a viewing at home was not conferred onto them.
The communal and multi-confessional cemeteries in
the fast growing cities of the 19th century already
contained buildings for this purpose. To this day, these
accommodate the majority of the deceased until the
funeral, and serve an administrative, hygienic, and even
artistic and aesthetic purpose, as well as functioning as
depository.

The time of preparation and laying out the corpse

were, naturally, linked to the house in which the
person had died, and where everyday life with its
basic forms of work and rest had to continue. This
three-day-pattern applied to both rural and urban
areas, and was only disrupted for those who had
occupied a high social rank; etiquette, political weight
and dynastic representation allowed persons of the
ruling classes a higher level of flexibility. Often weeks
passed between the death and the funeral, due to
building and erecting the castrum doloris, the process
of embalming, and the creation of an artificial body
for viewing during the deceaseds lying in state on a

In rural areas, for a while nothing really changed, i.e.,

the viewing of the body took place at home, followed
by the funeral procession from the home to the church
and the cemetery. Placing the body in a morgue was
seen as a sign of wretchedness and lack of reverence.
7

Taking farewell of the dead in their last residence

allowed all opportunities to follow moral and
customary duties: the social status of the deceased
and their family could be documented; hospitality as
well as communal remembrance and prayer could be
cultivated. This only changed when the cultural and
social convergence of town and country led to the
building of funeral halls in rural communities; these
were sometimes euphemistically called ceremonial
halls. As mentioned already, the wish to cope with
funerary tasks in a rational manner, along with
emotionally brighter ceremonial rooms, led to new
solutions in architecture, which offered a wider scope
for artistic embellishment. This is why Franz Wei
contributed numerous works to this type of funerary
architecture.

differentiate those of the First and the Second World

War. The perspective and colouring of the
representation are strongly reminiscent of the
Symbolist painter Ferdinand Hodler.
An unusual Virgin of Mercy rises above this image; she
can now use her protective cloak only to cover the
dead. Lamenting angels are floating in front of her, and
form a heavenly scene with the shoulder seam of the
cloak. Two further angels are flying towards the viewer
from below; one of them is pointing a mournful finger
towards the fallen, while the other is lowering a laurel
wreath onto their heads. A band of cloud divides the
mortal world of war from the celestial world of heaven.
The cross vault also offered itself for pictorial
decoration. The four segments are populated by four
crying and lamenting angels with large wings. One of
them is pointing at the fifth commandment of Mosess
Tables of the Laws: Thou shalt not kill! The memorial
on the left is assigned to World War One with its
naming of the fallen, and depicts a trench with soldiers.
Above it, clouds of detonations and sinking flares reach
into a sky, where there is aerial combat going on. A
mural, which refers to the Second World War, is
particularly touching; here, soldiers are trudging into a
desolate landscape ravaged by war, supporting a
wounded comrade.

Franz Weis war memorials and monuments to

the victims of war
1951 War memorial at the parish church St. Oswald
in Graden
Franz Wei created his first war memorial on the
south side of this Western Styrian parish church
under the immediate influence of the events in World
War Two. The artist had returned from the war
externally unharmed and whole, however his
experiences began to preoccupy him increasingly.
The post-war era was one, in which rural
communities, which up until the War had been
relatively closed and tight in their family and social
structures, tried to come to terms with the shock of
having lost many men in their prime. An even greater
number had been killed than in World War One.

This earliest of Franz Weis war memorials illustrates

that the artist succeeded in processing the war only a
few years after it had ended; this was due to his
personal experiences and went beyond any
glorification of the war. Thus he creates an objective
point of view of the subject, which many other
monuments of this time are still lacking.
The close spiritual connection to his own experiences of
the war is also expressed in another piece, even if this
cannot be categorised as memorial culture or as a war
monument. It is the parish chapel in Franz Weis home
town of Tregist near Voitsberg, which was designed and
carried out as a Gesamtkunstwerk. It arose from the
artists gratitude at having returned home from the
war, happy and unscathed. However, the redemption
and artistic execution only came to fruition more than
four decades after the war had ended.

In order to carry out his commission and put his

thoughts concerning the theme of Dying as a
Soldier into concrete terms, the artist had a niche
available to him. This was overlooking the cemetery
which surrounds the church. Wei decorated this
room entirely in frescoes. The wide, yet not very
deep, niche is occupied by the altar mensa, which
approaches the front wall and along with the wall
painting presents an image of a fallen soldier buried
under timber and soil. The artists style of painting in
this representation does not yet offer much of the
planar manner which later comes to be so
characteristic of him. Tint and perspective lend
plasticity and great natural depth to the figure fixed
in rigor mortis. However, the strip of the images
above the mensa is governed by different laws.
Again, we see those killed in action, rigid and pale.
They are placed next to each other on the ground,
and their contours run, strongly foreshortened, into
the depth of the painting. Their corporeality
established by their clothing contrasts an ashen greyyellow with the faded blue of the uniforms, which are
rendered in such detail that it is even possible to

1956 Parish church of St. Martin in St. Martin am

Wllmiberg
The remembrance of the war is here reduced to a large
exterior mosaic of the parish church. The planar
painting, which is rendered in powerful bright colours,
is a paraphrase of the well-known representation of St.
Martin cutting his cloak in two to give half to a poor
man. Martin is also the local patron saint as well as
patron to the parish. In the painting, the beggar is
represented as a wounded soldier, who receives this
donation of Christian charity and solace in a vast field
filled with graves.
8

1958 Parish church of St. Barbara in Brnbach

While two years earlier in St. Martin am Wllmiberg
the character of the pictorial representation is
reminiscent of a tapestry, we can note a change
toward an impressive severity in Brnbach, similar to
Romanesque book illustrations, which in many ways
served as a model for Wei. The surroundings of this
war memorial appear utterly changed today,
following the problematic formal and content-related
re-composition of the church exterior as well as its
surroundings at the hands of Viennese artist
Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Weis work of 1958
now has the effect of a foreign body in this
epigonically deformed world of a garden scene
thrown back into Art Nouveau. The gates of tribal and
world religions qualify Christianity in a theologically
problematic way; in their outlines, which lack clarity,
they do not lend themselves to establishing an
aesthetic contrast which could potentially be
experienced as harmonious.

served as a starting point, or a fixed point during the

proceedings. Since the orators speak in front of the
pictorially ornate wall, the latter also functions as an
acoustic aid. The suggestive gesture of Christ also
emphasises the rhetorical background of these farewell
ceremonies, which are conducted in such locations of
remembrance.
1959 War memorial at the parish church in Piber
It is well known that Franz Wei also created numerous
works as sculptor. His favoured material here was
wood. He created a non-coloured relief on a mighty
pear wood panel, showing the three Marys on their
way to Christs tomb, and puts a victoriously blessing
Christ Resurrected in relation to a central inscription,
which promises consolation to the bereaved through
their faith. Only the depiction of the Iron Cross as a
symbol for the commissioning Fellowship of Comrades
hints at the character of the work as a war memorial.
1959 Memorial chapel in Aibl near Eibiswald
The war memorial of this small Western Styrian village
is a historic street chapel with small turrets, which has
been re-designed. Both side walls flanking the main
gate show images created al fresco, which can be
programmatically attributed to both World Wars.

Due to its simplicity, the sober church of St. Barbara

designed by Graz architect Karl Lebwohl (built 1948
1952), was an excellent reminder of the material
austerity found in post-1945 buildings. Later, its
beautification also incorporated figurative glass
windows based on designs by Franz Wei, with
Friedensreich Hundertwasser himself having initiated
this commission. Graz architect Anton Walter, who
had been working in park and cemetery planning for
decades, had specified the position and build of the
wall as image carrier. There, Wei was able to
compose his mosaic, which assigns centre stage to
the fallen soldiers, stacked like felled tree trunks, i.e.
dead material, as the inscription states succinctly SIE
WERDEN AUFERSTEHEN (THEY WILL RISE). Their
rigidity, which is further emphasised by their identical
uniforms, forms a contrast to the lamenting, kneeling
woman, the sweeping folds of whose dress along
with the curve of Christs aura add a dynamic
element to the composition. The gesture of Gods
Son is suggestive, in that it picks up and emphasises
the words of the inscription with their promise. The
influence of the Romanesque periods creative drive
in art becomes particularly apparent in this figure. Yet
also the technique of mosaic plays a part; a technique
applied during the era of the developing Byzantine
style to create within an architectural context the
great depictions of Christ as the Judge of the World,
especially in the Mediterranean region.

