Peterberg Chapel
The Peterbergkapelle (Peterkapelle) on the Peterberg in Saarland was built in the 13th century as a wooden chapel on the site of a sacrificial altar and was first mentioned in 1539. In 1975, a community of interests came together that put a new building into action in 1982.
History
The Peterberg ( Pirichberch , Berg Phede , St. Petori-Berg ) was already known as a weather mountain in pre-Christian times, on which cult, worship and sacrificial rituals took place. In 1975 the pastor of Kastel at the time, Hermann Spang, dug up a grinding stone (runner) from a hand mill near the chapel (exhibited in the Wadern local history museum ). You can also find various ceramic fragments from different eras on the fields around the chapel hill (also the field name, dialect: Kapellehiwwel ). Even after Christianization, the mountain was assigned the seat of weather witches , who are responsible for bad weather and bad harvests:
“On the first night of May the witches from all over the world came together from all directions, for a devilish feast and a large witch's convention. They discussed how good people could be harmed. "
A document with a sketch from 1550 proves the location on this street. Elisabeth von Elter, widow of Johann Mohr von Sötern († 1521) wrote a letter to her relative Ludwig von Sötern about the preservation of the chapel on the Peterberg, which already showed considerable structural defects:
"Kirch uff dem Berge Phede sampstag after the easter day Anno 1539 To the solemn Ludwig von Sottern amptman zu Thanstein my especially loved ones and good friends."
Since the chapel belonged to the Sötern Pastorei and the subjects of Ludwig von Sötern zu Schwarzenbach had refused to provide construction assistance, the chapel was endowed with a mass foundation . On October 19, 1575, Johann IV., Vogt zu Hunolstein , applied to the Reichstag in Regensburg to apply for market rights . In 1576, the imperial administration informed the Dukes of Lorraine , Zweibrücken and Nassau-Saarbrücken , asking whether it would be disadvantageous for the neighbors. After no objections were raised by the neighbors, Emperor Rudolf II granted the Vogt zu Hunolstein the right on April 29, 1578
" Located on Monday after Assumptionis Mariae zu Boosen on the Eberswald"
to hold a free fair. The chapel was conveniently located on an old Roman road St. Wendel - Trier . In the sketch from 1550 it is referred to as Fern Straß . The market developed into a place of pilgrimage , it became so important that it was moved to the second day of Pentecost and extended to two days because of the extensive range on offer. There is a text of a wisdom from 1623 . This defines what taxes are required and how to deal with thugs, theft and other injustices:
"Item, if it were factual that a number of viles held each other, with blows, theft or other inequities, than then the market huts or both should go to the negest seyler and get enough of them to bind the representatives of justice, but the other seylers should come to stewer. "
The market freedom was one mile . Anyone who broke the freedom of the market was led into a kurtier stall, the "lötschen". If the crusher could not provide a guarantor, he came to the castle in Sötern, was taken to the bridge on Wednesdays and tried.
"Item, if someone breaks this market freedom with his hands or his mouth and he is greeted, then you should be gracious to you. Mr. run from Trier lötschen and demand castles from him there; if he can give castles, they should be allowed to go about their business; but if he cannot give castles, they should be locked in a prison after Soetern and put on the bridge; andt there the common gentlemen should speak right to the prisoners. "
In 1826 the market was relocated to Sötern due to the redefinition of the borders by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as well as fights, drinking bouts and (gambling) games. In the past, the Petermarkt was in a "four-country corner": imperial rule Dagstuhl (Mettnich, Mühlfeld (today Primstal ) and Eiweiler), Duchy of Lorraine (Kastel), Kurtrier ( Braunshausen ) and imperial rule Eberswald (Bosen and Schwarzenbach ). There are two official regulations for this:
"Monday, February 13, 1826 - No. 7 Official Announcements - Government: It is hereby brought to the public knowledge that the fair, which has hitherto been held on this side of the so-called Peterberg on the 2nd Pentecost day, is for the future due to the various disorder resulting from its location moved to Sötern. Birkenfeld, from the government, January 25, 1826. "
“The relocation of the so-called Petersberg annual market to Soetern, as indicated in the government announcement of January 25th, is hereby brought to mind that the second day of Pentecost on the Königl. Parts of the so-called Petersberg previously held fair that belonged to Prussian territories has also been completely abolished. Birkenfeld, from the government, March 21, 1826. "
With this announcement, a 300 year old market tradition was extinguished. The market survived for another 12 years, when on May 7, 1838 the government announced that the
"The fair held on the second day of Pentecost at Sötern is canceled at the request of the local authority."
