Holy Cross Chapel (Lorch)

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Holy Cross Chapel with outside altar
inside view

The Catholic Holy Cross Chapel in Lorch (Rheingau) is a listed pilgrimage chapel about 2 km from Lorch, Wisper upwards, at the entrance of the Tiefenbach valley . It is the last preserved of the nine chapels in the city of Lorch. Since 2015 it belongs, like the previously responsible parish church of St. Martin (Lorch) , to the parish of Holy Cross Rheingau, a parish new type, the parish church is the so-called Rheingau Dom in Geisenheim .

history

The history of the chapel goes back to the year 1460. During this time there were always border disputes between the Electoral Palatinate Sauerburg , which tried to extend its power to the Wisper and the Electoral Mainz border fortress Lorch, which had to prevent this. On St. John's Day 1460, the lord of the Sauerburg with a troop of 120 armed men invaded the Lorch district on foot and on horseback and stole the Lorch cattle standing on the pasture. The alarm was raised by the city gate guard at the Schauerpforte and so a battle broke out at the entrance to the Tiefenbach valley , in which the Lorchers won an overwhelming victory over the Electoral Palatinate Sauerthäler . The report on this battle ends with the words: In memory of the battle and God for honor and praise, one had a large cross on the Hüwwel, wherever the battle happened, and an eternal light donated. As a result, a small chapel was created, which is mentioned in a document in 1486. Nothing is known about its origins; only one legend reports that a knight from the Boos von Waldeck family fulfilled a vow by building it.

The construction of today's chapel was financed by voluntary contributions and was inaugurated on July 26, 1677 by the Mainz auxiliary bishop Adolph Gottfried Volusius . In 1738 it was almost doubled to the east. The windows of the enlarged chapel are donated by the brothers Joh. Friderici (Friedrich) and Jacobi (Jakob) Perabo. The coat of arms and the names of the two are engraved in a pane of glass in the middle window on the north side. The analogous translation of the Latin text reads: "The windows, which the gray past has stolen from you, rebuilt the generous and kind hand of the noble and learned gentlemen, the brothers Joh. Friedrich and Jakob Perabo".

In 1784, the brother of the Cross, Peter Weibler, built a hermitage to the west ; he tended the chapel and made a living by painting. He also had 30 beehives for the production of honey and candle wax. He had previously brought a cross relic from a pilgrimage to Rome , the authenticity of which had been confirmed by Auxiliary Bishop Ludwig Philipp Behlen (1714–1777). He invested all of his income and donations from believers in the chapel. So he had an organ that he played himself installed in the chapel for 300 fl .

After the death of Peter Weibler, this organ was sold to Presberg by Pastor Geiger (* 1775 Hofheim, † 1833 Lorch) at the beginning of the 19th century . In 1826 a major renovation took place. In the middle of the 19th century, the Hermitage was probably also removed and replaced with a wooden vestibule.

East of the chapel in 1897, on the initiative of Pastor Volpenhenn (born November 15, 1836 in Münster, † December 22, 1898 in Lorch), a new way of the cross around the pilgrimage site. The sandstone figures in the station houses were stylistically based on the famous Lorch Carrying of the Cross and donated by the Lorch citizen Miss Elisabeth Choisi (born December 29, 1845 Lorch, † 1913 Lorch). The inauguration took place on May 1, 1898 on the occasion of the cross day. Two years later, on Holy Cross Day May 6, 1900 one was Pontifical Mass by the Abbot Konradus piston of Marienstatt at the newly built outdoor altar celebrated .

  • The year 1611 on the door jamb of the west gate does not coincide with the year 1677 of the consecration of the chapels

  • The cross relic obtained from Rome by Peter Weibler for the chapel. Stored today in St. Martin (Lorch).

  • Stifter coat of arms and inscription on a pane of the central north window

  • Way of the Cross - Stations from 1887/89

  • Figures of the old way of the cross on the outside altar

  • Historical photo of the chapel with the wooden vestibule

  • Holy Cross Chapel with renewed porch from 1961

In 1961, Pastor Rudolf Maria Messmer (* 1912 Geisenheim, † 1988 Fünfstetten) had the chapel completely renovated, the wooden vestibule was replaced by a stone-fronted porch and the gallery inside was expanded into the new extension.

In 1965 Lorch became a Bundeswehr base. The soldiers of the Rheingau barracks across the street now often used the chapel for military services. In return, the members of the Bundeswehr got involved in the care and maintenance of the entire facility. In the 1970s the figures of the Way of the Cross were destroyed by adolescents, only the group of figures of the Entombment of Christ and the two alliance figures of the crucifixion group, Mary and John, remained. Repaired, they are now placed on the outside altar of the chapel. The rubble of the other figures is embedded in sand under a concrete slab on the pilgrimage site. On the initiative of the site's elder OLT Jochen Siegel, who was a great patron of the Kreuzkapelle throughout his life, the Presberg artist Anton Haust created abstract, sandstone-colored cast stone relief pictures for the orphaned stations of the cross in 1983 .

