Michaelskapelle (Eupen)
The Michaelskapelle in Eupen , East Belgium , is a small chapel built in 1727 in the Stockem district. It was donated by Count Eugen Hoen von Cortils, the then feudal lord of Stockem Castle , and has been a listed building since 1975 .
history
According to tradition, Hoen von Cortils is said to have built the chapel as a thank you for being saved from great need and consecrated it to the Archangel Michael . Since that time, a small evening prayer has always been held on the saint's name day, September 29, from which a small procession from the Eupen parish church of St. Nicholas to the chapel has developed from 1738 , which has been carried out annually since then. Under French rule from 1795, the interior furnishings were cleared out and auctioned publicly as a “French national property” and only the baroque altar with the figure of Michael remained.
The surrounding residents had a close relationship with this chapel from the very beginning and took part in the first major restoration at the end of the 18th century by asking the lord of the castle for a small donation for the chapel instead of a fish donation for his use of the neighboring fish pond and again in the 1980s when they took part in another restoration as part of a house collection.
The custom of ringing bells at the Michaelskapelle has also been preserved, which has been adopted by neighboring families initially three times a day since the middle of the 19th century and later only on Sundays at lunchtime or when a resident dies.
Building description
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The chapel was built as an octagonal building made of sandstone with clearly emphasized corner blocks made of bluestone , in the walls of which small openings with cantilevered walls are embedded, which ensure the necessary brightness in the interior. The octagonal slate roof has a similarly shaped roof turret with a lateral sound cover for the bell suspension, which is crowned by a wrought iron cross. Above the entrance door there is a shell niche in which the inscription: “SMO 1727” is engraved, although there is no source that can explain the sequence of letters. The same date can be found together with the Jesus monogram on the ceiling above the baroque altar.
On the outer wall to the right of the entrance area there is also a narrow wooden cross on a sandstone plinth with a gable roof on which a small figure of Christ is attached to another small cross in the cut line.
As part of the first major restoration, the entrance area with the door and porch of the chapel was renewed at the beginning of the 19th century. It also received a new bell on which the inscription "à l'honneur de Saint Michel - Stockem 1809" is engraved. During the last extensive restoration in the 1980s, the chapel was given its current appearance.
literature
- Eupen - Religious monuments - St. Michaelskapelle in Stockem. In: Geschichtliches Eupen , vol. 10, Grenz-Echo Verlag, Eupen 1976, p. 64.
Web links
- Portrait on Ostbelgienkulturerbe.be
- Heinz Godesar: Eupen's cradle was in the hamlet of Stockem , in: Grenz-Echo from May 31, 2014
- current pictures on mapio.net
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 '53.1 " N , 6 ° 0' 55.4" E