Colouration in muted tones with a strong dominance of

blue pervades the murals, which depict the care of the
dead or injured. The image relating to World War One
shows the Mother of God as Mary in a Piet; and it is
interesting to note that she is holding Christs body
while standing in front of graves in a sombre landscape.
This, actually, paraphrases the type of the Madonna
with Infant Jesus, and indicates that a mother always
perceives her child to be above their respective age.
In the painting which relates to the Second World War,
a soldier is carrying a wounded comrade out of the
inferno of a battle which is raging in and above a
burning city in the background. The group of figures is
optically separated from the viewer through a
construction of wooden planks and barbed wire.
In a monochrome painting situated at the vertex of the
vault, an Iron Cross functioning as war decoration is
surrounded by a Crown of Thorns and laurel; it is
covered with coffins, reflecting the symbolism of
numerous victims, so typical of Wei.
1960 War memorial Frieze on the cemetery chapel in
Neumarkt
The plain chapel of the Neumarkt cemetery, which is
not identical with the newer funeral hall, has on its
windowless north-eastern exterior wall and on one side
of the small square apsis an undisrupted frieze of secco
paintings, sheltered by the heavily protruding roof. In
the scenes, which blend into one another, the
succession of images shows large, only lightly animated

In the course of transforming the church square, the

weight-bearing wall was also slightly changed. Its
function was, incidentally, determined by the fact
that rural communities even those as industrially
incllined as Brnbach held the funerals of veterans
in a ceremony of the Austrian Fellowship of
Comrades in front of such memorials, which either
9

1966 Memorial for the victims of war at Hochwechsel

At the north-western border of Styria and Lower
Austria, the war raged particularly fiercely in 1945, and
saw the final battles between the German Wehrmacht
and the Red Army. Here, entire villages were literally
burnt to the ground in the back and forth of the front,
and a disproportionate amount of civilians violently lost
their lives, alongside the fighting soldiers of both
armies. Here, the law of the victors reigned with
murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, looting, and
arson before as well as after the war had ended. Yet
here, too, the World War eventually came to a
standstill. Inevitably, all this had to be taken into
thematic consideration during the time when the war
memorials were erected. The artist was no longer able
to solely represent the values of remembrance in
general; he had to become more concrete.

figures. Due to the secco technique, the painting has

suffered some atmospheric damage by water and
fading, particularly in its lower parts, due to its
location on the weather side of the building. This,
however, does not disrupt the flow of the scenes. The
thinning of the colours heightens the impression that
one is observing a medieval Dance of Death,
especially when the scene is viewed from a distance.
The comparison to the famous Gothic ossuary of
Metnitz in the nearby Metznitztal in Carinthia is
obvious.
However, on closer inspection, it becomes apparent
that this is yet again a war memorial. The wrought
iron grave crosses of the five soldier graves that were
situated along the wall of the building at the foot of
the painting originally also provided the respective
context. A recent investigation of the situation,
however, uncovered that these grave markers no
longer exist.

Two decades after the end of the war, the deep-rooted

memory of this time therefore led to the erection of a
memorial on the Hochwechsel; it is not purely a warrior
memorial, but generally a memorial to commemorate
all victims of the war. Once again, the designs and
architectural plans lay in the hands of Graz architect
Anton Walter. The site was renovated in 1979, and in
the course of these renovations, Franz Weis Stations
of the Cross, which had originally been incorporated
into the walls, were painted over by a third party.

The succession of paintings is to be read from left

to right, i.e. it starts at the apsis of the chapel. A new
element of tackling the themes of command, war,
and death is the impressive combination of the
soldiers suffering and death with the Passion of
Christ. The departure for the front and the laments of
the women and mothers saying farewell is connected
to Jesuss parting from Mary. The death of the soldier
is captured and rendered visible in almost medieval
categories: even though the warrior carries a gun as a
weapon, Death himself represented as a ghostly
skeleton dressed in rags of the same field-grey and
green uniform cloth as the soldier pierces the
warriors heart with an arrow of death. The modern
carbine and the ancient arrow thus describe the
timelessness of dying in battle. The arrow appears in
old songs as the weapon of death (The grim reaper
would aim his arrow at life ). The scenes following
to the right depict the Flagellation, Crucifixion, and
Resurrection of Christ, projected onto a background
of bomb craters and open graves in a churned
landscape at the front. Part of Weis inventory of
war panoramas are also bright flares rising high and
war planes darting across the sky.

In creating the memorial, an area of the Hochwechsels

summit plateau, which also served as a war cemetery,
was chosen as its location. During the battles in Eastern
Styria, most of the fallen soldiers had been buried
where they had been killed. It took many years to rebury them in the local village cemeteries, where
smaller and bigger sections of war graves were created.
These are characterised by the uniformity of the grave
markers and the symbols of the respective armies. On
the Hochwechsel, 47 German soldiers were killed in
battle, only seven of whom could be identified by
name; their names are inscribed within the chapel
building. The fallen soldiers are buried in front of the
memorial. Wooden crosses with little roofs mark their
graves, which are enclosed by a low wall.
The chapel building can be seen from afar in the
treeless landscape. It is reminiscent of a medieval late
Gothic ossuary with its octagonal outline, the steep
shingled roof with a roof lantern that provides light for
the interior, and an additional peaked roof. A slightly
stylised Iron Cross at the top already creates the
association with war memorials.

The memorial in Neumark counts among the most

impressive war-themed works of Franz Wei. This
may be because the viewer can grasp the series of
images at one glance, rather than having to process a
complex fabric of individual scenes. The succession of
images is coherent also because it progresses as a
narrative, rather than being centred toward one
image a means of expression painters already used
to great effect in the late Gothic period, e.g., in
depicting the Dance of Death or the Procession of the
Three Magi.

The panels of the eight-part dome made from nonpainted larch wood provided the interior space of the
circular building which could be decorated with
paintings by the artist. The white walls below the
panels, only the front one of which is adorned with a
wooden crucifix carved by Paul Kassecker, also bear the
texts composed by P. Donatus Leicher and written by
10

Fritz Neumann. They are linked to the frieze of

images in the lower part of the dome.

of the French and their hostile invasion, which also

affected North-Eastern Styria, is commemorated as
well. Three men in non-historical uniforms, firing their
guns in rank and file, are supposed to suggest the mass
of hostile soldiers who also ravaged the area of the
Wechsel.

Inside the dome, four large angle figures structure

the eight panels, whose impressive height of 3.5
metres creates the impression of the compositions
monumentality. In between them, a wreath of coats
of arms expands, which comprise those of Austria,
Styria, and Lower Austria, but also local coats of arms
of those communities on either side of the Wechsel
which had been hit especially hard by the war. These
heraldic insignia are linked by an ornamental band
which obviously contains adornment of rural folklore
in a creative order. One of the angles is sounding the
trumpet of Judgement Day, while the one to his left is
pointing at a scroll containing the dates of the war.
The third is lamenting the death of a soldier, and the
last one is weeping as he is carrying a panel
decorated with coffins, which indicates the number
of victims, as is common in Weis pictorial
symbolism. Above the heads of these figures, the
area of the tambours inner rim is densely covered in
a meditative text by astronomer Johannes Kepler 1. In
the tambours vertex, illuminated by the entering
daylight, we can see Christ as the Judge of the World.
Above the portal, the Iron Cross as the emblem of the
Austrian Fellowship of Comrades has been affixed.

The following four scenes lead into the 20th century. A

battlefield with tanks, grenade fire, airplanes, and
plumes from explosions in the sky symbolise local
events during the war. Death as a skeleton is raising his
scythe, and civilians are lying in coffins in front of open
graves. Next to them, soldiers are dragging a wounded
comrade through a burning cityscape on a stretcher. A
kneeling woman is mourning one of the fallen soldiers,
while another one is standing in front of a destroyed
house in silent accusation.
The impression which the paintings of the Hochwechsel
memorial elicit in terms of colour is also determined by
the intensive and rather dark Weiian palette, which is
heightened by the way the light enters through the
tambour, and by the domes light uncoloured
coniferous wood lining, which functions as the carrier
for the paintings.
The internal cohesion of the images is not as powerful
in this work as in previous paintings for war memorials.
It is more decorative. One reason for this may be the
relatively large size and the architecturally strongly
segmented structure of the painted areas. The great
extent of all that is commemorated in the memorial will
also have played a part. As is often the case, it is also
probable that the artist will have been influenced by
the tastes and wishes of others.