In 1986 the chapel was extensively renovated. This was financed by a chapel brotherhood, a support group for the preservation of the Kreuzkapelle. It was made up of the Bw location, the fire brigades, local organizations, craftsmen, tradespeople and committed private individuals from near and far. A prominent chapel brother was the then hunting tenant Ernst Neger , star of the Mainz Carnival.

Church events

In the past there were six mass foundations for the Holy Cross Chapel. On the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th) and on the commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of Mary (September 15th) a high mass with sermon was held. On the 3rd day of the Week of Prayer , processions took place from Lorch and the former branches in Lorchhausen , Ransel , Espenschied and Presberg . Such processions were also carried out on May 3rd when the cross was found from the named places. A common high mass was then celebrated at the Kreuzkapelle.

This tradition, on the occasion of the finding of the cross, has been maintained since 1677, on the so-called Holy Cross Day, on the 1st Sunday in May, until today. With a solemn procession, in which the holy of holies and the relic of the cross are carried along, the believers move from the former parish church of St. Martin (Lorch) to the Chapel of the Holy Cross to celebrate high mass together in the open air. After returning to the former Lorch parish church, a sacramental blessing will be donated on the market square at the end . Until the end of the 20th century, this major church event attracted hundreds of believers from all over the Rheingau, but has lost much of its importance in recent years.

At the Lorcher Kirchweih on the 2nd weekend in September, the Cross Chapel, on notch Monday, traditionally commemorates the Exaltation of the Cross and the Sorrows of Mary with a Holy Mass.

architecture

The Holy Cross Chapel is a simple hall building with a flat ceiling and a three-sided choir closure. The slate hipped roof is crowned by a baroque eight-sided roof turret with a hood and lantern . The outer walls of the rectangular, elongated building made of broken slate stones are plastered except for the stone-exposed western porch from 1961.

Simple arched, light- glass , leaded glass windows illuminate the interior. The round-arched West portal is under a protruding curved wooden gallery with a simple door jambs from sandstone , it inside the date 1611 not consistent with the documented held ordination of 1677th (Perhaps a construction interruption due to the 30 Years War and the devastating plague epidemics of 1622, 1624 and 1666 or a component of the previous church.) There is a construction seam in front of the central windows, easily recognizable by the roof covering. It bears witness to the expansion of the chapel to the east. This extension, completed in 1738, is noted on the top of the newly created south portal. The second date on it indicates the renovation in 1826. On the outer choir wall an outer altar is built under a canopy.

Furnishing

  • Wooden altar with crucifix and life-size body from the 18th century.
  • Immaculata from the middle of the 18th century.
  • St. Joseph from the first half of the 18th century in the style of the Burkard Zamels
  • Wooden gallery from 1826
  • Heilig-Kreuzer-Bäuerchen, a copy of a St. Wendelin , in an outer niche of the south wall. The original (around 1700) is in St. Martin (Lorch)
  • Exterior altar from 1900 with sandstone figures of the destroyed Way of the Cross from 1897/98
  • Stations of the Cross from 1897/98 with relief panels by the artist Anton Haust from 1983

  • Altar 18th century

  • Life-size corpus of Christ

  • Immaculata in the choir

  • St. Joseph in the choir

  • Gallery

  • Exterior altar from 1900 with figures of the old way of the cross

  • The figure of St. Wendelin is popularly known as the "Heilig-Kreuzer-Bäuerchen"

  • Way of the Cross relief plaque by Anton Haust

Bell jar

The chapel has a small bell, which probably originally came from the Sauerthäler St. Anna church . At the beginning of the 20th century it was donated to the Kreuzkapelle by the local community. The bell bears the minuscule inscription under an ornamental frieze : Maria ora pro nobis MDCCCXCVII (“Maria Please for Us” 1897) with a medalion of Our Lady and a foundry mark.

  • Marienbell

  • Mary's medallion

  • Foundry mark two entwined letters R and E

Sources and literature

Web links

Commons : Hl. Kreuzkapelle (Lorch / Rheingau)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lagis-Hessen
  2. ↑ Legend of the Lorch Kreuzkapelle (PDF file; 17 kB)
  3. ↑ Albert panting: The Lorcher nobility. 1855; copied from Albert Zell.
  4. ^ Rev. Johannes Zaun: Contributions to the history of the Rheingau country chapter and its twenty-four parishes. Verlag Molzberger, 1879, p. 333.
  5. ^ Pastor Albert Zell: The history of the parish of St. Martin Lorch am Rhein 1806–1906. P. 67. Excerpt from the chronicle of the Lorcher honor guard
  6. ^ Pastor Albert Zell: The history of the parish of St. Martin Lorch am Rhein 1806–1906. P. 69. Excerpt from the chronicle of the Lorcher honor guard
  7. ^ The architectural and art monuments of the Rheingau- Ferdinand Luthmer - 1902 - Verlag Heinrich Keller - page 93
  8. ↑ Hubert Foersch: Limburger bells Book - bells and chimes in the diocese Limburg. Verlag des Bischöflichen Ordinariates, Limburg 1997- Section Lorch Sauerthal.

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 6.2 ″  N , 7 ° 49 ′ 11.3 ″  E