Floor slab with the St. John’s Cross and the inscription ‘1661’

This cast-iron square floor slab has a side length of 62 cm. In its centre is the St. John’s cross and in each corner one number of the year 1661. The floor of the Church of St. Nicholas in Siegen was covered with such cast iron plates in 1661 at the suggestion of John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen. Prince John Maurice himself donated 80 of the 499 pieces in all, while the others were paid for by well-off citizens and from collections after church services. The plates were removed in 1905. In the early 1920s, Hans Kruse, future director of the Siegerland Museum, is believed to have purchased some of the floor panels for the museum from a second-hand goods dealer. In 1938, a section of the new entrance area was then covered with 16 square slabs.