The zone of the painting situated below, yet still

above eye level, covers all eight panels of the dome,
each of which displays a unified theme. The two sides
are linked by a monumental Virgin of Mercy who
rises somewhat above all other panels. The Mother
of God is holding the protective blue cloak, which is
lined with gold, herself. It serves as a protective
shield for standing and kneeling civilians, most of
who appear to be farmers. Mary is holding her cloak
in such a manner that the upper seam blends
smoothly into the series of paintings.

1975 War memorial in Staudach near Hartberg

In the 1945 turmoil of war, the population of the
village, which did not have a church of its own,
promised to build a village chapel, which was
consecrated in 1955. On the occasion of its full
restauration in 1975, Franz Wei was commissioned to
create a memorial to commemorate both military and
civilian victims of both World Wars. The location
available for this was a wall within the covered
vestibule of the chapel. Since a stone table of names
was also to be incorporated, the artist did not have
much space, but managed to utilise it skilfully for his
mural.

The series starts with historical reminiscences going

back as far as the times of the Turks. The viewpoint is
predominantly without perspective, much like a
tapestry. Osman horsemen are killing people, setting
villages on fire, a church is going up in flames, and
enchained people are being dragged off. The panels
Attacks of the Turks and Women in the Border
Country were painted by Franz Dampfhofer, a pupil
of Szszkowskys, after designs by Franz Wei, but
Dampfhofer applys his own colour schemes. The time

The entire composition is surrounded by an edging

which shows simple linear ornaments as well as oak
leaves and the Iron Cross as symbols of the Austrian
Fellowship of Comrades. The crosses are entwined in
bands showing the colours of the Austrian and Styrian
flags. The area above the commemorative plaque
displays a Piet against a typically Weiian backdrop of
a war cemetery stretching to the horizon. The artist
offers a new insight into human suffering: relics from
Christs Passion, the Crown of Thorns, and nails from

Creator of the worlds, almighty God, may Thy glory resound!

Even though man may disobey the commandment of Thy love,
heaven and earth proclaim Thy glory. Earthly desire contravenes
statute and law. For man is free in his choice between sin and
light. You, oh Lord, have calculated the orbits of the sun and the
moon. For the stars You have laid out the valid magnitude of their
circuit. Only man is sinful, born in sin. World, with the stars do
praise the Lords wisdom. Should our mouth fall quiet in hatred,
to You, oh Lord, the nightly storm sings praise.

11

the cross, are lying on the ground, along with the

steel helmets of the soldiers. At the foot of the
composition, coffins indicating the victims are, once
again, piled up atop each other. A laurel branch is
bent above them.

separated by a banner bearing an inscription, a war

cemetery is depicted. Its existence coincides with
reality, since Lebring was the location of a large military
camp during the First World War; the war had
necessitated the relocation of the supplementary
commands of the Bosnia-Herzegovinian military district
to Lebring in order to take in new recruits. Also, the
camp housed Russian prisoners of war. Near the camp,
which no longer exists today, a cemetery was
constructed, since epidemics with high mortality rates
occurred toward the end of the war. This cemetery also
contains a Muslim and a Russian-Orthodox section.
Wei uses the imperial and royal colours in his
schematic representation of the historic classification
of the camp, which is marked by rows of barracks. The
connection to the war cemetery is made through a
large cross in local style. While the work appears only
marginal, it offers an interesting insight into local
historic events. In this case, the artist also secured the
collaboration of painter Sepp Steurer.

1975 War memorial at the parish church in

Dechantskirchen
A vestibule contains the villages pre-existing war
memorial, whose simple architectonic premises Wei
was able to improve upon in terms of composition
and by applying his artistic means. Thus, the stone
name plaque was given a painted frame and the wall
recesss domed ceiling was decorated with a band
bearing the inscription They died for us, our love is
their reward. A carved Baroque crucifix was
endowed with a new cross, whose surface is covered
in simple ornaments and Iron Crosses as symbols for
the soldiers in enamel.
1981 Wayside Shrine with War Memorial in Zelting
A large wayside shrine, which judging by its built
stems from the 19th century, and which contains a
small bell room in its upper section, was redecorated
by Franz Wei as a small war memorial for the fallen
soldiers of the village. While both sides are reserved
for the list of names of the dead from both World
Wars, the main niche is occupied by a Virgin of
Mercy, towered over by the Holy Trinity.

1982 War memorial in Eibiswald

The border village of Eibiswald and its surrounding
communities not only mourned the fallen soldiers from
the battles of the First and the Second World War. At
the end of the war in 1945, the area was occupied by
Tito-Partisans until they were driven back by the British
occupying force. Until them, the Partisans kidnapped
many locals and murdered them in still unknown
locations beyond the present-day border between
Austria and Slovenia. The location of these bodies is
unknown to this day. This is why the chapel-like
memorial in Eibiswalds main square serves as a
memorial for dead soldiers as well as murdered
civilians.

1982 Memorial at the wayside shrine Pfarrerkreuz

in Lebring near St. Margarethen
The locally restricted cultural landscape of Styria
contains numerous wayside shrines which are often
called crosses. These are memorials in open fields
and can be seen in conjunction with private acts of
faith or donations. Often they relate legends, and in
small villages which do not have their own church or
chapel, they function as places of devotion and
prayer. Since they are made of brick, and their
roofing was rarely sufficient to protect their interiors
from the elements, the original figurative paintings in
their niches have been destroyed in most cases.
Towards the end of the 20th century, these memorials
attracted renewed attention. Cultural anthropology
and art history took an interest in them, and
restorations were being planned. In this respect, the
public and land owners achieved a lot, even if an
artistic restoration satisfying high expectations both
in terms of form and content was rarely undertaken.
Franz Wei contributed numerous works to this
artistic subject throughout the country. One of them
is the Pfarrerkreuz (Preachers Cross) in Lebring
near St. Margarethen, in Southern Styria. In its
decoration it is also to be considered a memorial for
the victims of war in a wider sense.

The plain building with its roof of Eternit shingles has

the appearance of a wayside shrine. The larger part of
the undivided niches interior is taken up by name
plaques, which are in an order according to wars and
communities, soldiers and civilians.
This memorial, once again, establishes a strong
connection to Christ as a figure of comfort and
redemption. A fallen soldier in full uniform, resting in a
painted grave-like hollow or coffin, forms the base of
the paintings on all three walls a similar setup to
Weis oldest war memorial in Graden. Above the
fallen soldiers, are name plates which were not the
artists responsibility, as well as further murals by Franz
Wei. Above the central name plate, a painting covers
the entire width of the niche: Mary is sitting in the
foreground with the dead body of Jesus in her lap in
Piet style before a field of graves with crosses and
open pits. The muted complementary colours are
particularly effective: the pale yellow of the dead body
contrasts the blue dress of the Mother of God. To the
left, a young woman depicted in back view and wearing

Here, the niche is governed by a Piet. Below,

12

a local folk costume, is mourning her husband or

brother, while to the right of the Piet an old woman
in similar dress and with flowers in her hands is
weeping for her son. Female suffering is thus shown
as both holy and human.

restricted in further ways. For one, the architectural

basis for the memorial was the so-called Mesnerkeusche (sacristans hovel) in the church yard, which
had been designed by architect Heinz Klampfl. It is to
be considered the remains of the old parish church,
which had been torn down to allow the building of a
new church in 1848. On the other hand, another local
artist, sculptor Alfred Schlosser, was involved in the
project. In his idiosyncrasies, he was a difficult-tohandle artistic counterpart in the medium of sculpture,
since his objective personal style with its tendency
toward formal reduction was on a different level from
Franz Weis art of paintings.

