German court rules anti-Jewish statue can remain on church

Germany’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that an infamous antisemitic sculpture does not need to be removed from a church in Wittenberg, the town in which Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Die-95 Thesen (Ninety-five Theses) in 1517.

The “Jedensau,” or Jew’s sow, is a 13-century bas relief in the church’s façade that depicts a rabbi peering into a pig’s anus while two children suckle its teats, reports The Times of Israel.

Pigs are considered unclean in Judaism. The Wittenberg stone carving is one of about two dozen similar sculptures from the Middle Ages, meant to signal that Jews were not welcome, that still remain on churches across Europe.

The Federal Court of Justice rejected an appeal from a local man who had argued for years it was insulting to all Jews and upheld a lower court ruling, saying although it was offensive, there was no breach of the law.

The court also said the church had taken sufficient steps to address antisemitism by installing a memorial and information board, according to The Times.

Jewish advocates said the installations did not go far enough at a time of rising antisemitism across Europe.

“The defamation of Jews by the church must be a thing of the past once and for all,” said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

The Wittenberg stone carving is one of about two dozen similar sculptures from the Middle Ages, meant to signal that Jews were not welcome, that still remain on churches across Europe.

But the Wittenberg relief is notable for its ties to Luther, whose later sermons and writings were marked with antisemitism – something that the Nazis would cite to justify the Holocaust, reports The Times.

The decision can still be appealed to Germany’s constitutional court.