Chapel St. Michael, Medieval church building in Marburg, Germany.
Chapel St. Michael is a medieval church building in Marburg that displays Gothic features such as pointed roof lines, arched windows, and stonework spanning different construction periods. The interior reveals detailed craftsmanship through carved stones and decorative elements that show how builders created this structure.
The Teutonic Order built the chapel in 1268, and it was first mentioned that year in a charter of Archbishop Werner von Eppstein of Mainz; it was consecrated on 30 April 1270 by Dietrich von Wierland. After the Reformation it passed to the city of Marburg and fell into ruin, serving as a hay and wood store. Restoration began in 1583 with funding from the Marburg professor Petrus Nigidius, and the present roof structure and roof turret date from that campaign.
Locals call the chapel "Marburger Michelchen". From 1476 to 1526 the Marian Rosary Confraternity of Marburg held Sunday services here, and until the Reformation it also served as a hospital chapel. The bell, hung on a rope inside the nave, had to ring for services in the parish church from 1653, after that church's bell was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War.
The chapel stands west of the Elisabethkirche on a small rise below the Augustenruhe, above the junction of Elisabethstraße and Ketzerbach, and is reached via Friedrich-Siebert-Weg. The entrance is on the south side; the north doorway is walled up. The floor is uneven stone with old grave slabs set into it, so watch your step.
The chapel's bell was lent out from 1653: after the parish church's bell was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, this bell rang for services there. A rope hanging into the nave still lets visitors ring it. The 1583 roof turret with its Welsh hood was renewed in 2020 for about 250,000 euros.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,027 contributors worldwide.