Pilgrimage Chapel St. Gerebernus (Sonsbeck)

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Coordinates: 51 ° 36 ′ 57.3 "  N , 6 ° 22 ′ 42.2"  E

Pilgrimage Chapel of St. Gerebernus

The St. Gerebernus Chapel in Sonsbeck is a three-aisled, Romanesque-Gothic tuff stone building from the 15th century. Its origins, however, are much older and go back to a court chapel of the Archbishops of Cologne around AD 900. It is named after the Irish priest and saint Gerebernus , whose bones were venerated there as a relic . They are said to have a healing effect on gout , paralysis and epilepsy . When the court was taken over by the Counts and Dukes of Kleve in the 12th century, the predecessor of the pseudo-basilica was built . It became Sonsbeck's first parish church in 1203.

There is a creeping altar in the chapel. It is one of two surviving crawl altars in Germany. The pilgrims slipped through the tunnel in the altar block to repent and get rid of all sorts of ailments and nervous disorders. In the stone floor you can still see the grooves that the pilgrims left with their wooden shoes .

Since 2007 the small pilgrimage chapel on the edge of Sonsbeck Switzerland has belonged to the Catholic parish of St. Maria Magdalena Sonsbeck in the diocese of Münster .

It is a monument and, together with the Roman tower and the Gerebernus house, is part of the nucleus of the "old Sonsbeck".

history

Statue of St. Gerebernus
Saint Catherine statue

According to the orally transmitted founding legend, the St. Gerebernus Chapel owes its existence to two oxen, which were supposed to bring the relics of Geel in Belgium to the parish church in Xanten . According to popular belief, stealing the bones of saints was not theft, as they could only be taken away if the saint so wanted. At the foot of the hill between Sonsbeck and Xanten, the draft animals suddenly stopped and refused to pull the wagon on. Recognized as a divine sign, the first church was built in honor of the kidnapped saint. The shrine with the healing bones was laid out on an altar block made of bluestone and thus established the place of pilgrimage.

When the first chapel was built around 900 AD, the ancient Hofgut with the Roman tower was still under the control of the Archbishop of Cologne . Originally there was a Roman fort at the site that guarded the road to the Rhine. Since in the Middle Ages the ecclesiastical and secular were strongly separated, noble families were used as bailiffs to manage the episcopal properties . On the Lower Rhine these were the Counts and Dukes of Cleves . Despite the small court chapel in the village, the citizens of Sonsbeck were bound to the mother church of St. Viktor in Xanten by parish compulsion . This meant that they had to walk to the neighboring town, 7.5 km away, every time for religious matters, receiving the sacraments and worship. Especially in the winter months this was impossible for children and older community members due to the weather and path conditions. In 1193, Count Dietrich V. encouraged the people of Sonsbeck to build a chapel on the Count's Klevian court and hired a priest to perform baptisms and funerals to the detriment of the Xanten mother church. As a result of the disregard of the parish compulsory, which at the same time narrowed the purse of the pastor, the Sonsbeck were excommunicated several times . However, thanks to the Count's negotiating skills and good contact with Archbishop Adolf I of Cologne, they could just as often be removed from the church ban.

In 1203 the St. Gerebernus Chapel became Sonsbeck's first parish church after a long hack. It was consecrated to St. Catherine , the patron saint of the Counts of Cleves. It is one of the oldest Katharinen churches in Germany. The relic of St. Gerebernus went as a generous gift to Archbishop Adolf I in Cologne. The citizens continued to call their church “St. Gerebernus ”and dialect to“ St. Donors "or" St. Berem “shortened. At some point it became “St. Bernadus ”. Even in the papal documents the name changed regularly. Up until 1431, nobody knew for sure that the small pilgrimage chapel was actually called St. Catherine. This was first mentioned again when the parish rights were ceded to the new town church of St. Maria Magdalena and the baptismal font was handed over with the right to baptize . However, St. Catherine did not lose importance as a result. On the contrary: The surrounding castle was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims, and in 1478 the pilgrimage church had to be enlarged in honor of St. Gerebernus and St. Dymphna . Parts of the walls and the tower were taken over from the old building. Instead of the earlier Romanesque hood, it received the eight-meter-high Gothic spire. The creeping altar also dates from this time.

