To the mysterious octagonal chapels in Main-Tauber

Returned crusaders from the landed aristocracy are considered to be the builders of the chapels

As the name suggests, the octagons do not have a rectangular nave, but an octagonal central space. The most famous octagon in Germany is the Palatine Chapel in Aachen. It was built around 800 under Charlemagne. The three chapels in the Main-Tauber district are far away from any dominant center. They are simpler, but no less impressive. And they were built later: around 1200. They are mysteriously glittering jewels of Romanesque architecture.

Crusaders from the land nobility are considered builders. As a thank you for having returned unscathed from the Holy Land to their homeland, they are said to have erected octagons, it is said. Or as a souvenir for family members who did not survive the crusade. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is seen as a model. It is possible that the number eight played a role: It is considered holy and is a symbol for rebirth, renewal or rule as well as for baptism – and thus for eternal life and perfection.

When giants throw their hammer …

What the two chapels in Oberwittighausen and Grünsfeld-Hausen have in common is the hammer throw legend, of which there are different ways of narrating. In the center, however, is that a giant hurled his hammer in the air ?? where it hit the chapels were built. The hammer seems to have landed twice on Grünbach: The Achatius Chapel is a double octagon.

Like the Sigismund Chapel, it should also stand on a spring shrine. The Celtic sacrificial stone, a so-called cup stone on the outer wall, is an indication of this. What is certain is that water affected the octagonal structure: it slowly sank into the mud due to flooding and flooding. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the chapel was liberated ?? with the effect that it now stands in a cauldron almost four meters deep. If you go around it, you will discover a paw cross near the cup stone. Any indication that Knights Templar are responsible for building it?

Enigmatic portal of the Sigismund Chapel

The Sigismund Chapel is also a mystery, not only because a Knight Templar is also mentioned there. It is considered the oldest octagon in the region and is said to have been built around 1150. The vividly decorated portal is an eye-catcher. You can see a headless bishop, a pilgrim, a lion with a human head, a crocodile and the devil, plus stars, waves, lines and other ornaments. The eye sees no order, no plan. No wonder. After the chapel was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War and crumbled in disrepair for a long time, some things should have gotten mixed up during the reconstruction.

“What do you see?” – That’s what Gisela Schaub asks visitors when they stand in front of the portal. What she then hears, “that is often very funny,” says the “chapel keeper”, who has been offering tours for over a year. There are many interpretations, the local researcher Karl Endres listed the “researcher’s reports” in his recently published book about the Sigismund Chapel.

But what does the Sigismund Chapel have to do with the Turin shroud? The fairy tale has grown up around the grave slab that stands inside today. It is leaning against the wall and shows the outline of a man in a habit and a floor-length hood? a so-called cowl. According to the followers of the Shroud legend, it is said to be the Knight Templar André de Joinville. He allegedly brought the Turin shroud from the Holy Land to Franconia together with Konrad von Hohenlohe-Brauneck – to the Sigismund Chapel. The Hohenstaufen emperor Friedrich II is said to have given them the task. The Knight Templar spent the rest of his life in a hermit cell next to the chapel – and kept the shroud.

Is this cell perhaps the building whose foundations are clearly visible in the grass on an aerial photograph? A photo of this can be seen in Karl Endres’ book.

Because of esoteric activities, the Ulrich chapel was once closed

More tangible is the crusader Konrad von Hohenlohe-Brauneck, who with his brother took part in Frederick II’s crusade from 1228 to 1229. He is considered to be the builder of the Ulrich’s Chapel in Standorf, and his headquarters are in Brauneck Castle near Creglingen-Niedersteinbach.

The octagon of the Ulrich chapel is supported by an ancient oak trunk that is angularly cut at the top. According to a dendrochronological report, it is around 800 years old. The column was older, namely over 1000 years, it was said around ten years ago. And she is a Germanic Irminsul, an object of pagan cults, from the time before the chapel was built there. In addition, dowsers were spotted in and around the church and obscure meetings were held, it said.

The excitement was great, also about the former church keeper who supported it. The pastor at the time was very angry and the Ulrich chapel was temporarily closed to visitors due to esoteric activities. Richard Preininger tells visitors today what little has been historically proven. And waves it off: “We didn’t even know what the Irminsul was back then.”

Inside there is more than one old mighty pillar to see. It is the choir extension with a narrow groin vault and a mysterious capital with a face. A stone slab is set in the floor with a disc cross that stands on a semicircle. Underneath there is said to be a grave in which no one has been buried. And at this point the story of the shroud of Christ reappears. It is said to have been kept in the cavity for a while.

The Kunigunden chapel: not octagonal, but also connected to the shroud

Before that, the famous linen cloth is said to have been hidden in another chapel: in the Kunigunden chapel in Burgerroth near Aub in the Würzburg district. It belongs to the Catholic church foundation of Buch, a district of Bieberehren. The builder is also a family member of the von Hohenlohe family: Heinrich, Konrad’s father.

It is out of line as far as the legend is concerned: it is not octagonal. But the shroud story is blooming here. The surrounding cornice provides the clue, especially the intertwined stone knot on the north side, church caretaker Manfred Deppisch has been happy to tell visitors for many years. There are no written sources on this. “But it could have been,” says Deppisch.

However, the following story is not a legend: When the Achatius Chapel in Grünsfeld-Hausen was cleared of the mud, an octagonal stone column came to light. It caused displeasure. Put away the strange thing, thought some local men. On the night of Good Friday 1919, they removed the column from the church, which they mistakenly assumed to be part of a pagan altar. However – as in Standorf – it was a supporting part of the chapel and, as there, stood in the middle of the octagonal central room. Today it has its place outside the Achatius Chapel – but not in its full size. A figure of Mary stands on it and greets the visitors with the baby Jesus in her arms.