Saint Barbara (original statue)

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Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners. In the iconography she is depicted with various attributes, such as a palm branch, a chalice, a sword, but usually with a tower. According to legend, her father Dioscorus imprisoned Barbara in a tower as a punishment for her conversion to Christianity. But a lightning bolt split the walls of the tower and Barbara could escape. However, she was caught and sentenced to death. Dioscorus personally executed the death sentence with a sword. His punishment followed immediately. He was struck by a lightning bolt and turned to ash on the spot. Since the seventeenth century, Saint Barbara is the patroness of people who had to deal with explosives, such as the miners, who took Barbara as patron saint. In Limburg, the Barbara worship dates from just after the First World War. The use was introduced by foreign miners who came to work in the Limburg mines. The feast day of Saint Barbara is on December 4. The miners had this day off. Created by: Julia Storch