By Pope Leo X , the chapel was again officially called St. Gerebernus and had from 1513 large audiences. Every believer in Christ who made a pilgrimage to Sonsbeck on certain feast days to call on St. Gerebernus was promised special indulgences . Above all, "gouty, affected and lame" should find consolation and help here. At the same time, while crawling through the altar tunnel, the pilgrim could shed his sins like an old skin and be freed from his physical ailments with the grace of the saint. Since Gerebernus was the confessor of St. Dymphna, the faithful also promised help with mental illnesses and epilepsy. In the hope of salvation and God's grace, the pilgrims sacrificed numerous votive offerings of arms, legs and bodies made of wax, iron and more precious metals. A Klausner hut was built on the north side of the tower to receive the gifts, which were then sold for the good of the church: 1/5 for the pastor as rector of the old parish church and 4/5 for church purposes.

At the climax of the pilgrimage came the big setback in 1564 with the papal bull Iniunctum nobis by Pope Pius IV . The trade in letters of indulgence was abolished and punished with excommunication. Due to the lack of income, money had to be borrowed from the Heilig-Geist-Gilde in Xanten for repair work in 1605 after a lightning strike had burned out the bell tower. It was not until around 1700 that the custom of pilgrimages to places of pilgrimage resumed. Until 1945 Sonsbeck was a well-visited place of pilgrimage. The double groove around the crawl altar testifies to the penitentiary of the faithful.

Today the Gerebernus Chapel is mainly visited by individual pilgrims and small groups. The Gerebernus procession, which always takes place on the Sunday after July 13th, has survived to our time.

building

The former parish and pilgrimage church is a late Gothic pseudo-basilica with a Romanesque tower and an eight meter high Gothic spire. It was created by expanding the old Katharinen Church from 1193, from which parts of the old building were taken over during the new construction. The three-aisled tuff stone building from 1478 has a base area of ​​21.50 m long and 12 m wide. It stands in an east-west direction. The tuff stone for the church comes from Andernach and came across the Rhine to Xanten and as far as Sonsbeck.

The interior of the small pilgrimage chapel impresses with its architecture. The central nave and side aisles have mesh vaults . The vault is supported by three pairs of pillars with round bases and a rounded rod. The vault ribs continue into the upper third of the columns and end in head consoles. Wrought iron candlesticks are attached to the pillars. Votive folds from the Sonsbeck peasantry and the procession from Hüls hang on them. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The pews offer space for 60 visitors. The altar area in the choir is separated from the lay room by a belt arch on pillars. An inscription on the choir buttress indicates the year of inauguration. The sacristy is attached to the south to the right of the choir. Remains of the ceiling painting, which is over 200 years old, can be seen in the vaults. The floor is tiled with Namur bluestone. The late Gothic windows in the central nave have three lanes, those in the choir two lanes. The Klausnerhütte in the north-west corner of the chapel no longer exists today. There are three small windows where it was.

Today four bells hang in the bell tower of the pilgrimage chapel. In 1942 two bronze bells were delivered for war purposes; one of these returned in 1950. The oldest was cast in 1500; the youngest is from 1964:

  • "1500" (without inscription)
  • "1599 TILLMANN ME FECIT. Jesus waket, the ghyvweet still Dagh, still watch. "
  • "F. LAUR. SCHNUCK. PAT. SIMON HELLING. ME FEC :. DEAD CALCAR A. MDCXXIX. JESUS ​​MARIA NOMEN MEUM 1629 ”.
  • "St. GEREBERNUS HELPER OF THE SICK FOUNDED HANS HÜSKEN 1964 "

The construction of the Gerebernus Chapel was little changed. The repair work on the bell tower from 1605 can be seen. The building survived the Second World War without major damage. Only the windows had to be replaced. In 1953 the historic entrance door was replaced.

Furnishing

Creeping altar with baroque retable from 1787
Substructure of the creeping altar from 1478 with tunnel

As a well-visited place of pilgrimage, the Gerebernus Chapel received numerous gifts from the pilgrims, which were also included in the interior. However, many of the church's treasures have been lost through numerous wars, occupation by Spanish and French troops and during the period of secularization . Nevertheless, there are still numerous works of art that are of cultural and historical importance:

High altar

The neo-Gothic high altar in the style of Ferdinand Langenberg is from 1895. It was created based on a model by the sculptor Heinrich Fleige . The color-framed work shows a Vespers picture in the middle , scenes of the carrying of the cross and the entombment in the side panels. It is not known how the former high altar looked. Like the Altar of Mary, it is lost.

