in the war's wake came further sickness. the grimmest plague years, 1606 and 1636, are today still remembered by two "bildstöcke" (sing. "bildstock" – a cross-shaped or columnar pillar functioning as a wayside shrine), called "peststeine" (“plague stones”), on the main road. in the time of greatest hardship, the population vowed to hold a festival and repentance day “for everlasting time” if the sickness came to an end. on this so-called "hellfeiertag" (roughly “light holiday” – despite the similarity in pronunciation, there is no connection with “hellfire”), the friday before michaelmas, it was forbidden to light a fire in any hearth, and both people and livestock observed a strict fast and did no work. the vow was strictly kept right up until the first world war.