Bergkapelle, Gothic Revival church in Illingen, Germany.
The Bergkapelle is a Gothic Revival church built of reddish-brown stone blocks with a steep grey-brown tiled roof. A slender dark spire with a square louvered belfry rises on the left, and the front facade has tall pointed-arch windows with simple tracery and buttresses between them. A large dark double door sits to the right in a shallow pointed arch.
The present building was constructed in 1901 following a Gothic Revival design by Wilhelm Hector, replacing three earlier pilgrimage chapels. The site has been known as a pilgrimage destination since the 16th century.
The chapel's name, Zu den Sieben Schmerzen Mariens, refers to the Seven Sorrows of Mary and has been documented since 1680. Votive tablets left by pilgrims before the main entrance and a sandstone cross testify to gratitude for help sought in illness and personal hardship. A men's pilgrimage takes place annually on Ascension Day, and since 1955 a Sinti pilgrimage from southwest Germany and the Benelux countries has been held on the first weekend of October.
The chapel stands on a hill between Illingen and Steinertshaus. The Stationenweg begins on Gymnasialstraße (L 265) and runs 500 metres uphill past seven sandstone steles with reliefs of the Seven Sorrows. A café opened in July 2019 in the former sexton's apartment.
The Stations of the Cross on Gymnasialstraße/L 265 run 500 metres toward the chapel and consist of seven sandstone stelae with reliefs of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The Seven Footfalls were first documented in 1747, so the route predates the 1901 chapel.
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