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Hubertus-chapel in Jagdhaus

Families build a church

At the highest point, visible from afar and at the same time in the middle of the village, to show confidence and praise to God: That was the idea behind the construction of the Hubertus chapel in 1936. Jagdhaus came together and all the families worked together to build a new religious center, a small church where the Eucharist is still celebrated today. Over the decades, the chapel has been remarkably furnished thanks to many donations. Today, the non-profit Kapellengemeinschaft Jagdhaus e.V. takes care of its maintenance and operation; every now and then a mass is held there.

Franz Wiese, owner of the local hotel, had the idea to build the Hubertus chapel. In times of increasing godlessness, he wanted to set a Christian example as a pious man. So he provided a plot of land and mobilized the other Jagdhaus residents. The chapel's foundation charter states: "It should be a place of reflection, a place of grace and peace for the present generation and for all those to come." The renowned architect Josef Franke drew the design and his equally renowned daughter designed the windows. The chapel was consecrated in August 1936. Since then, mass has been held every week on the eve or Sunday. The Eucharist has also been celebrated since 1952. The eternal light comes from the parish church in Fleckenberg. In 1992, a sponsoring company was founded due to necessary renovation work. The Marienkapellchen and the Stations of the Cross on the Kleiner Heidekopf are affiliated with the Hubertus chapel.

The design for the Hubertus chapel was created by Gelsenkirchen architect Josef Franke, who was known for brick expressionism in the 1920s. A slate-covered pitched roof sits on top of the natural stone ground floor. The gable, which is also clad in slate and has two small windows, towers protectively over the entrance and is supported on one side by the foundation wall and on the other by a square wooden pillar. The walls are only partially plastered for decorative reasons, including the lintels. The five arched windows in the nave and the rectangular windows to the side of the entrance door were designed by the architect and artist Margarete Franke: the colourful geometric composition of leaded antique glass squares shows the stylized PX and crosses. The Hubertus relief above the entrance, the tabernacle door and the carved Stations of the Cross are early works by the sculptor Toni Schneider-Manzell.

The Hubertus chapel was created through a joint effort by many people. The people of Jagdhaus built it together in the truest sense of the word. And this is exactly how it is maintained and constantly being refurbished. The German-Austrian sacred sculptor Toni Schneider-Manzell was a frequent guest at the Göbel forest estate in Wulwesort, so that the Göbel family was able to donate several of his early works. Schneider-Manzell later designed the gate, pulpit and font cover of Salzburg Cathedral, among other things. For a long time, a tapestry by the founder's daughter Gertrud Gerlach hung behind the altar. The Wegener couple donated a Madonna and Child and a crucifixless corpus, both from the late Middle Ages. They were given their places when the chapel was redesigned in 2014. An installation for sacrificial candles was created by blacksmith Walter Schneider. With all these contributions over the decades, the chapel remains a lively meeting place in the community.

Vertelleken

Chatting out of the sewing box...

 

A look at the weather map from 1936 shows why the laying of the foundation stone had to be postponed by a week. Sauerland winter weather unexpectedly swept over the region once again, causing a thick and heavy blanket of wet snow locally, on White Sunday of all days, the day of the First Communion one week after Easter. Many spruce crowns broke under the weight of the snow. There was no snow clearing equipment yet; the village Jagdhaus was cut off from the outside world. Roads and paths had to be cleared by hand. Pictures from that time show several meter high walls of snow on the roadsides.

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