Here, the memorial is linked to both World Wars,

which are thematically presented in highly symbolic
paintings to the left and right of the Piet. On the left,
Jesus is carrying the cross, which is additionally
weighed down by field guns that appear to have
taken position upon him. Written down are the
names of battles locations in Galicia and at the
Western German front against France; they span the
time from 1914 until 1918. Col di Lana and the Isonzo
and Piave rivers denote the focus of the front in the
Dolomites and the material battles in East-Northern
Italy. There is a link to these war locations, since most
Styrian infantry during World War One was allocated
to the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiments No. 27
(Graz) and No. 47 (Marburg on the Drau), and was
deployed on the above specified sections of the
front.

The programme of the paintings is conceptualised as a

journey from life to death, which war forced man to
undertake. Saying farewell to mother, wife, and child is
placed entirely in the rural world, which places the
native and local elements into the foreground via the
characteristic rendering of farm house architecture.
The vaulted rooms gable end is occupied by a glass
window designed by Franz Wei, which depicts St.
George in medieval harness as patron saint of soldiers
and as Dragon Slayer. The form of the Gothic helmet is
a quote from modern times, since a small adjustment in
proportions causes it to appear similar to the steel
helmet of the World Wars.

The painting on the right also relates to European

fronts, this time in World War Two. The names Narvik
and Tobruk are linked to the Styrian Mountain Troops
in Norway and the African Corps; Sevastopol and
Leningrad to the Eastern Front. In this painting, the
bent figure of Christ is standing amidst blazing
flames, as a prisoner chained to six large rings. The
rings are accorded the names of cities one can
presume are places where men of Eibiswald were
killed: Montecassino, Cherbourg, Dresden, Nettuno,
Stalingrad, and Berlin.

Throughout his entire life, Franz Wei tried to come to

terms with the trauma of his own war experiences, also
in his works. Thus, the pieces in Hohenburg show the
1942 battle of Synjawina which the artist had
experienced and survived with burning villages, ruins,
and squadrons of airplanes. Marching German soldiers
in front of Old Russian architecture at night also
represent a memory. Wei spoke about this directly: A
small regiment proceeds through the trench; they are
going to the front, they have to go to the front. A young
lieutenant is at the helm. The brownish-red earth
symbolises a trench. A depressed state of the soldiers.
One knows exactly that they are not heading into the
unknown. What remains is an internal connection, our
humanity, the feeling that one is not alone. That is the
only glimmer of hope in this painting.

With this war memorial by Franz Wei, on the one

hand, we already enter a time, when a certain degree
of saturation had been reached regarding newly to be
designed memorials of this subject; on the other
hand, however, the zeitgeist with its radically pacifist
and pseudo-pacifist tendencies led to increasing
discussions surrounding the purpose of such
remembrance.
1987 War memorial in St. Johann ob Hohenburg
In the local parlance of this Western Styrian
community this final work of Weis on the subject is
called Chapel of Remembrance of Heroes and War.
As already mentioned, the zeitgeist had turned
against a commemoration of soldiers in a largely unreflected manner. The name already encompasses
the terminology, which later led firstly to a
polarisation of the terms and then to a primarily
ethical taboo of the term hero through political
correctness. It is well known that the various peace
movements handled the terminology of peace in a
militant manner.

The opposite wall is structured the same way. Here,

Christs suffering is interpreted as human suffering and
it is projected into the present day as Jesus is carrying
the cross. Once again, this scene takes place in a
Russian winter landscape of war. A field gun appears to
be pressing the cross even further down onto the
Saviours shoulders. The glass window on this side
shows a Piet. Additionally, Mary is carrying the Seven
Swords in her heart. In the mural above, an angel is
mourning above a desolate winter landscape with
many crosses of a war cemetery near the front.
Placing the events in the Russian milieu does not only
reflect the artists personal experience. It is well known
that the Eastern Front saw the largest number of

In undertaking this project, Franz Wei was also

13

casualties, and events there were most strongly

engraved upon the memory of the returning
survivors. This is especially true since the vast
majority of the Styrian Armed Forces belonged to the
infantry or mountain troops, who were deployed in
Russia, and suffered and died there.

symbols of salvation down from heaven; women with

the angel next to Christs empty tomb; and Christ
Resurrected guiding Adam and Eve out of sin. Due to
the incomplete documentation of the images, further
connections cannot be addressed.
1965 Funeral hall in Weikirchen an der Traun
The artist presents the majority of dcor in funeral halls
as murals or panel paintings. In contrast with church
interiors, glass windows are of lesser importance.
Where they do occur, they are kept in the technique of
cathedral glass, i.e. the coloured parts of the paintings
are connected through lead cames. In Weikirchen an
der Traun, we find the only glass window which Franz
Wei has created as a slab glass window set in
concrete. Here, the composition is not determined by
thin glass components held together by the
aforementioned cames; instead comparatively rough
slabs of glass are embedded into concrete. Their
structure allows for a much more intense colouration.
The artist only used this technique here. He confessed
that it did not serve his design ideas well enough.

Even if Christ Resurrected occupies a prominent place

in this series of paintings, he is still placed within a
war landscape with rising flares above a field of open
graves. Despite the promise, desolation dominates
the painting, as in other vault panels fallen soldiers,
lamented by wives and comrades, are subjugated by
the majesty of Death in Battle, wearing a steel helmet
and rags of a uniform. With the coffins Death is
holding in his hands he reflects the numbers of war
victims this community suffered in both the First and
the Second World War.
Funeral and ceremonial halls
Franz Weis work is strongly centred on rural areas
and village structures. Here, having the viewing of the
deceased at home was a tradition that continued for
much longer than in the cities. The differing
situations of habitation in cities and in the country
side formed part of this motivation, and must be
taken into consideration. In any case, it took a
relatively long time until buildings were introduced in
cemeteries for viewings and for saying farewell. A
number of objections had to be overcome, not only
in the areas of hygiene and the undertaker business,
but also others which were hidden much deeper in a
sense of custom and tradition. Prayer and death vigil,
as well as the reception and hospitality for the
mourners, were linked to the social prestige of the
deceaseds family. The funeral procession from the
private house to the cemetery was a further social
indicator for the position of the deceased as well as
their family.

Nonetheless, Wei created a very powerful work here.

The composition is dominated by Christ Resurrected,
who shows the conventions of this oft-repeated image
idea and emanates the illuminating powers of Weis
painting through the light skin tones and the ruby red
of his aura. However, the remarkable thing is that the
usual icon-like linear scheme is disrupted by the
representation of the forebears Adam and Eve. They
embody all of humanity and appear to be walking
towards the viewer half turned. The Garden of Eden is
hinted at with plants and flowers. In this, the artist
moves toward his earlier mosaic art which he handles
very skilfully.
1973 Funeral hall in Unzmarkt
In the funeral hall on the East cemetery of Unzmarkt,
we have a case of not wall-mounted object-related
artistic decoration; it was applied later in form of panel
paintings. These were affixed to the head of the bier
and furnished with a textile nimbus. The proportions of
this part of the room lend themselves to a round form
being used, which Franz Wei has chosen to depict
Christ Resurrected. The gesture of blessing and promise
is further intensified here by the outer curvature of a
banderole which also underlines the reference to
eternal life in the Christian faith.

The artistic design of a building used for funeral

ceremonies is very limited in terms of theme,
iconography, and space. In essence, it is restricted to
the promise of resurrection and overcoming death
through Jesus Christ, perhaps also including
Judgement Day and the Redeemer as the Judge of
the World. Paintings can, in fact, only be affixed
above the bier, so that the viewers gaze on the coffin
and the symbols are reflected in the art, and feelings
of grief are ameliorated or transfigured.

The pastoral staff in the Saviours left hand contains a

folkloristic element: a bunch of flowers loosely tied
around it, which evokes the Easter Resurrection and
reminds us of a Hochzeitslader (in German a person
involved in the process of inviting to, and carrying out
the festivities at, a wedding) with his flower-decorated
staff, who announces a time of happiness. Light colours
additionally emphasise the idea of a joyful resurrection,

1964 Funeral hall in Wies

The frescoes of this building no longer exist, since the
building itself had to make way for a newly built
funeral hall. However, they were captured in images.
The murals were located on the halls exterior wall,
and near the door they show mourners and people
who were being comforted; an angel carrying
14

a wish that had been expressed on gravestones in the

past.

surrounded by blossoming spring snowflakes. Towards

the right, the cycle ends with the three Marys next to
the empty tomb, and with a Piet, which has Jesus
resting in his mothers lap, as had been the common
form of depiction in Gothic sculptures.

