Löschemer Chapel
The Löschem Chapel is a 300 year old cultural monument, above Wasserliesch on the Liescher Berg at an altitude of 340 meters above sea level.
description
The annual report of the "Society for Useful Research" in Trier of 1849 dedicates a contribution to the Löschem chapel and characterizes it as a prayer house still existing on the mountain heights of Wasserliesch, called on Lürschem, which the parish residents of Wasserliesch and foreigners especially during St. Lent visit ; the building is described as follows:
- Construction of one axis , 3.0 × 5.80 m inside, with a straight end of the choir and a flat ceiling, which is rounded in the corners, the front simply structured, with a figure niche above the arched portal and rounded windows, a stone niche on the cafeteria Gable end for a simple crucifix ; on lateral consoles figures of the Virgin Mary and St. Francis .
On the altar table today there is a Pietà , a large-scale representation of Mary with the body of Jesus Christ on her lap, as is often found in Catholic houses of worship to commemorate the pain of Mary ; the sculpture was only erected here in the 20th century, probably after the First World War.
You can reach the Löschem Chapel as a hiker or pilgrim climbing the Löschemer Berg on the so-called station path, a hiking trail with 14 stations of the cross , which starts in the center of Wasserliesch and runs steeply up the Liescher Berg after approx. 1.5 km to the 200 Meters higher located Löschemer Chapel. Alternatively, a road that can be used by car leads to a parking lot on the mountain, from where you can easily reach the Löschem Chapel after a 10 to 15-minute walk.
The cultural monument stands in a prominent position with a great panorama over the Moselle and Saar valleys, to the town of Igel on the other bank of the Moselle , over the mouth of the Saar and the city of Konz to Trier and beyond. The Moselle and Saartal valleys are flanked by the often wooded heights of the surrounding low mountain ranges: In the west you can see the northern part of the Lorraine plains belonging to Luxembourg , in the north the Eifel and in the east the elevations of the Black Forest high forest belonging to the Hunsrück . Right in front of the chapel, which is still much visited as a place of pilgrimage to Mary, the Liescher Berg drops steeply over a rock face into the Moselle valley.
history
In the manuscript of a teacher from Wasserliesch for the creation of a village chronicle from 1938 it says about the age of the Löschemer chapel: The chapel owes its origin to a hermit and was built at the beginning of the 18th century. Since it fell into disrepair over time, the beautiful point (meaning the exposed location) was soon desolate. About 95 years ago, after 1840, it was built out of rubble and ashes and has since enjoyed the reputation of a place of pilgrimage again .
Today we know more about the age of the Löschem chapel and its reconstruction in the middle of the 19th century. The request of the aldermen of the municipality Wasserliesch of April 27, 1846 to a royal, highly commendable government in Trier gives more detailed information. In it, the signatories ask to cover the cost of 80 thalers for art work for the intended rebuilding of the chapel. The text says that the community has owned a chapel on the mountain behind the village for about 60 - 70 years, which was made by a pious foundation, in which not only the inhabitants of Wasserliesch, but also those of the surrounding area prayed on pilgrimages. It had been in complete ruin for about two years and the community wanted to restore this venerated place of pilgrimage . The letter ends with the expression of courtesy, which is felt to be exaggerated today: Asking a favorable decision, have the honor of being your most obedient servant, your royal, most laudable government . It is signed by the 24 councilors of the municipalities of Wasserliesch and Reinig as well as a co-signatory from the neighboring municipality of Oberbillig. The authorities immediately rejected the assumption of the costs, although the applicants had reverently asked for it and emphasized that the residents of Wasserliesch were willing to provide all manual and clamping services free of charge, which is certainly not an insignificant sacrifice , if you take into account that the chapel is on the highest mountain point in the area - so the authentic text. One had even allowed oneself to expressly point out that the residents of Wasserliesch had so far always shown a recognizable obedience to all demands on the part of the administration and indicated that the willingness to perform services in the Fronde could suffer damage if the The community's request for aid in the construction of the chapel in question would remain denied. It was undoubtedly an attempt to put pressure on the agency, but it didn't help.
