Wendolinsskapelle

Wendolinskapelle Chapel
Mohlin, Switzerland

"Obermoshlin, Wendolinsgasse, at the junction Landstrasse-Zeiningerstrasse. 

"Möhlin is located on the railway line Basel-Zurich. From the station to the chapel, it is about 2 km along Bahnhofstrasse. Bus drivers use the line station Möhlin-Wegenstetten to the stop Obermatt. 

Original Key  Stone on Entrance

 with Date of Current Building

"The Wendelinskapelle is located near three historical guest houses and a former ford through the Möhlinbach. Here, at the old junction of the Landstrasse through the Rhine valley and the road to Zeiningen-Wegenstetten, from where once a road crossed the Jura into the Aare valley. As early as 1478, a small church was mentioned here. The current date dates back to 1688. The fact that it already had a clock at that time underlined its prominent location on this busy road. Until the construction of today's Landstrasse in the 19th century, the road passed the chapel (Wendolinsgasse). 

"A picture cycle to the life of St. Wendelin covers a large part of the ship's walls. It is a 1920/23 early work of Basel artist Hans Stocker (1896-1983). Stocker is regarded as a pioneer of modern Swiss glass painting and as a renewer of ecclesiastical art in Switzerland. His pictures in Möhlin suffered an inglorious destiny. During renovation work in the years 1949/50 they were damaged by limestone spatter. Their elimination caused even greater damage, so that the murals were ultimately overshadowed with a white color. With the support of the monument preservation, the excavation took place in 1987/88. 

"Three baroque statues look from the choir wall. The nearly life-size Wendelin from the time around 1720/30 is attributed to the sculptor Hans Freitag from Rheinfelder. The bishops, Martin and Eligius, show two smaller, handsome figures. The latter is depicted with a horse and is the patron of the horses and drivers - suitable for the chapel on a traffic axis. 

"Three angels hover on the ceiling. The left holds a stone column as a sign of the stability of the church (= Ecclesia). In the middle figure of the angel with the cross is the word Fides (= loyalty, faith), in the right with the bishop's rod Apostolatus (= mission, order). 

Cross at Entrance

"Before the chapel entrance is a expressive trail cross from the time around 1600. On the renewed pedestal, next to a donor inscription is a Jakobsmuschel with staff (sign of the pilgrims). Whether it is referring to our earthly patronage, a pilgrimage of the founder to Compostela, or the pilgrims coming here, is open. It is known, That many Alsace pilgrims on their way to Einsiedeln Möhlin passed into the 19th century. 

One of the Pillars of the Cross

"There it is, the old road cross at the crossroads of the country road at the village exit to Zeiningen. For more than 400 years, it has been showing pilgrim sticks and a mussel as a signpost for pilgrims on the Way of St. James. The Christ figures depicted from the Buntsandstein anatomically very fine were signs of blessing for the people on the way. In the Wendelinskapelle they found refuge from rain and heat, a moment of rest with God on their way to Santiago. Historically it has been proved that a well-known group of Jakobspilgern from Switzerland did not take the route over Geneva, but ran across Basel through Alsace and Burgundy to Santiago in the far Galicia. 

"Many modern people are now discovering the old Way of St. James as an opportunity to give their life a new direction. Deceleration, praying with the feet, confiding in the providence of God, encounters in many ways, and much more is the fascination of the Way of St. James. (Link 1.)

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Photos: Taken with an iPhone in May 2017 by Richard Wilson  while living and working in Basel, Switzerland.
Link 1: http://www.aargauerkapellen.ch/kapellen/WendelinskapelleMoehlin/Index.php (translation)


                                                              Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)