1973 Funeral hall in St. Veit am Vogau

The temporal proximity to the paintings in Unzmarkt
(carried out the same year) is very noticeable in this
work. Once again, the artist has decorated the wall
behind the bier, and once again he has eschewed
murals. This time, he chose wood panels as carrier for
his paintings, as it heightens the illuminating powers
of his chosen paints.

1978 Funeral hall in Schlierbach

Franz Wei had a particular connection to Schlierbach
in Upper Austria, since the designs for his glass
paintings in cathedral or cement technique were
rendered in the monasterys own glass workshop. Also
the painting in the Schliebach funeral hall bears
reference to the Cistercian monastery. The image was
created as a panel painting and has been incorporated
into a large cross at the front wall, which thus functions
as the paintings frame. At the very bottom edge of the
image, we can see the characteristic building of the
monastery with its turrets and window axes. Above it,
there appears a large round form, with Christ
Resurrected standing in its upper section, a Christian
vexillum in his hand, displaying the gesture of blessing,
while the lower section shows Christ on the cross; the
cross beam simultaneously serves to divide the image
area of the tondo. The tondos rim forms a band, and
the part of the band facing Christ Crucified represents
the sphere of human suffering through a stylised Crown
of Thorns. From it, however, springs a garland of roses,
which accompanies the Easter world of Christ
Resurrected.

The composition is arranged in three horizontally

layered parts. The large central round form presents
an inner circle with Christ Resurrected rising
victoriously, holding a pastoral staff and displaying
the gesture of blessing. A beam divided by the tondo
shows miniatures of the three Marys at the empty
tomb, from where the angel is addressing the
women. Colourful tulips as flowers of spring fill the
remaining spandrel of the round. Above it, Christ
becomes visible, sitting on the rainbow in a
mandorla, where the architecture adds additional
spatial depth. Below, separated by a scroll, an older
crucifix hangs on the same axis of reflection. For this
crucifix, Wei has created a painted cross, which is
decorated with a darkened sun and moon.
1975 Funeral hall in Birkfeld
The pictorial decoration of the funeral hall in Birkfeld
is distinct from all others in that it was painted onto
the outside of the doors leading into this new
cemetery building. The five doors with a dark varnish,
which allows the variations in the woods surface
with its joints and grain structure to be clearly visible,
show a complete cycle of paintings which are clearly
distinguished from the dark background through the
luminous colours radiating from within.

1980 Funeral hall in Fischbach

In this ceremonial hall, Franz Wei created the artistic
decoration of the walls as well as two glass windows. It
is well known that glass paintings form a fundamental
part of the artists decorative oeuvre. Similar to St. Veit
am Vogau, the Wei used an already existing, woodcarved vernacular baroque crucifix as the basis for the
composition in the new, architecturally not particularly
well-proportioned room. He painted the assisting
figures of Mary and John in the manner of traditional
cast-iron grave crosses of the 19th century and
juxtaposed them with the sturdy plasticity of Christs
body on a spar affixed to the painted planar cross,
which had the same width as the cross-beam of the
cross. It simultaneously functions as the linking element
to the panel paintings top part, which is affixed to the
un-painted wood of the diagonal ceiling panelling, and
once again shows Christ Resurrected.

Content-wise the representations, once again, deal

with the Death and Resurrection of Christ; however,
they are not to be read in a narrative order. On the
outer left side, the artist has dared to show a unique
interpretation of Christ resting in his tomb: the body
is shown in rigor mortis, and strong ears of grain are
growing out of the stigmata; the ears evoke the
parable of the body of Christ as bread. Wei also
quoted this symbolism in the murals of the Tregist
Chapel. This is followed by the Raising of Lazarus,
who is leaving the entrance to a grave wrapped in
bandages. The stone in front of the entrance has just
been removed, and the painting on the next door
shows Christ, who is ordering this miracle with an
extensive gesture of his hand, as well as two
disciples. The following image leads to the
Resurrection of Christ himself, as he rises victoriously
radiant from his tomb on Easter morning. The Easter
events are clearly set in spring time, as the tomb is

The two figurative glass paintings are embedded into the

slanting wood-clad jambs of the window openings. They
show Christ Raising Lazarus and the three Marys with
the angel at the empty tomb of Christ Resurrected. The
outlines of the very statuesque composition are strong
and partially enforced with lead cames, while the
hatching and stippling in schwarzlot are restrained and
more roughly sketched. In terms of colouration, only the
red in Christs and the womens robes stands out.
15

1982 Funeral hall in Wildon

The individual parts of the panel paintings which
adorn the front wall of the Wildon funeral hall are
more organically linked to one another. The open
tomb, viewed slightly in perspective, with Christ
Resurrected standing triumphantly in gleaming light
above it, rises out of the unwieldy outlines of the
darkened Crucifixion scene at the foot of the
composition. This time, Christ is accompanied by the
symbols of the Eye of God and the Dove of the Holy
Spirit, which simultaneously presents the theological
credo of the Holy Trinity. What is unusual about the
crucifixion is that Mary Magdalen, the third of the
assisting figures, is holding a tin of balm at the feet of
Christ Crucified. The image of the Wildon parish
church creates a real topographic connection to its
location in Southern Styria. The stars scattered across
the upper part are an element which sums up nobly
the composition of Christs body. They symbolise the
darkening of heaven in the hour of Jesuss death,
which Wei usually hints at with the sun and the
moon.

1983/84 Funeral hall in Sinabelkirchen

The spatial disposition of this funeral hall allowed the
artist to create a monumental wall decoration in four
parts, as the rooms open roof truss opens up a
generous attic-like area along the outer line of the
gable, but also because its size made it possible to
execute a fresco.
Once again, Christ as the central figure occupying
almost the entire area appears as Judge of the World in
a star-covered mandorla. His feet with the stigmata
rest on the globe which is covered by a cross. The very
statue-like posture and blessing gesture are
emphasised by the architecture of the columns, gables,
and arches, among which the figure surrounded by
light has been placed. Incidentally, the artist has kept
the entire composition in a colour scheme which
exclusively uses earthen tones, from light ochre to
grey-blue to ochre-red and raddle.
The dominating image of Christ as Judge is unusually
tempered both theologically as well as in terms of
content: to Christs left, the Virgin Mary depicted at a
smaller scale on grounds of hierarchy is shown at the
moment of the Annunciation; to his right, the
Archangel Michael is weighing the souls on Judgement
Day. Mary, with a bunch of lilies and the Dove of the
Holy Spirit as attributes, signifies the start of the road
to redemption. Her hands are folded in prayer and she
is holding an anachronistic! rosary. On the one
hand, Michael with his curved sword and warriors
helmet can be understood as a soldier against evil; but
on the other hand, his scales are tipping in favour of
the sinner who is being judged, and whose good deeds
outweigh the bad ones. The iconographic and symbolic
structure of this painting, once again, makes palpable
the artist Franz Weis strong creative powers.

1983 Funeral hall in Bad Radkersburg

The funeral hall in Radkersburg is a large seated hall,
whose front wall is architecturally accented via a
large round window. This is adorned with a glass
painting by Franz Wei; it depicts, as it must in this
context, a classic image of prophecy: Christ is shown
in a gesture of blessing, appearing as a mild Judge of
the World of classical aspiration. As it is common for
depictions of Judgement Day, Christ with the Book of
Law is sitting on the rainbow reminiscent of a
judgement seat. However, at the same time his
pastoral staff, the sun and moon of the hour of death
on the cross, and his stigmata express that his death
will be followed by the redemption and not the
judgement of humankind.

The entire width of the rooms gable end is occupied by

a narrative strip of a painting populated by many figures,
which yet intensifies the colour scheme of the painting
above. Christ is standing before Pontius Pilate in a
Second World War uniform; depictions of Christ carrying
the cross and of the crucifixion with the Roman
centurion and John the Evangelist as bystanders lead
from the right side toward Christ Resurrected, intercepted by a meditative text at the centre of the wall.
Adam and Eve, the forebears, are kneeling at the side of
Christ Resurrected probably representing all of
humanity. The nimbi surrounding their heads hint at the
salvation of even these first sinners. Adjacent to Adam
and Eve, a mysterious door locked with bolts and latches
is shown. It is mysterious because, according to Christian
understanding, Christ broke all the locks and bolts at the
entrance to limbo ( descended into hell). This locked
gate, at the same time, forms the backdrop to the last
scene, which is populated with the most figures and
shows the disciples with Doubting Thomas at the
apparition of Christ in his transfigured body.