As a reason for their rejection, the authorities stated that the church building there was much more necessary than the chapel. What was meant was the expansion of the parish church, which had become too small in the now-defunct old cemetery, and which was only realized five years later. Despite the refusal of the cost subsidy, the Wasserliescher and Reiniger citizens (Reinig, today district) rebuilt the Löschem Chapel in 1846 with their own funds and donations from the population of the neighboring towns. As the chronicler knows, only the outer walls that were used during the reconstruction stood before the reconstruction.
The petition from the parish fathers shows that the Löschem chapel came into the possession of the parish in the second half of the 18th century from a pious foundation. Before it could have belonged to the builder, and afterwards perhaps also to the St. Bruno Monastery, in front of the St. Alban Monastery in Trier, in Merzig-Karthaus, today a district of Konz , which had extensive estates in Wasserliesch and Reinig. In 1919 the chapel is mentioned for the first time in an inventory of the parish church, and it was presumably passed into church ownership after the First World War.
It is now certain that the Löschem Chapel was built at the beginning of the 18th century. The Chronik Wasserliesch from 1975 mentions 1708 as the alleged year of construction. The annual report of the Society for Useful Research in Trier from 1853 provides an exact indication of the time of its construction. This report contains an article entitled The Camp on the Liescher Mountains , in which the Löschem Chapel is only mentioned in passing as the Bernardus Chapel. This is surprising, because there is no factual connection between it and the report on the old Roman camp. The report begins with the sentence: The Wasserliescher Berg, from which the Bernardus Chapel looks down into the Trierisches Thal, rises as the end point of the mountains between Moselle and Saar to a height of more than 500 feet, with very steep walls all around ; After the description of the old camp on the Liescher Berg, the report ends with a statement that one would not have expected here: The Bernardus Chapel bears the Chronostichon C onse C rat VM honor I beat I Bernar DI abbat I s (1709) .
The chronostichon , a chronogram in Latin, reads in normal script : Consecratum honori beati Bernardi abbatis - Consecrated in honor of the blessed Abbot Bernhard. It not only documents that the Löschem Chapel was consecrated to St. Bernard after it was built, but also indicates its age in Roman numerals, which are inserted into the text in a special way. The capital letters highlighted in the original with their numerical values (C = 100, V = 5, M = 1000, I = 1 and D = 500) result in the year 1709 - unlike the usual spelling of Roman numerals - one after the other. The Löschemer Chapel is accordingly it was consecrated in 1709, which means that the previously assumed year of construction 1708/09 is considered certain. With Bernhard is probably meant Bernhard von Clairveaux , Cistercian Abbot and Doctor of the Church, who was born ~ 1090 and lived until August 20, 1153. Unfortunately, the chronostichon that proves this statement is no longer available in or on the Löschemer Kapell today. Presumably it was removed or covered over during renovation work and was then forgotten or the chronostitch inside was not discovered.
The fact that the Löschem chapel was originally consecrated to St. Bernard was no longer known. Presumably, the inhabitants of Wasserliesch and the surrounding area had forgotten that since the Sorrowful Mother of God was worshiped here. Anyway, the Löschemer chapel is now St. Mary's Chapel . When the devotion to Mary began here and whether the chapel was officially rededicated at some point , nobody knows, for sure that was not the case from the beginning. Presumably, the devotion to Mary developed after the reconstruction in 1846. The impetus could be that of Pope Pius IX. in 1854 proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which at that time gave great impetus to Marian devotion worldwide.
At the end of the 19th century, the interior of the Löschemer chapel was embellished by a Lourdes grotto , as it is called. According to the above-quoted report by a teacher, the grotto was brought up the mountain in a solemn procession on August 20, 1893. Today the grotto no longer exists; when it was removed is unknown. In any case, the Mother of God is venerated in the Löschem Chapel as always. Votive tablets on the inner walls and constantly burning votive candles in front of the altarpiece prove that many believers seek and find help and consolation here.
Coordinates: 49 ° 42 '4.06 " N , 6 ° 32" 7.36 " E