[[File:Schluckbildchenbogen - Mariazell.png|thumbnail|Sheet of Schluckbildchen showing the miraculous image of Mariazell, 18th century copper engraving]]
Schluckbildchen; from German, which means literally "swallowable pictures", are small notes of paper that have a sacred image on them with the purpose of being swallowed. They were used as a religious practice in the folk medicine throughout the eighteenth to twentieth century, and were believed to possess curative powers. Frequently found in the "spiritual medicine chests" of devout believers at that time, by swallowing them they wished to gain these curative powers. They are to be distinguished from Esszettel; from German, meaning "edible notes of paper", the latter only having text written on them.
Variations
EsszettelEsszettel had either adages, names of saints, prayers or bible verses written on them, usually in the shortened form of sigils. Occasionally, red paper was used. In Holstein, for example, feverish people were given slips saying „Fieber bleib aus / N.N. ist nicht zu Haus“ (fever stay away, N.N. is not at home). In Protestant regions like Württemberg, East Frisia, Oldenburg or Hamburg, people symbolically consumed their own illness by eating a paper note that had their name, date of birth or some kind of phrase written on it. The slip was then stuck into a piece of bread or fruit, and the sick person ate it.
Handwritten or printed Esszettel were even used to cure animals, from illnesses like rage disease or numbness (also called Fresszettel). The Sator square was thought to help against Rabies. In the Upper Bavarian region of Isarwinkel farmers treated their livestock with Esszettel to cure anthrax.
Unfortunately, there are not many remains of such Esszettel today, one of the reasons lying in the fact that the church institutions had mostly seen Esszettel as pure superstition. Hints as to how they looked like can be found in literature, where triangle shaped Esszettel are mentioned, those not only with the purpose of being swallowed, though. The triangle shaped Esszettel had words or phrases printed on them that were repeated over and over, losing one or two letters with each repetition. That way, the sick person wished to overcome the illness bit by bit.Esszettel that have survived to the present day are usually remains of mass-produced stock which were sold on pilgrimage markets. These types of Esszettel were printed on stamp-like sheets of paper. They were either labeled identically or varied in a certain pattern. The latter version was called Lukaszettel, and one of the printing plates used to print Lukaszettel has been preserved. Sometimes, Esszettel were printed on both sides, the back page complementing the front page. These are considered to be the oldest types of Esszettel.
SchluckbildchenSchluckbildchen had a square, rectangular or round shape and a feed size of 5 to 20 mm. So they were the smallest form of devotional art design. Small pictures of the 19th century were partly bigger, like the version that was produced in Einsiedeln (32x22 mm). Also Schluckbildchen were produced on light sheets of paper; one sheet could hold 130 pieces. Both possible were series of one theme as well as different themes which would always have the same style.Schluckbildchen can be detected after the middle age. Up to the 19th century copper engraving printings were most likely, including some notes (for example in Mariazell) which were produced with a woodcarving technique. Later, colour printing was used; in the 20th century also photomechanical reproduction of old artworks.Schluckbildchen often show the Virgin Mary as a picture of mercy in a specific pilgrimage location, sometimes other saints or portrayals from Christian iconography, like the Nomen sacrum or Titulus INRI. Usually, under the theme an inscription is placed naming the location of pilgrimage or the saint that is portrayed. Frequently, someone made the effort also to put on details of the devotional art design. The symmetry of the rectangular, triangular, diamond-shaped, round or elliptical-shaped frame elements concentrated the effect of the picture on the central theme. Also effects like rays of light as well as the floating on clouds put emphasise on the transcendental character of the picture.