Oberstdorf - The chapel from the Middle Ages threatened to sink into the swampy subsoil.
Now the building is "on dry land" again.
The mass at the St. Wendel Chapel in Gschlief was accompanied by a golden October sun in the Stillachtal near Obrstdorf, with which not only the namesake but also the general renovation of the small church was celebrated.
A year has passed since the chapel on the side of the road to Birgsau was literally pulled “out of the dirt” in an elaborate operation.
Before that, the building from the Middle Ages threatened to deteriorate in the swampy subsoil.
Pastor Maurus Mayer used the legend of the king's son Wendelin in his sermon, who was also able to experience an "exaltation" with his canonization, after he had not previously "humbled" himself as a beggar and cattle herder.
Origins probably in the Middle Ages
The Gschliefkapelle also had to be raised out of the swamp and the craftsmen had to bend down fairly low for this.
"No honey licking for the many helpers who led a tireless fight over many years, first to save the substance and finally to the general renovation," assured the Father.
David Huber from the “Interest Group for the Preservation of the Gschliefkapelle” showed the guests the long-standing concern for the building.
The origins probably went back to the Middle Ages.
Before 1700 the Gschliefkapelle was then a path chapel “To our dear woman” on the pilgrimage route to St. Maria Loretto, the trade and salt route from the Lechtal to Oberstdorf.
In 1785 she received St. Wendelin as the new namesake.
St. Wendel Chapel threatened to disintegrate
With the transverse construction of the Stillach and the new road to the Fellhornbahn in the 1970s, the chapel literally got "wet feet".
So much so that it threatened to decay.
Since 2017, they have been looking for solutions to save the building together with lawyers, the beautification association, the district office and the municipality.
The Oberall company then had a feasible proposal.
The chapel should simply be pulled one meter out of the damp subsurface.
They were eagerly looking for donors and competent specialists to finance and carry out the 120,000 euro campaign.
Elevation of the entire structure
In September 2020 the time had come: the renovation began, the climax of which was probably the lifting of the entire structure with a 400-tonne crane onto the new foundation.
A new roof, a new floor, a fresh coat of paint and the overhaul of the works of art followed, so that the chapel was in a new splendor just in time for the cattle shed this year.
The estimated 120,000 euros eventually turned into 140,000 euros.
“But thanks to the generosity of over 70 donors, they are largely covered,” says Huber.
Mayor Klaus King thanked the donors, the IG “Gschliefkapelle”, the lawyers, the beautification association, the chapel keeper Helmut Thaumiller and the craftsmen for their support in receiving “an essential element of local history”.
King saw the 20,000 euros that the community had contributed to the redevelopment as well invested.