Valentinus Chapel (Düppenweiler)
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The Valentinuskapelle is a Catholic village chapel in the Saarland town of Düppenweiler , a district of the Beckingen community in the Merzig-Wadern district . In the list of monuments of the Saarland the chapel in the Außener street, hall 3, parcel 275 as a single monument listed. The place of prayer is owned by the Beckingen community.
history
First mention and destruction
According to tradition, the small church of the village of Oberweiler , which was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War , is said to have stood on the site of the Valentinus Chapel . The Won still bears the name "In the old village". Little is known about the history of this church in Oberweiler. In 1153 it was mentioned for the first time as a place of worship in Villari .
New building in the 19th century
At the instigation of the then Düppenweiler pastor Anton Cannivé, a field chapel was built on this historic site in 1858/1859, which was consecrated to St. Valentin of Terni . At the position where the altar of the chapel is today, a large stone slab, which is said to have been the altar stone of the old church, had been preserved - according to the parish register of Düppenweiler - until its construction. This stone slab is said to have been used again as an altar stone when the chapel was built in 1858/1859. The residents of Düppenweiler and the surrounding area made a pilgrimage here and, according to oral tradition, placed their votive offerings on the altar .
Pilgrimage
The pilgrimage custom has been preserved to this day in the annual procession that leads from the parish church of St. Leodegar in Düppenweiler to the Valentinus Chapel on Außener Straße on the Sunday after Valentine's Day . According to ancient custom, bread, water and salt are then blessed against diseases of humans and animals with the invocation of St. Valentinus.
Fire and reconstruction
When clippings were burned near the chapel, the chapel caught fire in 1922 and burned down to the outer walls. It was not until 1929 that an emergency roof with tile covering was built over the walls. The restoration of the chapel came to a standstill and the neglected place of prayer served as emergency shelter for wandering gypsies . Pastor Arimont planned to give up the chapel and to build a new building next to the cross on the northern slope of the Litermontes . In 1931 a pensioners' association was founded in Düppenweiler with the aim of restoring the old chapel against the will of the pastor. The costs incurred were covered by house collections. In addition, numerous helpers volunteered to help with the reconstruction. The roof was re-covered. Today's cross on the entrance facade of the Merzig pottery factory of Villeroy & Boch dates from this time. The Düppenweiler pastor Arimont designated the restored place of prayer in 1933.
Consecration of the parish to the Mater Ter Admirabilis
In 1944, the parish of St. Leodegar Düppenweiler consecrated itself to the Blessed Mother Mary by offering a painted copy of the picture of Mater Ter Admirabilis by Luigi Crosio in the Valentinus Chapel as a votive offering . The dedication text that hangs next to the miraculous image in the chapel reads:
“In the year of salvation 1944, in the octave of the feast of the seven sorrows of Mary , on Sunday, September 17th, under the ponitificate of Pius XII., In the reign of Archbishop (sic!) Rudolf, Bishop of Trier, under the pastor Erhard Josef Krummeich, the parish consecrated this miraculous image, which was designed and completed by the artist's hands of a parish child, Johanna Schütz, and which is a faithful image of the miraculous image of the "Three times Wonderful Mother of Schoenstatt". It should be placed at the point where the horrors of war drove their ancestors from house and farm, but where the veneration of the Blessed Mother was passed on through generations. In the most terrible of all wars, which in terms of human malice and devilish (sic!) Will to destroy (sic!) Cannot be surpassed by any deed, while on the borders of our closer home the rumbling and thundering of the guns and the devastating hail of bombs from the air of the parish With the horror and horror of war within reach, the parishioners of Düppenweiler dedicated themselves to the “Mother of Schoenstatt Thrice Wonderful”. They were aware (sic!) That (sic!) In times of general need, connected with the decline of discipline and custom, only in the spirit of penance and atonement through the mediation of the Mother of God gracious love and mercy would be bestowed from heaven (sic !) can. That is why they offered the Blessed Mother through eager reception of the sacraments, attending Holy Mass, all fears, worries, her cross and suffering as sacrifices on a day of prayer and atonement, so that as mediator of God she might show all her motherly love and care. May children and grandchildren from Düppenweiler always be aware of the faith and trust of their ancestors (sic!) And also seek and find consolation and strength in their spiritual (sic!) Fears and physical complaints in front of this miraculous image. May the chapel in the 'Old Village' become a cozy home of prayer and grace. "
Numerous stone votive tablets attest to the veneration of the image of Mary.
