Bernd Arnold: Power and Ritual

Bernd Arnold: Power and Ritual - The Cologne Salvation (Das Kölner Heil) as part of the cycle 'Power and Ritual.' "...To this day there is no expression in the German language that has experienced such a radical semantic turnabout in meaning since 1933 as the term 'Heil.' Its use as a part of the Nazi Salute placed a taboo upon the word in the era following the war, so that its former, far more complex meaning, as still recognized during the 19th century, eventually became obsolete. It is only very recent that the religious sciences have-rediscovered the term in its fundamentally religious sense. A renewed definition of the historically tainted term therefore still seems to be necessary today, as its use - particularly in theology - remains indispensable, in that it calls up the very motivation of any religious action." More at Bernd Arnold Photogrpahy. (de)