The halls broad gable end under the window which

allows the light to flow in is as succinct as can be
expected. However, it is effectively decorated with a
cycle of panel paintings, whose plain wooden frames
remind us of the panels on a Gothic winged altar. A
centrally depicted Christ Resurrected, displaying the
familiar Weiian gesture, towers above the other
four panels. From left to right, the four other
paintings depict the raising of a dead man, Christs
death, his resurrection and his apparition in a
transfigured body at the Raising of Lazarus; Jesus on
the Cross, the Three Marys at the Empty Tomb, and
Doubting Thomas. The composition for the Raising of
Lazarus is identical to the painted window which had
been created in Fischbach three years earlier.

16

1986 Funeral hall in Bad Gams ob Frauental

The pictorial decoration of the front wall follows
Weis common scheme practised so frequently in
funerary buildings, which is to enlarge Christ
Resurrected so that he towers over the Crucifixion.
The colouring is more muted and deeper, though.
The people present are shown in a different light; for
instance, Mary herself is gathering the hearts blood
in a chalice. The shape of the cross is as we would
usually find it in the Orthodox Church, i.e. with a
slanted foot beam. On the cross, the names of the
forebears, Adam and Eve, suggest the male and
female element in the assisting figures. This is a
reference to the pairs legendary grave in Golgotha,
which in Christian art is typically depicted with a skull
and bones at the foot of the cross.

are growing with hosts floating above them. Thus, the

suffering of the Saviour is linked to the symbolism of
flesh and blood as bread and wine. Christ Resurrected
victoriously rises above this conspectus of his passion
and death.
Painted decorations of cemetery entrances
1986/1993 Entrance to the cemetery in Gro St.
Florian
In earlier phases of Franz Weis faade paintings, only
parts of the walls were used as painting surfaces.
However, starting around the time of his work in the
Tregist village chapel, he began to incorporate the
entire area of the given architecture, reminiscent, for
instance, of the Orthodox painting tradition, especially
of Orthodox monastery churches. The monumental
brick-built portal building of the Gro St. Florian
cemetery presents itself in this same manner. Its
architectural specifications with an artistic cast iron
barred gate and gable cross links back to the
historicising styles of the 19th century.

1990/91 Funeral chapel in Stiwoll (Rosary Chapel)

Franz Wei planned this chapel with his frequent
collaborator, the Graz architect Anton Walter, who
specialised in memorial and funerary culture. It was
to be used for laying out the dead in this village
community, and quotes elements of traditional
folklorist and rural architecture of the region. Wei
was restricted here to a gable painting and a cycle of
panel paintings in the interior. On the faade of the
chapel, under a small hipped ridge of the tiled roof,
he repeats his oft-practised presentation of Christ
Resurrected, whom he has placed among the group
of three women standing at Christs empty tomb
along with the angel who is sending them away.

The images, which are separated from one another

only by small rims, start at eye level. The area below is
reserved for explanatory texts. In terms of the
narrative, the cycle begins on the left hand side, where
an angel is standing at the empty tomb of Christ
Resurrected, while the background shows a
recognisable image of the local parish church, thus
creating a real link to the present. In terms of content,
it is interesting to note that the series of paintings only
address the resurrected Saviour, while the Passion,
which would be evidence of the mortal man who
suffered on earth, remains unmentioned.

Both sides of the funeral room display two five-part

series of panel paintings in Baroque-style frames. The
first one shows the Annunciation, the Visitation,
Christs birth, his presentation at the temple, and
Jesus as a child teaching in the temple; it thus segues
from the life of Mary on this side to the Passion of
the Lord on the opposite side. There, depictions of
the scene on the Mount of Olives, the Flagellation,
Christ receiving the Crown of Thorns, and him
carrying the cross lead up to the Crucifixion.

Other contents of the painting sections are the guards

sleeping at the tomb, Christ Resurrected, the Three
Marys at the Tomb, Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalen,
Jesus displaying his wounds to Doubting Thomas and
the Apostles.
1996/97 Cemetery entrances and cemetery wall in
Brnbach
Thus far, there are only relatively few village and town
cemeteries that have architecturally representative
entrance areas. Following the increasing number of
newly built functional structures for funeral and
ceremonial purposes, now also portals and cemetery
walls are starting to be included in contemporary
designs. On the one hand, the wall and gate separate
two contrasting worlds, that of the living and that of
the dead. The function of the wall is to form a
protective barrier; the German word for cemetery,
Friedhof, derives from umfrieden (to enclose). Thus,
the wall has a practical as well as an aesthetic function;
and it facilitates the positioning of crypts with high
structures as well as the installation of local works of

1995 Funeral room in St. Martin am Wllmiberg

The parish church of St. Martin already possesses a
1956 war memorial mosaic by Wei. On its gable
wall, the towns funeral hall shows a strictly
symmetrical panel painting which, once again,
addresses the Christian view of death and
resurrection. Fitted into a central image plane, a
crucifixion group appears in strictly linear
composition above the body of Christ in his tomb,
viewed diagonally from above. This echoes a thought
Franz Wei had formulated a few years earlier on the
Tregist village chapel, and which brings into play the
worship of Christs stigmata. From the wound in his
chest as well as from the cross stigmata, cornstalks
17

art on its large empty spaces. The cemetery in

Brnbach shows the largest and last example of Franz
Weis painterly decoration of entrance architecture.
The structure, which consists of two entrances and
several connecting wall pieces, was, once again,
carried out by Graz architect Anton Walter. The larger
one of the gateways, which is crowned with a cross,
can also be understood as a bell tower.

Cemetery crosses and Absetzkreuze

Large crosses form a meditative centre in Christian
cemeteries. The earliest of these solitary crucifixes
were high crosses in Early Medieval Ireland, where they
were the centre point of monasteries. Their stone
plasticity allows them to function as carrier for entire
programmes of images in relief form. This potential was
also exploited by Franz Wei in his only monumentscale crucifix. Following local tradition, he also revisited the idea of the Absetzkreuz a cross which
signifies the place where a coffin is set down for the
last time before interment and created correlating
images.

The faade painting above the latters gate arch emits

a nave and friendly atmosphere: in a cloth, angels
carry small human figures the souls into the
eternal light of Heaven. A corresponding inscription
accompanies the painting as an explanation. The arch
of the entrance is clad in raw softwood and indicates
with this painting that the entrance into eternal bliss
for the mortal is preceded by their personal judgment
as well as the Last Judgement. Therefore, Jesus Christ
is sitting on a throne as Judge of the World at the
centre of the painting. He is seated on the rainbow in
the middle of an almond-shaped halo and is holding
the Book of the Seven Seals in his hand. In the artists
interpretation, he is turning to the town of Brnbach
in particular, whose name is also inscribed on the
globe upon which Christs feet are resting. Six angel
figures in small panels symbolise the trumpets of
Judgement Day. In creating this painting, Wei has
also eternalised the most current position in terms of
belief, namely Mother Teresa.

2000 Cemetery cross at the Brnbach cemetery

When Franz Weis functional works are exposed to
the elements, the artist often employed the technique
of enamel, which combines durability with intense
colour. This is also how the cemetery cross in Brnbach
was created, which was consecrated in the course of
the All Saints Day celebrations at the turn of the
millennium. Relative to its size, the outline of the cross
is very delicate and structured in a fashion which is art
historically reminiscent of Byzantine, Orthodox, and
medieval Italian traditions. This is to say that both the
shaft and the arms of the cross feature areas which can
function as carriers for images. Thus, at the centre of
the cross we behold a unique image of Christ Crucified,
whose gesture turns being nailed to the cross into an
embrace of the world. Both sides and the upper end of
the cross display angels with the trumpets of
Judgement Day, while the shaft shows a rather unusual
conspectus of assisting figures in the form of annexes
on both sides: the familiar Holy Mary is not
accompanied by St. John, but by St. Barbara, the
important patron saint of the mining town of Brnbach,
with the chalice, sword, and tower as her attributes.
With an inscription of names and dates, the part of the
shaft in between those figures commemorates two
personalities who were most significant for new
creations in Brnbachs sacral world, and were
therefore closely connected to Franz Wei: Franz
Derler (19141961), founding pastor of the church, and
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (19302000), who
designed the parish churchs radical redecoration.