Crawl altar

The creeping altar set up in the north aisle is probably unique in North Rhine-Westphalia. The baroque retable was erected in 1787 on the substructure of the crawling altar from 1478. The background painting shows the execution of Gerebernus by the Irish chief. On the side of the altar sheet, there are two winding columns with round bases and leaf capitals. The holy Dymphna stands above the flat final arch with raised hands and declares victory over the devil. Right and left on the ends of the gable, a little below it, angels with instruments of the Passion of Christ are placed. The picture on the altar block depicts the flight to Egypt. In the 1.80 meter wide altar block made of Namur bluestone there is a 98 cm high and 78 cm wide tunnel below the altar table. As a penance exercise, it had to be passed crawling.

The pagan habit of slipping through, the so-called bowing, is intended to strip off harmful influences when forcing through a natural or artificial rock hole, to facilitate childbirth and to help against lower back pain . It was particularly widespread in southern Germany and Austria and was adopted by the Catholic Church as part of the veneration of saints. Depending on the patron, other healing effects were added. Gerebernus, the confessor of Dymphna, was particularly helpful in treating rheumatism, epilepsy and madness.

In addition to the crawl altar in Sonsbeck, another crawl altar has been preserved in Germany. It is located in the pilgrimage church of St. Korona in Koppenwall . However, there are far more opportunities for slip pilgrimages and can be found worldwide. Mostly one squeezes through rocks, low doors or under high graves.

More works of art

  • The triumphal cross comes from an unknown artist from the 15th century. The crucified is almost life-size and very detailed. At the ends of the bars are fields similar to coats of arms , in which the four evangelists are depicted.
  • Saint Catherine at the entrance is a colorfully painted sandstone sculpture and was created around 1500. It is 80 cm high and is considered the patroness of the previous church.
  • On the other side of the entrance is a statue of St. Dymphna. The 95 cm high, color-painted oak figure comes from folk art of the 15th century. Dymphna is portrayed as an elegant young bourgeois daughter. The bearded man with a crown at her feet depicts her father as the defeated demon. The color scheme was done in the 19th century.
  • On the column next to the crawl altar is the 93 cm high figure of Mary with child. It is also made of oak and has often been repainted.
  • The statue of St. Gerebernus by Mitovan Bekonja is more recent. It was created in 2005 after a figure from the 15th century. It is located in the south aisle.
  • In 2017, a stone candle holder in the shape of a boat was set up under the gerbernus. It consists of a piece of Weiberner tuff from the Labbeck parish church and stands on a column made of Eifel basalt. According to legend, the two cartridges fled their home country by ship and thus also serve as a symbol for the current refugee situation. The two pillars next to it serve as candle holder and pad for the intercession book.

Others

Gerebernus labyrinth

A walk-in labyrinth has been located at the St. Gerebernus Chapel cemetery since 2017. It is of the type of a Roman labyrinth and can be used for meditation or as a barefoot path . The goal is to follow the winding path to the square in the middle.

See also

literature

  • Peter Labudda: Sonsbeck's roots - St. Gerebernus pilgrimage chapel, Roman tower, Gerebernus house ; Publisher: Association for Monument Preservation Sonsbeck e. V .; published: September 2017.
  • Magret Wensky: Sonsbeck - The history of the Lower Rhine community from the early days to the present ; Böhlau Verlag Cologne, 2003; ISBN 3-412-06103-4

Web links

Commons : Sankt Gerebernus (Sonsbeck)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ As relics of "Bernhard the Hermit" they are still in Cologne Cathedral today. You are next to the grave of Saint Irmgardis. Around 1478 parts of it came back to Sonsbeck and were kept in a recess in the crawl altar.
  2. ↑ perforated bricks and Durchkriechbräuche - slip pilgrimages through Christian facilities. In: Lochstein.de - Mensch & Höhle. Franz Lindenmayr, accessed on October 19, 2018 .