St.-Wendelin-Kapelle St. Georgen-Oberkirnach

The bull roars from the dark waters every year.

High above Oberkirnach, in the Hagzinken, stands St Wendelin's Chapel, or rather its ruins. The centre of numerous legends. As a victim of rebellious dukes, the remains were uncovered between 1973 and 1975 by members and helpers of the local history association, and with the remains of the wall, a piece of Oberkirnach's history was also uncovered. A number of legends have also been passed down about this place.

The first Wendelin Chapel must have been built as early as the 15th century. St Wendelin is considered an Alemannic-Franconian folk saint, who is venerated above all in rural areas. According to an old legend, the construction of a chapel was triggered by a cattle plague. It subsided when the chapel was built. St Wendelin's Chapel soon became famous throughout the country and beyond.

Many people travelled to worship St Wendelin. People are even said to have made pilgrimages from Breisgau, Alsace and the Vosges.

At least this is what the St. Georgen grammar school professor and historian Bartholomäus Heinemann (1885- 1949), who took this information from the diary of Abbot Georg Gaißer (1595- 1655), reported. There was room for about 150 worshippers in the chapel, the rest had to attend the services sitting on the lawn. A spring very close to the chapel supplied the pilgrims with fresh spring water. It was called the "holy spring".

This first chapel was soon unable to cope with the crowds of pilgrims and a larger one was built, the remains of which can still be seen today. The second chapel was consecrated on 4 October 1496. The deed of consecration is now in the Villingen town archives. When uncovering the walls, which in this case are almost 500 years old, the workers also came across Gothic tracery parts, which indicate that this little church must have been more than just a simple court chapel.

This can also be seen from the inventory list that was discovered in the archives in Stuttgart. The inventory includes, for example, a copper votive font, a brass sacrificial basin, an altar cloth, a silver chalice, gilded and countless other items.

It was the sovereign Duke Ulrich von Württemberg who ordered the church services to be stopped as part of Martin Luther's Reformation and the Wendelin Chapel to be removed, i.e. demolished. Nothing came of this for the time being, as the duke died and peace reigned for a while. It was not until 1585 that the plundering of the chapel began, and at the beginning of the 17th century a duke again ordered the chapel to be torn down and such idolatrous pilgrimages to be banned. This happened bit by bit, and soon only the foundation walls remained of the once so admired Wendelin Chapel.

Naturally, people told the most fantastic stories about St Wendelin's Chapel, and one of them gave rise to the legend of St Wendelin:

Two so-called "corpse stones" are said to have lain in front of the entrance, strewn with little crosses. And every year another one was added. The citizens of Oberkirnach believed that this was the work of St Wendelin. But then some of them observed that once a year an old man made a pilgrimage to the chapel and placed a new cross on the stones. This claim was confirmed. Because when the old man died, no new crosses were placed on the stones, which caused the belief in St Wendelin to cool somewhat.

The legend of the bell is also about St Wendel: the bell was to be brought from the Wendelin Chapel to St Georgen. When the cart with the bell, harnessed to a bull, almost reached its destination, it was pushed back as if by magical forces and only came to a halt at the monastery pond. The carter tried a second time, and again just before reaching his destination, the cart was given a knock and plunged into the monastery pond along with the bell, bull and ferryman, sinking into the dark water. Since then, the bull has been heard roaring out of the lake every year at Lent.

Perhaps one or two hikers who pass St. Wendelin's Chapel on their way, resting in the shade of the trees and looking at the remains of the wall, will remember a story or two and, with a little imagination, be able to transport themselves back to the time when many pilgrims sat in the place where they are now sitting 500 years ago to honour St. Wendelin.