The pictorial composition linking both gate

complexes is closed within itself, and displays
subdued glowing colours. Here, Franz Wei has
created a daring arc of Christs Redemption, both in
terms of content and iconography. Reaching from a
cross shrouded in darkness, the Saviour is opening
the gates to hell with a key; he then, as is said in the
Creed, descends into hell. Already the medieval world
of symbols surrounding the Living Cross was a
pictorial interpretation of this descent into limbo. At
the centre of this wall fresco, Christ Resurrected is
standing above his empty tomb, bathed in light. He
does not stop at blessing humanity with the wellknown gesture; in reconciliation, he also offers his
hand to Adam and Eve, our very ancestors and
representatives of all humankind, who received
forgiveness through his death. On the right hand side
of the composition, St. Dismas, the Penitent Thief,
appears; he serves as an example for a repentant
sinner amidst a vernally blossoming world which is
further enriched by St. Mary of Magdalene, who
similarly represents the idea of repenting ones sins.
Three diagonal shapes divide the painting: the cross
of Christ Crucified, the pastoral staff of Christ
Resurrected, and St. Dismass cross. Also the figure of
Eve is leaning gently in the same direction.

The back of the cross is not decorated with figures, but

with inscriptions. In the centre, they read, DER HERR
IST MEIN HIRT UND MEIN HEIL (The Lord is my
Shepherd and my Salvation) and below a quote from an
old choral, JESUS MEINE FREUDE (Jesus my Joy).
1998 Mosaics of St. Mary and St. John on the
cemetery cross next to the parish church in Anger
In rural areas, leave-taking from the deceased usually
happens in the parish church. In Anger near Weiz, we
find a large old cemetery cross with a Baroque corpus
18

near the inside of the former cemetery wall, which

had surrounded the church in the past. This is where
the coffin is set down one final time, before the
funeral procession moves on to the new cemetery.
Franz Wei created a mosaic for each of the two
recessing chapels to the left and the right of the
cross, which show the Mother of God and St. John,
respectively, as assisting figures. Both are standing in
rays of light, which seem to emanate from Christ
Crucified. Mary is praying and mourning quietly in
front of a gloomy background. The figure of John, on
the other hand, appears light-flooded within itself as
a result of skilfully placed golden stones. Unusual in
this context, this accentuates the visionary character
of the young man, who is already represented as the
creator of the Secret Revelation, holding in his hands
the Book of the Seven Seals. The notion of listening in
on heavenly spheres is emphasised by his hand lifted
to his ear.

on the coffin lid, with Christ Resurrected above it as a

sign of salvation. Below, the Madonna of Ears (in a
dress decorated with golden ears of wheat) of the
Straengel type is depicted; this is a frequent
iconographic type in Styria, and had been researched
by local cultural anthropology. To the side, we can also
see the Maria Lankowitzer Gnadenbild; it serves as a
parable for the close connection Koren had to his
immediate home country, as had Franz Wei, who had
also grown up under the spell of this miraculous image
of Marys. A third Styrian Gnadenbild was added: the
Zellermutter (Holy Mother of Mariazell). Texts about
Christ and Mary signify the inner religious link of the
academic and politician to his life of faith. The
sarcophagus also displays representations of saints,
inscribed into painted arcades; they remind us that
Hanns Koren had also written a traditional book on the
rural world of peasant faith, Peasant Heaven
(Bauernhimmel). Mary Magdalen, patron saint of the
parish of Kpflach, is recognisable, as is St. Barbara,
patron saint of the Western Styrian miners; likewise,
we find St. Joseph, patron saint of Styria, as well as the
apostle St. Bartholomew. The latter is the namesake
saint of Korens community of residence. Lastly, St.
Martin appears, who is especially linked to the
organisation of the Volksbildungsheim and its founder,
Monsignore Steinberger. The Styrian coat of arms, as
well as that of the town of Kpflach, further signify
Korens home in a larger as well as narrower sense.

Painted coffins
In formal terms, the wooden coffin in Christian
burials has its origins in the tree coffin of prehistoric
times, and in the death plank which was
characteristic for the southern German area east of
the Lech. The latter was used to lay out the dead, and
after the body had been put in a coffin and buried,
the plank was painted with sayings and symbols and
placed outside to rot away. There is only scant
evidence that coffins crafted by carpenters had been
decorated with paintings in central Austria; their
existence can be supported for the end of the 18th
century. The funeral cloth, which was decorated with
embroidery and applique, was used for ornamental
purposes during the final rites.

Grave crosses and other individual grave

memorials in cemeteries
Grave markers indicate the final resting place of a
human being. As time passes, further deceased family
members are interred, and the grave becomes a family
grave, which can receive one generation after another.
This necessitates increasing additions and thus changes
to the memorial; the decorations are determined by
current taste, as well as by the economic situation or
the need for representation of those affiliated with the
grave. The further back one goes in the chronology of
burials in a graveyard, the rarer gravestones and
crosses from more distant times become. Gravestones
from a long time ago are always only to be found in the
interior of churches or incorporated into church yard
and cemetery walls. Thus immured they also survive
because they are made from durable material, and the
value of their remembrance went unchallenged, even if
the familys name had long died out. Cultural heritage
preservation only started to address funerary culture
and art in the late 20th century, even though the
protection of heritage is particularly difficult in this
context.

It was assumed far into the 20th century, that coffins

had to be fitting for their dark, functional purpose,
and they were kept in black or other dark colours. A
lighter choice of colours emerged only gradually. The
obligatory cross served as decoration on the coffin
lid. Later, simple relief carvings were added. The fact
that Franz Wei painted an entire series of coffins for
the Koren family can be regarded as an absolute
novelty in our times.
1985 Paintings on the coffin of Landtagsprsident
(President of the Styrian State Parliament), Prof. Dr.
Hanns Koren
Already years before his death, the Styrian cultural
anthropologist Hanns Koren asked Franz Wei to
paint a coffin for his late wife. When Prof. Koren was
himself dying, the family asked the artist to start
work on another wooden coffin completely
decorated with symbols and images of saints, so that
it would be available for the funeral.

A field of graves between the church and cemetery

walls was almost mandatory until the 18th century,
since burials were only permitted to take place near the

The photographs from 1985 show a central crucifix

19

Selected examples of funerary art

techniques and themes

parish church. These fields provided space for

individual graves, which were originally only
decorated with a perishable wooden cross. When the
art forging spread in the 16th and 17th centuries, an
increasing number of iron grave crosses of high
artistic value emerged in our landscapes. Only few of
these remain in their original locations, but some
have found their ways into museum collections. NeoClassicism added a new type of grave memorial
carried out in cast iron. In the late 19th century, cast
iron crosses were already to be considered massproduced; and especially in rural areas a substantial
number of them has survived. This was also the onset
of the serial production of grave markers. Especially
solitary stones began to displace the crosses.

Using wood as a material for grave reliefs enables the

artist to work in generous lines, which can be achieved
by a carving knife. A wooden surface allows the artist to
create the notion of liveliness. Simultaneously,
however, it also suggests evanescence like the mortal
shell of a human being. Despite this, it can last for
centuries.
The grave which Franz Wei created in the Voitsberg
cemetery (first funeral 1961) for his parents and
siblings shows such a relief, which depicts Christ
Resurrected. The back of the grave marker carries an
enamel image on copper of the angel at Christs empty
tomb, repeating the format of the image on the front.

The symbolic imagery in relief and sculpture, as well

as the materials used, were standardised, which led
to church and communal cemeteries adopting the
increasingly depressing look of a stone desert, which,
in fact, still continues today. As the recent zeitgeist
has triggered nostalgic feelings, the past few
decades have seen an increase in (mostly machinemade) iron crosses. This has changed the appearance
of cemeteries, in some areas more than in others.

The grave memorial of Hanns Korens family in St.

Bartholom follows the design of Anton Walter; it is
fashioned like a wayside shrine and contains a large
carved panel. The inscriptions are separated from each
other by a relief showing the Throne of Mercy which
is a specific interpretation of the Holy Trinity and by
the Gnadenbild of Maria Lankowitz. An enamel panel
commemorates Korens son Wolfang, who died at a
young age; it shows St. Wolfgang, the late sons
namesake saint.