Destruction in World War II and reconstruction
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During the Second World War , the Valentinus Chapel was badly damaged by shelling by the United States Army and was restored after the war. The old altar stone could no longer be found. Today, a Trier altar stone from 1942 is set in the modern sandstone altar from 2009. The quarry stone chapel was plastered after the Second World War and received a new gable roof with slate covering . The curve is threefold in the apse area and single in the entrance area. The glass painting workshop Binsfeld from Trier created four new windows in 1951. The windows in the apse area are figurative, the two nave windows are geometrically glazed with a colorful cube frieze on the edge.
The left window of the choir shows a representation of the Italian virgin and martyr Maria Goretti . The canonization of Maria Goretti was only on June 24, 1950 Pope Pius XII. at a celebration in front of half a million believers in St. Peter's Square in Rome . In this respect, their representation in the Valentinus Chapel is an early testimony to their veneration as saints of the Catholic Church. In the Valentinus Chapel, Maria Goretti is depicted in antique robes with the attributes of virginity and martyrdom ( lily and martyr's palm ). Her feast day is July 6th .
The right apse window shows the patron saint of the chapel, Valentin von Terni. In the third century AD he was bishop of Interamna Nahars, today's Terni in the south of the central Italian region of Umbria . Today Valentin von Terni is revered as the patron saint of lovers , so that the custom of Valentine's Day goes back to him . Valentin is venerated as the patron saint of young people , travelers and beekeepers . He is called in the case of madness , epilepsy and plague . In addition, it should help to a good engagement and marriage and - as with Maria Goretti - to preserve the virgin innocence . His feast day is February 14th . Valentins of Terni is often depicted as a bishop with a sick child at his feet and with the sword of his martyrdom by beheading. The window shows the saint in simple robes without miter and crosier. He holds the sword of martyrdom in his left hand and a gospel book with a Christogram in his right hand. Until 2002 there was a colorful neo-late Gothic statue of the saint with an expressive face as well as detailed drapery with rich folds in the style of the school of Tilman Riemenschneider on the altar . The statue, at the feet of which there is a depiction of a child seeking protection, was brought to the Düppenweiler parish church in 2002. The Düppenweiler Pensioners' Association in particular took care of the “In the old village” chapel for decades.
Renovation in 2009
A comprehensive renovation of the place of prayer was carried out in 2009 by Erhardt Hardt and Karl-Rudi Wilhelm with financial support from many residents of the village of Düppenweiler and the community of Beckingen. Today the Beckingen community is the owner of the chapel. The Lorraine sculptor and carpenter Antoine 'Toun' Dihé (* 1954) from Waldwiese was commissioned to design a sandstone relief of St. Valentine above the altar . In doing so, the artist drew on the forms of the neo-late Gothic sculpture of the saint, which had stood in the chapel until 2002. The modern relief is made of red sandstone from Saarland and yellow Jaumont stone from Lorraine . The local fruit and horticultural association from Düppenweiler assumed the costs for this.
Inside with a view of the entrance gate
Wayside cross at the Valentinus chapel
Neo-Gothic Valentinus figure from the Valentinus Chapel in the Düppenweiler parish church of St. Leodegar
Cross on the outer facade
Altar stone
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Dimensions
The Valentinus Chapel has the following dimensions:
- Wall thickness: 0.60 meters
- Arched window: 2.20 × 0.95 meters
- Entrance gate: 2.15 (width) × 2.65 (height) meters
- Facade crucifix: 2.85 × 1 meters
- Width of the interior: 5.70 meters
- Length of the interior: 8.25 meters
- Height of the interior: 4.25 meters
- Seats: approx. 35
literature
- Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18–19.
- Hans Peter Buchleitner: Cultural Reconstruction in Saarland, 1945-55 A text and picture work, Volume 1, Church reconstruction in the state capital as in the districts of Saarlouis and Merzig-Wadern, Saarbrücken 1955, p. 85.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.saarland.de/dokumente/thema_denkmal/TDL-LKMZG13.10.2017.pdf List of monuments of the Saarland, partial list of monuments in the Merzig-Wadern district, accessed on February 29, 2020.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ^ Report by Matthias Schwarz from November 5, 1944 inside the chapel.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ↑ Stones on the border. Catalog, ed. from the association 'Friends of LPM', Saarbrücken 1996, p. 90.
- ↑ http://www.toun.eu/ , accessed on February 29, 2020.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
- ^ Benno König: Kapellen im Saarland, Volks- und Kulturgut, Illingen 2010, pp. 18-19.
Coordinates: 49 ° 25 ′ 36.5 ″ N , 6 ° 46 ′ 32.5 ″ E