On this cross, the crucified lowers his head in agony, his chest (thorax) bears no stigmata. The hands are nailed to the cross, but the feet are resting on a board, or suppedaneum. In this representation, in keeping with the Romanesque period in which it was created, the iconography of the Son of God as the eternal victor over death is combined with that of the suffering human being. The crucifix was attached to a pole and carried in front of church processions. It bears the inscription “IHS·NAZAREN REX IVDEOR͞V” (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) (John 19:19). The ends of its beams were redesigned in the early twentieth century and have since shown the symbols of the four evangelists (lion, bull, eagle, and man). The back is adorned with polished gemstones (cabochons).

The cross probably originates from the Helmarshausen monastery, where the Benedictine monk Roger von Helmarshausen, a renowned goldsmith of his time, worked from around 1120 to 1130. This assumption is supported by the similarity between the back of this cross and the Modoaldus Cross, which can be found today in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne: the depiction of the Lamb of God in a halo, the Christian symbol of redemption and resurrection, surrounded by the inscription “AGNUS·QVI·OCCISUS·EST·AB·ORIGINE·MUNDI ☩” (The lamb that was slain) (Rev 18:8).