At the height of the Peterberg it became quiet: market visitors, traders, jugglers, shopkeepers and pilgrims stayed away. The chapel was then ignored, fell into disrepair and was razed by an Eiweiler farmer . He used the remains as building material for the farm that was built in the immediate vicinity. On January 26, 1852, the farmer Nikolaus Hauptenthal disappeared on the way from Peterberg to his family. The family gave up the farm in 1860. Coin finds from the market period are documented.
society
In 1975 an interest group came together with the aim of rebuilding the chapel. In May 1980, the mayors of the participating villages and their mayors met in Eiweiler and approved the project. The St. Wendel district building authority recommended that the church should be built in the Romanesque style, as it was probably built in the early Romanesque period. On March 15, 1981, the founding meeting took place in the Kolping House Schwarzenbach, 28 participants accepted the invitation, 18 declared their membership. The name of the association is Association for the Reconstruction of the Peterkapelle e. V. Its goals are:
“The association is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the chapel. We are committed to centuries of tradition and to the legacy of our ancestors. The new building will be built on the foundations of the old pilgrimage and market chapel, thereby continuing a cultural and historical tradition. "
The motto of the association comes from the document from 1550: di peter kirch dabey the market is held .
Since the association lacked any financial means, Hermann Scheid successfully appealed for donations. On December 2, 1993 a new board was elected. Hermann Scheid no longer ran for chairmanship.
reconstruction
In the summer of 1981 the foundation work began , and in late autumn the base plate was ready. Hermann Scheid lent a hand himself. The topping-out ceremony took place on August 11, 1982. On Sunday, September 5, 1982, the population was invited to the laying of the foundation stone. Pastor Gerhards (Kastel, Catholic) and Pastor Scherz (Sötern, Protestant) held the joint service in the marquee. The sealed copper case with the certificate and a daily newspaper were placed in the foundation stone by Hermann Scheid and the then District Administrator Marner. The inauguration of the chapel was on June 25, 1983.
After the population kept asking about the little tower over the years, as was planned in the first draft, the board dealt with this project in 1995 and awarded a planning contract for it. In autumn 1997 the work on it was finished: it was designed as in the first draft.
The altar table comes from the old Primstaler church. The windows of the chapel were created by the artist Ursula Krewer-Bordbach
During the night from Sunday to Monday, August 10, 2015, strangers set fire to a wooden bench, completely destroying it. Due to the fire of a plastic bucket and the existing candles, the interior became sooty and there was a lot of property damage. As a result, the chapel was not accessible for half a year. The chapel is now available as a 3-D puzzle.
literature
- Viktor Heck: The chapel and the market on the Peterberg. Association for the reconstruction of the Peterkapelle e. V. and Verein für Heimatkunde Nonnweiler e. V., 2001.
- Karl Lohmeyer: The sagas of the Saar. Minerva Publishing House, 1952.
- Johann Engel: From bygone days. 1963.
- Edmund Schömer and Förderverein Burg Grimburg e. V .: Castle and Office of Grimburg. Lohmer Hermeskeil printing works, 1984, pp. 192–194.
- Viktor Heck: Heimatbuch des Landkreis St. Wendel, XXII. 1987/1988 edition: Peterkapelle and Grindborn district of St. Wendel, October 1988, pp. 102-108
Web links
- Peterbergkapelle Tourist information for the community of Nonnweiler
- Tourist information for the municipality of Nohfelden
- Private homepage with extensive information about the chapel
- Peterbergkapelle on private homepage (with pictures)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Viktor Heck: The chapel and the market on the Peterberg. Association for the Reconstruction of the Peterkapelle eV and Association for Local History Nonnweiler eV, 2001.
- ^ Karl Lohmeyer: The sagas on the Saar. , Pp. 246-247
- ↑ Family tree Elisabeth von Elter (accessed on Geneanet: August 16, 2019).
- ↑ Johann Mohr von Sötern family tree (accessed on Geneanet: August 16, 2019).
- ↑ Johann Engel: From the faded days. Third edition 1963.
- ↑ Major property damage, who set fire to the Peterberg Chapel? In: Saarbrücker Zeitung . August 10, 2015 (accessed August 16, 2019).
- ↑ Google search for keyword Peterbergkapelle Puzzle.
Coordinates: 49 ° 34 ′ 25 ″ N , 7 ° 0 ′ 30.5 ″ E