Marienkapelle on the Karmelenberg
The Marienkapelle on the Karmelenberg is a pilgrimage chapel in the district of the local community Bassenheim on the Karmelenberg in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate .
history
In the 17th century, the Karmelenberg was owned by the Count Waldbott von Bassenheim . At that time it was still called Hexenberg . The chapel, with an inscription dating back to 1662, was donated by Johann Lothar Waldbott von Bassenheim (1615–1667) and his second wife Anna Magdalena, probably out of gratitude for the baron's recovery from a serious illness and the birth of a daughter. The master builder is the Capuchin Matthias von Saarburg. The building was completed in 1666, one year before the founder's death.
Originally the chapel was used exclusively by the donor family. It was only made accessible to pilgrims after the visit of Trier's auxiliary bishop Johann Peter Verhorst in 1688 to confirm 500 young people from the towns and villages in the area . From that time on, a hermit who oversaw the chapel and helped the clergy with masses lived in a chamber above the choir . On New Year's morning 1826, the last hermit, brother Nicolaus Hoelzer from Montabaur , was found murdered not far from the chapel. The perpetrator was never identified.
The way of the cross leading to the chapel , the so-called Seven Footfalls , was probably not built until the 18th century. The sandstone reliefs with scenes from Jesus' ordeal have been renewed at least twice over the years, most recently in 2001 when the badly damaged wayside shrines were renovated; one that no longer exists was replaced. The plaid sculptor Christoph Zernia designed the representations from local tuff based on drawings in a booklet by Pastor Johann Josef Simons from 1852. The renovation was paid for exclusively through donations.
The building was in need of renovation for the first time in the middle of the 19th century. First repairs have been carried out. The chapel underwent further improvements and repairs at the beginning of the 20th century and after the destruction of the Second World War . From around 1980 the privately owned building began to deteriorate, not least because of its remoteness. In 1992 the community of Bassenheim bought the chapel for the symbolic price of one D-Mark. With the help of a support association, donations were collected and events for the renovation of the chapel were held, which brought in an amount of around DM 400,000; The municipality of Bassenheim contributed 379,000 DM and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate for 137,000 DM. Further grants came from the Mayen-Koblenz district, the Weißenthurm community, the Ochtendung community, the Trier diocese, the St. Martin Bassenheim parish and private donors. The most recent renovation was completed in 1998 and cost DM 1,052,650; that corresponds to 722,600 euros today.
Building description
The chapel is a plastered quarry stone building with a retracted, west-facing choir, next to which the sacristy and an oratory are on the ground floor . The interior of the hall church , including the choir, is about 13 meters long and in the area of the nave with a flat wooden ceiling is 7 meters wide. The choir, which is about 3.5 by 3.5 meters in size, is closed off by a groin vault at the top . On the choir flanks there are two stair towers that only slightly protrude from the roof surface. The patronage boxes of the donor family , which are raised on both sides of the choir, and the Klausnerstube above the choir can be reached via the stairs . The slate roof and main roof wearing a hexagonal fully verschieferten roof skylights . A round arched portal forms the entrance.
The south, east and north walls of the nave are divided by two arched windows each, on the inside in deep niches, on the outside with volutes to finish off the drapery profiles and the coat of arms of the donor as a crown. In the gable of the east facade there is also a round window, a so-called ox - eye , while the stair towers and side rooms have small, mostly rectangular windows. The white base color and the yellow of the cornices as well as the window and portal frames correspond to the baroque color scheme after the restoration. The interior is painted in white and red.
A black swan or pelican, the heraldic animal of the Waldbotts, holds three coats of arms above the portal. From the left or right wing of the viewer, the coat of arms of Lothar Waldbott's father can be seen, opposite the coat of arms of his mother. The alliance coat of arms in the middle, which is repeated over all windows, is divided into three parts. Above it shows the coat of arms of Lothar Waldbott, on the left below the coat of arms of his first wife Johanna Walburga von Reiffenberg, who died in 1651, and on the right that of the second wife Anna Magdalena, née. Countess von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein, died on January 19, 1693.
Equipment of the chapel
Inside the chapel is like a small church with a high altar , side altars, pulpit, confessional and a gallery. The high altar dates from the time it was built, partly fell into disrepair over the centuries and, like the side altars and pulpit created in the 18th century, was restored between 1992 and 1998. A crescent moon Madonna from 1769 stood in the large niche of the high altar, while smaller baroque figures adorned the side altars and the walls. The statues were stolen during a break-in in 1960 and, except for one, found again years later during an action in Hamburg. Since then they have been in Bassenheim Castle. In 2002 and 2003, the Friends of the Marienkapelle had replicas that are true to the original so that the baroque atmosphere of the sacred space is restored in conjunction with the colored version. Another new production from 2002 is the stylish chandelier with eight wax candles that hangs over the nave, donated by the Bassenheim local history association.
The miraculous image, an 18 cm high statue of the Virgin Mary, is also kept in the castle and is only displayed on the high altar of the chapel on special occasions. The rest of the time, a replica reminds of the original.
On the south wall, corner to the east facade, a basalt sundial made by the Mendig sculptor Dieter Heuft has been attached since 2010, as can be seen on a drawing of the chapel from 1852. The meteorologist Wolfgang Zäck assumes that the original sundial was inserted into the wall for the consecration of the chapel in 1688 and that it was removed during a restoration in the second half of the 19th century. A photo from around 1940 shows the chapel with a clock tower.
In 1994, the Heimatverein had a new one cast as a replacement for a former small bell that had disappeared, which Pastor Dieter Remy consecrated on August 5, 1995. Since then it has rung on many occasions.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Theobald Groß: The Marienkapelle on the Karmelenberg from 1662 . Festschrift for the reopening. Bassenheim 1998.
- ^ Theobald Groß: Impressions from the historic Bassenheim . Bassenheim 2004.
- ↑ a b c d e f Theobald Groß: 350 years of the Marienkapelle on the Karmelenberg . Bassenheim 2012.
- ↑ a b Hans Erich Kubach: The art monuments of the district of Koblenz . Emphasis. Pedagogical Verlag Schwann, Düsseldorf 1981, ISBN 3-590-32142-3 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 42 " N , 7 ° 25 ′ 22" E