The small chapel on the state road between Dietramszell and Bad Tölz commemorates a devastating plague in the early 17th century. Now it should be renovated.
Dietramszell - Today it is Corona, before the plague terrified the world. Since the Middle Ages, Black Death has been rolling across the country every 10 to 20 years. At the beginning of the 17th century, the epidemic raged particularly violently in the Tölz region. Bairawies was not spared either: only the landlord and his waitress survived the epidemic - according to tradition.
The cemetery was not enough for all the dead
The cemetery was not enough for the many who died: they were burned and buried in the forest east of the village. In memory of the victims, a small plague chapel was built in 1626 on the other side of the town, on today's state road to Bad Tölz in 2072. Sebastian Beham, architect and hobby historian from Bairawies, found out that the two survivors were originally depicted there alongside an inscription.
There were supplications to the chapel until 1895
In 1762 the chapel was rebuilt in its current eight-sided form. The altar is still preserved from this period. The ceiling fresco was probably painted by the 23-year-old Wilhelm Anton Fett from Bad Tölz. It shows a plague-stricken city with high walls: the survivors bring the dead to the stake on wheelbarrows, with a horse-drawn cart or with their bare hands. A woman kneels in front of a corpse and covers her nose. The two plague saints St. Sebastian and St. Rochus, who were hoped to protect the epidemic, are also shown.
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Until 1895, petitions regularly led to the chapel, Beham knows. Today hundreds of cars race past the state road every day. Nobody thinks of past epidemics, which have long since lost their horror thanks to antibiotics, when they see the inconspicuous gray little church. It was last restored in 1970. Car emissions and especially the winter salt spread have left their mark since then. The plaster crumbles, moisture damage appears in the baroque interior, the fresco is heavily soiled in places.
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The Archiepiscopal Ordinariate of Munich-Freising now wants to provide a new shine. Last year, the dome-like church got a new wooden shingle roof, the badly damaged metal roof cross is currently being repaired. The interior and exterior plaster will soon be renewed and the ceiling fresco will be cleaned. The scaffolding is already in place. In its most recent meeting, the Dietramszell building committee gave the municipal agreement on the measures.
