Trump and Putin in Jesuit Nativity

Trump, Putin and the doves of peace

It's back: the "Nativity Scene by the River" in Heidelberg's Jesuit church. From the First Sunday of Advent until the end of January, it can be visited daily during the church's opening hours in the old town.

"Women at the altar"

"God gets under the skin"

The Nativity scene shows the politicians Trump, Putin, Abbas and Netanyahu in a pile of broken glass.

"The bridge is a sign of crossing over. God becomes man. Heaven and earth, time and eternity, this world and the next touch each other," Hermann Bunse once wrote. Bunse, the initiator of the Nativity Scene by the River, has therefore moved the events of the Nativity scene by the river to the Old Bridge against the backdrop of Heidelberg's old town.

A look at world events

A look at current world events shows the re-elected Donald Trump and his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin on this bridge. Behind the two are Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu in the middle of a pile of broken glass. The Russian regime critic Alexei Navalny, who died in Russian custody in early 2024, is buried under this. While politicians look at the ruins of their politics, doves hover over their heads as symbols of hope and peace. The Christmas message is aimed at this unpeaceful world, torn by numerous conflicts. However, as Hermann Bunse admits in an interview with the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, it was rather difficult for the Nativity scene team this year "to find the thread of hope in the history of salvation, a small force that we want to trust."

The path to Bethlehem leads over the Old Bridge

Once again, Mary and Joseph are on their way to Bethlehem on this bridge. In the weeks of Advent, they are on their way to Bethlehem - before the nativity scene builders create the birth scene with the two figures on Christmas Eve.

The "Nativity Scene by the River" was created in 2000 by the prison chaplain and head of the city pastoral care at the time, Hermann Bunse. Since then, it has been further developed by a group of friends and set up in the Jesuit Church every year in December and January. Creative minds and helping hands to support the project are welcome.

The "Nativity Scene by the River" can be visited during the daily opening hours of the Jesuit Church (9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.).

From the First Sunday of Advent onwards, the Nativity Scene by the River can be seen again in the left aisle of the Jesuit Church.

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