If you ask among the priests of the St. Ottilien community, you will discover that quite a number of them played "Holy Mass" as children. Two siblings were enough, impersonating an altarboy and "the people".
Both altars, one for the travelling missionary, one for child play, are made for celebrating mass "versus altare", i.e. facing the altar and with one's back to the participants of the celebration as was usual and mandatory before the Second Vatican Council.
Travel altar in form of a case for Divine Service
Canon Law formerly required for any celebration of Holy Mass a consecrated altar containing a relic which in this case is hidden under the stone which is part of the altar surface.
As a rule, consecration of the altar is performed by a bishop.
The interior of the travelling altar contains the testimony of the consecration and the authenticity of the relic: "Today, Most Reverend Bishop Johann Baptist Hoecht, Titular Bishop of Miletpolis and Suffragan Bishop of Regensburg, consecrated this altar plate and enclosed the relics of the holy martyrs Justin and Venturina. Regensburg, January 29, 1942."
Further "accessories" of the travelling altar also were on display: chalice and paten for the Eucharisitc gifts, cruets for Sacramental wine, a small jug for water and a a cloth. We were not able to establish where and by whom this travelling kit had been used.
Toy altar of the Pallottine Father Josef Schreck
Also on exhibit was the toy altar of Fr Josef Schreck (1914-1994), a Pallottine Missionary who worked from 1940–1964 in Brasil and from 1964 until the end of his life in Japan. This toy altar had been crafted by master carpenter Josef Baumeister (1848-1929) for his grandson. We do not know the origin of the other altar vessels made from tin, the toy trunk and the small ostensory.