Ok, here’s a gruesome one! I have blogged about this, but death and art are mixed here in these ‘Kleindenkmals’ or small rememberings that are posted all through the valleys we walk through. We call them, ‘Deathograms’. Usually someone meets a grizzly end or less often is rescued or is asking for a safe journey. These are all from the valley of Lessach, which makes me think its a dangerous place as no other valley has so many in the whole Lungau
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/weekly-photo-challenge-merge/
So where's the snow? 
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August 20, 2012 at 1:21 am
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing these!
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August 19, 2012 at 2:11 pm
What an interesting custom… I will have to remember to steer clear of mountain climbing if I ever venture out your way! This actually reminds me of the visualizations used during meditation of the Catholic Stations of the Cross. You get a clearer understanding of a moment in time to help better direct your prayer for these poor souls… hopefully they are ‘resting’ upon magnificent mountains in Heaven. 🙂 The woodcarving in your third photograph is exquisite! Fascinating post…
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August 20, 2012 at 8:10 am
Thanks! Some date back to the 18th century and are still kept freshly painted. There are also poems with them and requests for prayer, but they lose so much in traslation. Some give not only the date but also the time it happened!
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August 19, 2012 at 7:38 am
I agree that these are very interesting. It seems that in different counties there are things which do not exist in other countries. For example in Finland in our churches we have unique wooden “Poor Man” statues. In the beginning of next Year I’ll publish a series from them.
Inside of our churches we have also Votive ships. In some countries they can be found.
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August 20, 2012 at 8:12 am
I’ll look forward to that! Most of these pictures have poems and prayers, even giving the time of the accident, but they lose so much in translation I didn’t put them here!
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August 18, 2012 at 4:53 pm
This is very interesting to me. When I went to visit Bonfol, the little town in Switzerland where a line of ancestors came from, the church was lined with these little paintings. I assumed they were painted either to commemorate someone’s passing, or as a prayer to ask for safe deliverance from an illness or journey.
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August 20, 2012 at 8:14 am
Thanks! I imagine you’re right, Europe is mostly Catholic and certainly in the German speaking lands, the culture is similar. I didn’t translate the poems as they lose the rhythm and rhyme!
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