Little Jerusalem Chapel
The Klein-Jerusalem chapel is a small house of worship located northeast of Neersen , a district of Willich . The chapel belongs to the Neersen parish church of St. Mary's Conception. Nowadays it is a pilgrimage site and is also mainly used for weddings. The chapel forms the center of a shooting festival every year.
Emergence
In 1660 the clergyman Gerhard Vynhoven (* 1596; † 1674) built this chapel. In it the holy places were to be brought to the Lower Rhine in order to "vividly present the first and last days of the Lord to the soul" of the people shaken by the Thirty Years' War . Precise replicas of the Nativity Grotto in Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem were created . He initially named his building Beth-Jerusalem . In popular parlance, however, the name Little Jerusalem quickly became established .
Vynhoven was born on the Vennhof, not far from today's chapel. During the Thirty Years' War he had been a military chaplain in the equestrian corps of the equestrian general Johann von Werth and had been the house priest of Neersen Baron Adrian Wilhelm von Viermund from 1652 , who generously supported him with the construction work.
history
The pilgrimage to the chapel soon enjoyed great popularity throughout the Lower Rhine.
At that time, the foundation also included a school and a rector's house, as well as some lands that were supposed to ensure the maintenance of the buildings and a rector. When in 1771 the chapel and school could not be maintained adequately from the foundation's assets due to damage to the chapel building, the Neersen Minorite Monastery took over the foundation.
During the French period in 1802 the buildings were confiscated by the French state as part of the secularization , and the chapel and school were closed. The chapel served the French occupation troops as a hay store and, like the outbuildings, was sold to private individuals in 1803. In 1804, the Neersen parish managed to buy back at least the chapel building in a roundabout way. When pilgrim flagellants appeared at the chapel a little later, the French authorities forbade services and pilgrimages to the chapel. These could only be resumed after 1814.
Although the land on which the chapel is located belongs to the district of Schiefbahn , the chapel has belonged to the Neersen parish since 1804.
Between 1979 and 1982 the chapel was extensively restored.
architecture
The building has two floors . The lower floor, a kind of crypt , can be reached via stairs on both sides of the altar on the upper floor. In this room there is a replica of the nativity grotto in Bethlehem and Vynhoven's grave. The sacristy is also on the ground floor.
The upper floor is the actual chapel. This room is completely painted. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is represented on the altar by a group of sculptures. In the rear part of the chapel there is a true-to-original replica of Christ's tomb including aedicula on a scale of 1: 2, as it was seen in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem up to a fire in 1808. The burial chamber is accessible through a wrought iron door. The door is flanked by depictions of two Roman soldiers. Inside the tomb you can see a figure wrapped in sheets that is supposed to represent the body of Christ.
The building has a roof turret as a belfry, whose bells are rung by hand. There is a way of the cross in the green area .
Others
You can visit the chapel every second Sunday of the month between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. It is signposted from the A44 (Neersen exit).
literature
in alphabetical order by authors / editors
- Lambert Baeumer: The "Little Jerusalem" chapel near Neersen. Lambert Baeumer, Neersen 1870. - Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf
- Werner Dohmen: The Holy Land on the Lower Rhine. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung , May 19, 2006.
- Christina Kiesewetter: I am what you will be - a little ashes. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung, October 3, 2004.
- Johann Peter Lentzen: News about Gerhard Vynhoven, builder of the pilgrimage chapel Klein-Jerusalem near Neersen in the district of M.-Gladbach: From handwriting. Sources . Self-published, Fischeln 1870 ( digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf ).
- Ulrich Stevens , Gunther Fabian, Horst Hahn: The little Jerusalem chapel near Willich-Neersen (= workbooks of the Rheinische Denkmalpflege 63). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 2005. ISBN 978-3-88462-207-0
Web links
- Photo album and information about the chapel
- Photo documentation from 2012
- Interest group Kapelle Klein-Jerusalem e. V.
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 27 ″ N , 6 ° 29 ′ 21 ″ E