Holy Cross Chapel (Michelstadt)
The Holy Cross Chapel is a small late Gothic chapel that has been in the cemetery of the town of Michelstadt in the Odenwald since the first half of the 16th century . It was originally built at a different location and, together with the cemetery, is a registered cultural monument, object no. 11356.
Construction at the original location
The chapel was originally built about 550 meters east of the current location, in the current district of Kapellenwiese , which was proven by research by Philipp Buxbaum in the 1930s. It is unclear why this building was built at this point, but two main reasons are given. The first could be that, according to tradition, the baptismal font for newly converted Christians of the Irish-Scottish monk and later Saint Kilian , who was probably also missionary through the Odenwald, was located here. The stream flowing past has been called Kiliansfloss for centuries . It would therefore be conceivable that the chapel could thus be seen in the early medieval Christian tradition. Nevertheless, nothing is known about it in a document, and the excavations at this point by Buxbaum in 1938 did not reveal any evidence of possible previous buildings. Another approach assumes that the construction was designed for miners, as mining actually took place in this area . However, it is not known when mining began here or in the surrounding area. There is no documentary or actual evidence of mining activities in this area in the early 16th century, only from significantly later centuries. What is certain, however, is that the area around the original building was used as a plague cemetery , as the corresponding skeletons were excavated.
According to a message from Buxbaum , before the Erbacher holdings were completely lost due to the bombing in September 1944, a book from the year 1506 was in the Darmstadt State Archives , which is said to have said: " The chapel of the helgin Crutz is in er deß helgin Crutz , in which Anna sant, sant Josten, sant Alexiy, santt Dorotheen and is Capellen wyhung on the day Vincula Petry. Is the Crutz set in 1502 ". Since there is no evidence of any other possible sacred building in Michelstadt at this time, it can ultimately only be the year of the consecration of the original building, with the date - "Vincula Petri" = St. Peter ad Vincula - i.e. the August 1, 1502.
Relocation to the current location
The transfer is certainly related to the establishment of the Michelstädter cemetery, which is still in use today, in 1535. The chapel therefore only existed at the old location for a few decades before it was either demolished in 1535 or soon after and rebuilt a few hundred meters away.
The chapel lost its possible further ecclesiastical and liturgical significance with the introduction of the Reformation by the Erbacher Counts, completed in 1544, but it remained the funeral church in the cemetery until the 1970s until the new funeral hall was built. It was renovated at the beginning of the 19th century and the tombs from the various centuries of use have since been moved from the inside to the outside.
Today's appearance
The chapel is a single-nave hall structure made of sandstone masonry with the dimensions of 12.60 meters in length and 6.00 and 6.30 meters in width. The dimensions correspond exactly to the foundations excavated by Buxbaum at the original location in the Kapellenwiese. Contrary to the expected late Gothic building tradition, the sandstone portal is not made in the shape of a pointed arch , but simply in the shape of a round arch . Only a small additional gate on the north side is actually in the shape of a pointed arch, also made of sandstone. The longitudinal walls are broken up by two rectangular windows on each side made of sandstone framing, on the east side by two small windows, one above the other. The chapel has a half-hip roof. The vestibule supported by four sandstone columns is a modern ingredient, donated in 1906 by a local family of cloth manufacturers. On the northern outer wall of the chapel, in connection with mining and metallurgy in the Odenwald, there is still the grave slab for the centgrave and hammer master Matthias Benjamin Fahlmer, he died in 1734. The inscription reads in the extract:
“MY READER! THOSE WHO HAVE CHANGED CORRECTLY BEFORE THEM COME TO PEACE AND REST IN THEIR CHAMBERS HERE. ALSO STAND AT THE CALM CHAMBER OF A FAITHFUL LOVER OF JESUS WHO IS FAITHFUL IN LIFE BEFORE GOD AND SINCERELY WALKED BEFORE HIS NEXT ONE WITH A LITTLE. IT WAS DERWEYL WOLEDLE AND ADJUSTABLE MR. MATHIAS BENJAMIN FAHLMER BEEN CENT-COUNT AT MICHELSTATT AND ADMODIATOR OF DASIGEN EISENHAMMERWERKS. HE WAS BORN AT BUKOW IN THE MARK BRANDENBURG ANNO MDCLVIII D. XXI NOV AND DIED ANNO MDCCXXXIV THE VIII AUG. SO HIS AGE WAS LXXV IAIR VIII MONTH AND XVI DAY. "
Working in the original location
The foundations excavated by Buxbaum in 1938 at the old location were dug and secured again in the 1990s by a citizens' initiative. There is also a modern wooden art installation on the site, erected in 2011 on the occasion of a youth meeting with participants from many European countries. The well stone from the second half of the 16th century, a few meters from the foundations, which has been preserved to this day and has been renovated several times, may be a further reference to the tradition of the baptismal font that may exist at this point. The Brunnenstein is also a registered cultural monument.
literature
- Philipp Buxbaum: Michelstadt in words and pictures - A home book , Börsig-Verlag, Darmstadt o. J.
- Johannes Heim: Stories about St. Kilian and the Holy Cross Chapel in Michelstadt , M&K Satz-, Druck- und Verlags-GmbH, Michelstadt 2000
- Johannes Heim: The old well chamber at the former Holy Cross Chapel in Michelstadt: presumably. Baptismal spring d. Holy Kilian in: Odenwald-Heimat , Vol. 73, Michelstadt 1998
Web links
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Friedhofstraße 57: Cemetery with chapel In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
- To the work of the citizens' initiative
Coordinates: 49 ° 40 ′ 17.2 ″ N , 9 ° 1 ′ 2.2 ″ E