Behalt

rdf:langString Behalt

rdf:langString Behalt is a 10-by-265-foot (3.0 by 80.8 m) cyclorama painted by Heinz Gaugel in the late 20th century. The name comes from the German word behalten: to hold onto or to remember. The work illustrates the heritage of the Amish and Mennonite people from the beginnings of Christianity and is displayed in the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch said it was the "Sistine Chapel of the Amish and Mennonites". One of four existing cycloramas in the US and one of only 16 in the world, Behalt is the only existing cyclorama painted by a single artist. Anabaptist scholar Susan Biesecker-Mast calls it "an effort to exceed the tourist economy of Holmes County by offering a transformative rhetoric for its visitors." She relates the narrative of the mural's creation as a venture by area religious leaders to retain control of the telling of their own story.