The 1796 Bildstock

At crossroads and at the corners of the larger fields stood simple stone Bildstöcke, small shrines to the Virgin Mary or local saints. The shrines were well maintained, gleaming with fresh whitewash, any growth carefully cut back, and frequently updated with fresh flowers.

Many of the shrines bore dates from 1796, marking the Battle of Würzburg fought during the War of the First Coalition.

Hagan noticed a great deal, riding past them, about how tidy the Bavarians kept their roadside shrines, and nothing at all about what the ground beneath them had once decided.