Nikolauskapelle, Medieval chapel in Klingenmünster, Germany.
The Nikolauskapelle is a single-nave chapel of carefully laid red sandstone northwest of Klingenmünster, with a recessed rectangular choir and a pitched red-tiled roof. A square tower with a domed baroque helm of 1786 rises above the choir arch. The south wall is built of large smooth blocks, the other sides of smaller quarry stones; the west portal's mouldings run unbroken into the round arch.
The chapel is first documented as "ad capellam beati Nicolai" in a 1313 charter, though stylistic comparisons place its construction between the 1190s and the second quarter of the 13th century. In 1480 it was handed to the cathedral dean of Speyer and, by the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), had been profaned, serving as wine cellar, granary and washhouse. Sold in 1795, it passed to the Palatinate district in 1850; after the nave collapsed, it was restored in 1924, and since 1946 it has again hosted services, weddings and baptisms.
The chapel's name comes from the text "ad capellam beati Nicolai" in a 1313 charter, its first documented mention. In 1480 it passed to the cathedral dean of Speyer, and from then until the French Revolution it was no longer used for worship. Since 1946 it has again hosted services, weddings and baptisms, ecumenically open to non-Catholics as well.
The chapel stands northwest of Klingenmünster, about 200 to 300 m northeast of the Magdalenenhof with the St. Maria Magdalena chapel. The entrance is on the south side through the west portal; the smaller door beside it leads up into the tower. The interior is a single nave with a recessed rectangular choir, and a stone bench runs along the walls of both.
Faded wall paintings from the early 13th century survive in the choir: Saint Nicholas with a kneeling donor on the north wall, Saint Michael fighting the dragon on the south wall. The chapel also holds a round window, a four-pass rosette added in 1947, and iron door fittings from the late 15th century ending in lilies.
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