Somewhere in Bavaria there is a small, late 17th-century church in which I received my First Communion. It is named after George of Lydda, a Catholic saint famous for killing a dragon. Beneath the roof above the altar piece, a multipartite sculpture displays the battle. I remember staring at the fascinating figures throughout those boring masses I had to attend; the snakelike dragon, the brave knight on horseback with his spear already in the throat of the fire-spewing beast, and a princess standing in the corner. It fueled my imagination. I never took mass seriously. It always struck me as ridiculous that all the people from the village suddenly acted so elevated when I knew some of them spent the rest of their Sundays drunk next to the football pitch cursing at everybody who moves.

Patrick Holzapfel

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Patrick Holzapfel works as a writer, film critic and programmer. His debut novel "Ermine on Benches" appeared in 2024. He is editor-in-chief of "Jugend ohne Film", a website and magazine exploring the thresholds between film writing and literature. Photo credits: Anna Painer

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