The protestant parish council in Ulm has retired a traditional nativity scene which has adorned Ulm Minster – Germany’s tallest church – for decades after it was accused of racism for the depiction of black wise man Melchior.
On November 30, the first Advent Sunday, a new nativity scene was presented to churchgoers that “showed the biblical scene without elements of caricature or distortion”, the Ulm deanery announced – thus drawing a line under a conflict that has been keeping Ulm busy for five years.
The previous nativity scene had been on display in the church at Christmas time since 1992. It had been carved from linden wood by local artist Martin Scheible (1873 – 1954) in the 1920s for the Mößner family.
In 1992, the family donated the nativity scene to the church, with a contract stipulating that it was to be publicly shown for Christmas in its entirety.
In October 2020 – the year of the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter – the nativity scene found itself at the heart of a storm of accusations of racism.
Activists said the carved statue of Melchior, one of the three wisemen who is traditionally depicted as black, was a racist caricature as it showed the Biblical figure with bulging lips and golden rings in his ears and on his ankles. Critics also complained that Melchior had been depicted as deformed.
Die Darstellung des Königs Melchior im Ulmer Münster hatte für eine kontroverse Diskussion gesorgt. https://t.co/CqqJBoFmg6 pic.twitter.com/jpdQiI5Oyo
— Schwäbische Zeitung (@Schwaebische) June 6, 2023
Supporters of the scene said that many of the figurines Scheible carved for the scene were not made in a particularly aesthetic way – not just the black wise man who locals lovingly referred to as “the Pretzel King” as he holds a pretzel as a present for Baby Jesus.
Scheible also adorned some of his statuettes with absurd details such as a cowboy hat and spurs for one shepherd.
Nonetheless, the church ultimately caved to the activists’ pressure and temporarily removed the figurines of the three wise men.
In 2023, the parish council decided unanimously to return the nativity scene to the Mössner family. In 2024, there was no nativity scene in the Ulm Minster at all.
Now the church has finally found a suitable replacement: The new nativity scene was carved in 1995 by Helmut Reischl, an artisan from nearby Dornstadt. It is on loan from a local nativity scene club.
The Ulm Minster, with its single tower at 161.5 metres, was the world’s tallest church until being surpassed by the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in October 2025.
