Chapel

Chapel of St. Mary in "Balzhausen"

Seelsorgeeinheit Oberes Schlüchttal, Kirchsteige 7, 79865 Grafenhausen / Ortsteil Balzhausen

Highly spiritual – The Black Forest was often a harsh and difficult living environment for its former inhabitants. There was no insurance in the event of illness, fire, poor harvests, or other turns of fate. Help and salvation was sought through the belief in the living God and the intercessions of the saints. Henceforth, chapels were built in the districts and hamlets far from the parish churches in the village. They are “small churches without their own clergy”. It was in these chapels that people once sought hope and assurance in times of need.

Mary is the patron saint/patroness of the chapel and a role model for the Christian faith.
When the angel Gabriel appeared before her with a message stating she should become the mother of the saviour, she responded with yes. Nine months before the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on 8 September, the church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This feast proclaims that God spared Mary from the (original) sin the moment she was born.
The chapel was built in the years 1882-83 by citizens of Balzhausen. It is a work of collaboration and donations. The cross on the tower was made and donated by one of the citizens of Balzhausen. The silver bell is much older. It came from the court chapel at the former Saubach Farm in Ebnet.
The sacristy was added in 1972. The statue of the Virgin Mary (Immaculata) was donated by a citizen in the same year. It came from the local Stiegler woodcarving workshop. The tabernacle was previously in the Parish Church of St. Faith in Grafenhausen.
The feast day of the Virgin Mary is the 8 December.

Contact

Address

Seelsorgeeinheit Oberes Schlüchttal

Kirchsteige 7

79865 Grafenhausen / Ortsteil Balzhausen

Phone

+49 7748 253

Fax

+49 4977 48919731

E-Mail

grafenhausen@kath-schluechttal.de

Administrative address

79865 Grafenhausen

by Hochschwarzwald