Vilmer Chapel
The Vilmer Chapel was a chapel on the island of Vilm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . The chapel served as a coastal station, place of pilgrimage and hermitage . It was abandoned in the 16th century and has not survived. The building was located opposite the village of Vilmnitz on Rügen , on the north-western high bank in the northern part of the island, on the Großer Vilm.
history
The chapel was first mentioned in a document from 1336, although the chapel must have existed before. In 1336, the Lords of Putbus , who owned the Vilm, founded a vicariate on the Vilm for the salvation of their ancestors and all friends . Engelbrecht Yserenmenghere was appointed as beneficiary , who was also assigned an apartment built by Timmo Sagittarius and the space between the Sagittarius house and a cell used by the priest Peter. A priest was therefore already present for 1336, although there was no parish on the island, which was otherwise probably uninhabited at the time. It is believed that the chapel was used to house and feed sick fishermen, sailors, and other people returning from the sea. The chapel belonged to the parish of the Sankt-Maria-Magdalena-Kirche in Vilmnitz.
In 1337, at the request of Yserenmenghere, the vicariate was transferred to the cleric Amelung von Lippe , but some income remained with Yserenmenghere. At the same time the patronage of the House of Putbus was confirmed. The importance of the chapel increased in the period that followed. Presumably there was a renewed foundation by the Putbus house in 1350. In the summer of 1358, the chaplain Amelung von Lippe was able to acquire several meadows on the Vilm and, in the nearby village of Neukamp on Rügen , three cottages. Another foundation in favor of the priest on Vilm was made in 1364 through a bequest from the pastor of Greifswald's Nikolaikirche , Dietrich Voigt .
In 1371 Henning von Putbus left the island of Vilm to his cousin and his son in the course of a property dispute and at the same time determined that the vicariate should be perceived together. A short time later, however, the use of the chapel initially ceased. In 1396 the chapel was described as desolate and unconsecrated and at the same time it was decided to restore it by four hermits , including three priests. The interim decline could be related to an accident of a pilgrimage society in front of Palmer Ort , south of Rügen, in 1372 , in which 90 pilgrims perished. Presumably, in addition to a place of pilgrimage on Zudar , the chapel on the Vilm, which can also only be reached by ship, was canceled. A Petrus de Vilme in Garz on Rügen is documented for the period from 1379 to 1386 . This could have been the priest Peter mentioned in 1336.
In 1397 the chapel was removed from the parish of Vilmnitz and exempted from all taxes to the Vilmitzer church.
Later other hermits came to Vilm. The chapel again served as a care station on the coast. In 1490 the chapel, again threatened with decay, was repaired again. The Bishop of Roskilde confirmed the independence of the chapel, granted in 1397. On September 22nd, 1494, Jakob, titular bishop of Gardar , consecrated a new high altar in the renovated and refurbished building as vicar of the bishop of Roskilde . Presumably it was a largely new building. The altar was consecrated in honor of the Trinity , Mary, Laurence and the 11,000 virgins in front of a large crowd . At the same time it was determined that the consecration day should be celebrated annually in the future and that all participants who brought gifts or lights should be granted an indulgence of 40 days. The chapel then became a pilgrimage destination again. Presumably there was a miraculous image of Mary in the chapel .
Little is known about the structural condition of the chapel. Alfred Haas suspected in 1924 that she would have been 24 paces long and 6 paces wide. Presumably it had two entrances. There was a side altar on the south side of the chapel . It was built in honor of Almighty God, the Holy Cross and the Virgin Mary and was reoccupied with a vicarie of the House of Putbus in 1499 and 1507. Possibly it was a new edition of the vicariate established in 1336.
The chapel was closed during the Reformation , although no specific information has been passed down. The chapel was probably abandoned and fell into disrepair. According to a legend, a cow is said to have lost its way into the chapel and was locked in by a door that fell shut. The cow starved to death, whereupon it was decided to demolish the building. This legend, however, is likely to be a simple takeover of an identical legend from the chapel on Greifswalder Oie .
The location of the chapel is still marked on a map of the Swedish land survey of Western Pomerania from 1695. In the 18th century, the building was then demolished on the instructions of Count Malte Friedrich von Putbus and used as building material for the farm in Putbus . In the 1930s the square was still called Kapellenplatz or Kapellenring . When a barn was converted in Vilmnitz in 1912, it was assumed that an old oak beam came from the Vilm chapel. Similar claims were made about a barn in Neuendorf . A two-winged, 2.50 meter high front door, which was in a stable in Vilmnitz, was mistaken for the door of the former chapel. The stone pillars at the entrance to the courtyard of the homestead on the Vilm were also considered the remains of the chapel. At the end of the 19th century, a brass chandelier was found on the beach, possibly going back to the chapel. The candlestick was sold by the finder to a stranger, its whereabouts are unknown.
Initially, a picture in the princely chancellery in Putbus, which was assumed to be the original image of the Virgin Mary in the chapel, was also preserved. There was also a key that was eight inches long. Both items have not been preserved. There is a photograph of the key from around 1938. It is shown under an old lettering Key to the old chapel on the island of Vilm . Today (as of 2013) a cross erected on Vilm reminds of the chapel.
The chapel also served as a burial place. It is believed that members of the Putbus family were also buried at the chapel. In 1855 two large stone tombstones were recovered from the ruins of the chapel. However, the inscriptions have not survived. The slabs initially erected by the chapel foundations were knocked over and broke. The remains were later removed and used for other purposes.
literature
- Norbert Buske : Vilm - The story of an island. thomasius verlag 1994, page 18 ff.
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 19 '32.3 " N , 13 ° 32' 2.4" E