Maria Magdalenenkapelle (St. Wendel)
The Maria Magdalenenkapelle (vernacular: Magdalenenkapelle ) is the oldest building in the northern Saarland town of St. Wendel and was originally built in the Gothic style .
history
The exact date of construction of the Magdalen Chapel is not known. The chapel was first mentioned in a document on September 23, 1318 in a letter of indulgence from a vicar general of the Metz cathedral chapter named Daniel. At that time St. Wendel still belonged to the diocese of Metz . However, the chapel was likely to have existed for a long time at that time, as the status of a priestly church can be seen from a document from 1343. The verifiable facts are very poor, but the few facts indicate that the chapel was an interim burial place of St. Wendelin . When the original, older Wendalinus basilica was rebuilt, the remains of the saint, buried there in an earth grave, were reburied in the Magdalen Chapel. There they rested in a stone coffin in a depression in the floor, over which an artistically high-quality, richly decorated tumba was built. When the bones were returned to the rebuilt parish church, the tumba remained in the chapel. In the following years, processions with the bones of the saint from the parish church to the Magdalenenkapelle were carried out on special occasions in memory of the interim grave site of St. Wendelin.
Since the chapel existed as a priestly church for a long time before 1318, it should also have been furnished with an altar as well as relics. However, neither of these is detectable today. What is documented, however, is the inauguration of the church in honor of St. Mary Magdalene by the Metz Auxiliary Bishop Sybertus on May 26, 1359. The chapel was further equipped on February 2, 1405 through the inauguration of a crypt in its cellar vault. The newly donated altar there was dedicated to the Archangel Michael , the Apostle Matthew and the Saints Anna and Elisabeth . A cemetery was also inaugurated behind the chapel on this date. In March 1515, a large fire broke out in St. Wendel, which, along with 32 other half-timbered houses, also destroyed the Magdalen Chapel. In the following years it was rebuilt. Another fire followed in 1589, which also affected the chapel.
In the middle of the 15th century, the chapel experienced a turning point: from that point on it was called the "Wendelskapelle". This is likely to be due to a new layout of the dioceses of the time. St. Wendel was separated from the Metz diocese and assigned to the Trier diocese , where Saint Wendelin was venerated more strongly.
In 1677 the city of St. Wendel was systematically destroyed by the French, although there is no evidence of the fate of the Magdalenenkapelle. In 1703 French troops were again in the city and took up quarters in the chapel. However, in these times of "external use", sacred acts (masses) were still carried out. The last altarist left the chapel in 1791. It was not until 1794, in the wake of the French Revolution , that the bell was removed and the building was used for other purposes.
Profanation
When French revolutionary troops occupied St. Wendel in January 1794, land in the surrounding area that belonged to the parish of St. Wendelin was devastated. To compensate for this financial damage, the parish was forced to take drastic measures. An altarist position was limited in time and the Magdalen Chapel was sold to the city in 1796. In 1802 the chapel was rebuilt and then served as a school building. In the same year, the tumba that was still in the chapel was moved to the parish church (Wendalinus basilica), where it is still located today. From 1817 to 1823 the chapel was the seat of the mayor's office. On October 18, 1824, the " Lyceum " founded by Duke Ernst I (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) (in the sense of a secondary school ), which is considered to be the origin of today's high school Wendalinum , was opened here. In connection with the St. Wendel uprising of 1831/32, this lyceum was dissolved again by the Saxon-Coburg government in August 1832 and the building was now used as a barracks. Some halls of the Magdalenenkapelle continued to be used as a municipal elementary school until the beginning of the 20th century. Other areas of the building were converted into apartments and rented out by the city.
Modern times
The structures of the tax offices were also rebuilt as part of the Versailles Treaty . As a result, the city of St. Wendel also became the seat of a tax office. The office was housed in the Magdalenenkapelle in 1921, where it remained until 1935. At the beginning of 1935, after the first Saar referendum , the National Socialists set up the district headquarters of the NSDAP in the chapel , which was then supplemented by the town's Hitler Youth . At that time the Magdalenenkapelle was popularly known as the “Brown House”. After the end of the war, the tax office returned to the chapel in March 1945, where it remained until 1953. In 1950 the first floor of the Magdalenenkapelle became the location of the municipal library until 1958. The ownership structure also changed; the building fell back to the parish of St. Wendalin.
Current usage
In the 1970s, the chapel threatened to decay. The building, which is under monument protection, has now been bought by the St. Wendel architect Hanns Schönecker and has been completely renovated. He converted the upper floors into residential units, and he planned to use the ground floor for commercial purposes. The structurally most authentic area is the old crypt, which has been preserved in its original structure. The former entrance to the crypt has reopened and the Gothic window frames have been exposed again. The former crypt is currently used as a historic wine cellar. The painter Adolf Bender lived in the building for decades .
Individual evidence
- ^ Roland Geiger: The Maria Magdalenenkapelle in St. Wendel St. Wendel: Selbstverl., 2011., p. 7
- ↑ State Main Archive Koblenz (1 A 3661)
- ↑ Parish archive St. Wendel US 31
- ↑ Pfarrarchiv St. Wendel, B28, page 628ff
- ↑ Stadtarchiv St. Wendel, B 40, p. 49 No. 47
- ↑ Max Müller: The history of the city of St. Wendel. St. Wendel 1927, p. 637.
literature
- Roland Geiger: The Maria Magdalenenkapelle in St. Wendel . St. Wendel: Selbstverl., 2011. 56 pp.
- Frank Faber: Conflagrations and conversions. The story of the Maria Magdalena Chapel in St. Wendel. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung from 17./18. September 2011
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 28 ′ 4 ″ N , 7 ° 10 ′ 19 ″ E