Despite all this, new and appealing works of art can

be found. Much credit must go to Franz Wei, for it
was him who introduced a friendly colourfulness with
his enamel works on grave markers into our grey-ongrey cemeteries, whose appearance had previously
only been lifted by the presence of flowers. Wei
combines material durability with the colourfulness
appropriate for the message conveyed by his symbols
of salvation and the figures of saints. The same
prominence of colour also characterises his murals,
glass and reverse glass paintings.

Franz Wei already pre-empts the colourfulness of his

enamel works in his mosaics on gravestones, e.g. on
the undated gravestone Grinschgl in Ligist. Christs
hand raised in a gesture of blessing, his crown, and the
dove with the olive branch signify the reconciliation of
God with humanity in both the Old and the New
Testament. Also in the Pack cemetery a gravestone
speaks to the viewer using the same technique. The
mosaic of Christ as Judge of the World decorating a
wall grave in Kaindorf is more monumental.

However, his enamel works on graves only appear in

a later phase of his oeuvre, most likely because of the
advanced development of technical possibilities.
Before but also later Franz Wei decorated his
grave memorials in other materials and applied
different techniques. We see wood as well as stone
reliefs, but also mosaics, murals, and works in metal.

Older stone monuments also received new enamel

panels by Franz Wei, e.g. the grave of Father
Dreisibner in Wildon, which shows an empty grave and
Christ on Judgement Day; or the neo-classical stone in
Wies, which depicts an angel sending the women away
from the empty tomb.
The church wall in St. Helen near Mhlen forms the
backdrop for the Kreinbucher grave marker (first burial
1968). Here an enamel piece depicting Christ as the
Judge of the World is vibrantly set off from the iron
cross.

One of the difficulties intrinsically connected with

works of art on graves is the fact that the artist is
frequently confronted with already existing
gravestones, areas of wall, and grave crosses, which
are then to be decorated. It is only rarely possible for
an artist to determine the overall appearance of the
entire work. The date of the first funeral as indicated
on the grave marker does not necessarily coincide
with the time the work was actually created. Often,
new works replace existing markers a long time after
those had originally been created, but the dates and
names of the deceased remain incorporated in the
text on the new piece.

In Wildon, we find a grave monument from 1983,

crowned by the patron saint of miners, St. Barbara, in
enamel; it is additionally characterised by a miners
hammer and an iron coat of arms. In St. Veit am Vogau,
St. Francis of Assisi with his stigmata, clearly a namesake
saint, appears next to Christ Crucified. An enamel of St.
Mary in the form of the Mariazell Gnadenbild is
presented on the back of the bronze grave cross in Wies,
which on the front shows Christ Resurrected.
20

The serial piece of the martyr memorial

for Pastor Heinrich Dalla Rosa

On the cemetery in Ligist, we discover the grave of

Austrias most highly decorated academic, the fivetime doctor and two-time master Franz Meissel
(19191995). He was a friend of Franz Weis, and his
grave shows a complex design. The artist
incorporated a monumental enamel panel with the
Holy Trinity depicted as a Throne of Mercy, but also
the academic curriculum vitae of the deceased
through the various faculty symbols of the university.

In the artists oeuvre, we find numerous examples of

works which address historical events and persons that
seemed of importance in the context of programmes
for the decoration of churches, chapels, schools,
memorials, etc. Here, the artistic interpretation of the
life and martyrdom of a 20th century blood witness,
who worked as pastor in St. Georgen near Obdach in
Upper Styria, is particular interest. Pastor Heinrich Dalla
Rosa was caught in the frays of the Third Reichs blood
and revenge vengeance and died on the 24th of January
1945 on the guillotine in Vienna. Franz Wei crafted
the first grave marker, the interior of a memorial
chapel, and a cycle of work encompassing the Stations
of the Cross for Dalla Rosa in the priests South
Tyrolean birth place. Wei thus contributed to the
glorification of this martyr in an artistic way. 2

Wrought iron grave crosses gain a much stronger

suggestive power in connection with a luminous,
colourful enamel plaque. Franz Wei designed and
carried out the most artistic of these grave markers
for the teacher and local historian Imma Waid (
1981) of Mariazell. Her grave in the Mariazell
cemetery is adorned with a monumental wrought
iron cross in the classic shape of a monstrance which
plays on the outline of the actual cross in a lively way.
Wei has placed panels of enamel on the crosss roof,
as well as on its foot and cross beam; these panels
depict various saints and angels alongside the Passion
of Christ.

The remains of the executed priest could only be found

and identified after the end of the war; he was laid to
rest in his parish of St. Georgen in 1946. In 1965, Franz
Wei created two enamel appliques for a traditionally
shaped wrought iron grave cross, which had originated
at the Pelzmann workshop. The appliques show Christ
Resurrected and below the symbols of priesthood: the
chalice, host, and stole. Since the unassuming grave
was located in front of the bare northern exterior wall
of the parish church, it was decided to extend it into a
memorial, and in 1992, Franz Wei was commissioned
with its design. The artist decided to incorporate the
church wall and used it as carrier and surface for a
painted architectural arc, in the arcades of which we
find depictions of Christ at the Column and as Good
Shepherd. The central arch is crowned by a halo, as the
original cross is situated in front of it.

The grave cross for the head master Gustav

Schffmann ( 1965) in Friedberg is more plain and
formally reduced. Among others, St. Cecilia, patron
saint of church music, flanks Christs centrally located
empty cross. At the same location, we can also find a
wall recess containing a cross in the most simple,
modern forged form; it shows St. Augustine as a
namesake saint.
Namesake saints also adorn other grave crosses: the
Archangel Michael that of Prof. Michael Pfliegler in
Gutenbrunn, and St. Anthony of Padua as well as St.
Mary in the form of the Lankowitzer Gnadebnild that
of the Knilli family in Gro St. Florian.

Since as a child Pastor Dalla Rosa had grown up in the

Eastern Styrian village of Burgau from age of six
onward, his adopted home, too, erected a chapel in his
memory, especially since he had celebrated his first
mass as a newly ordained priest there in 1935. Franz
Wei designed and carried out the murals, which he
completed in 1989. In an impressive manner, the
pictorial programme densely populates a large wall
area. It contains actual things and events, such as a
representation of the Primiz Church, the priest
celebrating mass beneath a crucifix, a Gothic statue of
the Madonna in Burgau, and Dalla Rosas namesake
saint, St. Henry. There are also symbolic images, such as
the coat of arms of the priests birth place, Brixen, the
flooding light of Gods grace, and the Holy Spirits
flaming tongues. A precise text appreciating Dalla Rosas
biography, carried out in Weis typical writing, book,
chalice, and host form the lower part of the painting.

The 1968 copper grave cross for Pastor Alois

Puntigam in the cemetery of Bad Radkersburg gains
relief-like plasticity through a strong application of
enamel. On one side, it shows Christ blessing down
from the cross with an audacious gesture, and on the
block-like back side, it display symbols such as chalice
and book as a sign of priesthood, as well as the
Monogram of the Virgin Mary.
Beyond the borders of Austria, we find five grave
decorations in Augsburg. There the large enamel
panel for wax artist Helmschrott (1987) shows
various forms of decorated candles surrounding the
cross. The grave markers of the family of Dr Franz
Spengler lead us into the artists circle of friends. In
Innichen, South Tyrol, Franz Wei decorated the
grave of the conservationist Josef Kasebacher (
1979) with and enamel of Christ Resurrected and the
deceaseds namesake saint St. Joseph as a carpenter.

For Dalla Rosas biographs see: Treu bis in den Tod: Heinrich Dalla
Rosa (19091945), Bozen 1986.

21

1990/91, were created in the priests memory. Thus,

the artist brought forth an artistically and formally
connected complex in three different locations, which
is dedicated to the life and suffering of a historically
relevant personality.

Lana, Dalla Rosas South Tyrol birth community, also

commemorated the deceased. As early as in 1986, an
enamel memorial plaque was fashioned by Wei,
which compares Christ as the Good Shepherd with
the priest Dalla Rosa shepherding his flock. In 2000,
the Stations of the Cross, designed by Franz Wei in

22