Schoenberg Chapel

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Schoenberg Chapel

The Schönberg Chapel is located in the Schönberg district of the Schrecksbach community in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse .

Schönberg is of particular cultural and historical interest due to the chapel on the steep, terraced basalt cone above the Schwalmtal , which gave the place its name. Its exposed, widely visible location makes the ancient building next to the Ziegenhain fortress and the "Buttermilk Tower" of the Church of the Dead in Treysa one of the most distinctive landmarks of the Schwalm .

The origins of the medieval building have not yet been conclusively clarified. Schönberg is first mentioned in a document as a donation to the Fulda monastery in 1030. The Romanesque outer masonry of the chapel dates back to the 12th century at the latest, and in 1261 a church that functions as a parish church for the surrounding villages is documented. As on the nearby Metzenberg, however, a cult or defensive system from pre-Christian times is also assumed for the Schönberg, so that a sacred building could have been built during the time of Christianization by Boniface . There is no evidence to support this popular thesis, but the chapel celebrated its 1,000th anniversary in 2009.

The simple hall building made of quarry stone masonry is closed off to the east by a five-sided, semicircular choir from the early Gothic period on the outside . In addition to an older, Romanesque window with set columns and cube capitals, it also has a tracery window . Tracery windows were also used on the north side of the exterior in 1490. In 1748 the west wall and the saddle roof were changed, with a baroque roof turret being added. The interior contains the font from the 12th century, two oak stands in late Gothic and Baroque designs, wall paintings from the 15th century and the rest of the furnishings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The bell tower has three bells from the 15th century and from 1511 and 1687.

Due to Schönberg's location on the old long-distance trade route through the long Hesse , the chapel was a much-visited pilgrimage destination until the Reformation . The tradition of making a pilgrimage to the Schönberg on Ascension Day has been preserved in the Protestant environment to this day. The church is surrounded by an old cemetery whose tombstones testify to the skills of local stonemasons from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 16 ″  N , 9 ° 17 ′ 48 ″  E

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