The Incident at the Ruhkäppele Chapel: Difference between revisions
Created page with "{{Sidebar|Buchau.de Stift - panoramio.jpg|View of Buchau Abbey.|The Incident at the Ruhkäppele Chapel|12|Baden-Württemberg|{{Coordinates|48.06172845984498, 9.588579247270644}}}} This small chapel stands close to the middle of the road from Buchau to Kanzach between three ancient, tall linden trees. Originally small, it was expanded a few years ago and received a small altar for holding masses. The people from the entire area frequently do pilgrimages there, especially..." |
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Latest revision as of 15:44, 28 September 2025
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Geographic Coordinates: 48° 3' 42.22" N, 9° 35' 18.89" E |
This small chapel stands close to the middle of the road from Buchau to Kanzach between three ancient, tall linden trees. Originally small, it was expanded a few years ago and received a small altar for holding masses. The people from the entire area frequently do pilgrimages there, especially on Fridays. The ancient image of Pensive Christ was widely considered a place where worshipers could pray for blessings.
According to folk legend, this is a votiv chapel. Once, a wanderer who wanted to go from Braunenweiler to Kappel wandered around the fields all night. Whatever direction he set out on, he traveled from the forest to the lake and back again to the forest, and yet he could reach neither. Shaking from fear and exhaustion, he pledged to build a chapel if he were to happily arrive home. But he sank to the ground and fell into sleep. Like Jacob beholding the great ladder, he saw the image of the Ruhe-Christi Chapel rise from the ground in his dream. In honor of this omen, he decided to build the promised chapel. He woke up, and behold — the sun already shone on his bald head. He found himself strengthened, saw that he had slept on his own soil and ground hale and peacefully, and immediately recognized the spot where the so-called pietà had looked out of the ground. He thanked God for his salvation, hurriedly went home to fetch shovel and spade, and started digging at this location. Hardly three shoes deep beneath the ground he found the image. “Here I have rested, here the image has rested in secret, and here people shall be able to rest under a safe roof in the future.” This is the legend of how the chapel was built.
Years later, one Pankraz Knoll from Dürnau went home from Neufra to Kappel during his wedding days. The tower clock in Kappel struck midnight when he walked past the Ruhkäppele chapel. Then he had a premonition that he shouldn’t walk past it. He went inside, kneeled in a chair, and recited the Lord’s Prayer. When he went outside he saw a black poodle with fiery eyes. This poodle ran after the mortally frightened man without otherwise bothering him and followed him until Kappel, where it suddenly vanished.
Source: Birlinger - Alemannia 2ter Band, p. 283f
![]() Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles: Commentaries on German folklore. Get the book for further context and explanatory commentary! |