Johannes-Kapelle, Timber-framed chapel in Metel, Neustadt am Rübenberge, Germany
Johannes-Kapelle is a single-storey timber-framed chapel in Metel, its walls filled with red brick between dark beams and its steep roof covered in orange-red clay tiles. The gables are boarded with planks, and a small roof turret with a metal cross stands on the ridge. The nave measures 11.16 m by 4.64 m and has a flat wooden beam ceiling.
A chapel in Metel is first recorded in the protocols of the Protestant church visitation of 1543; by 1594 it held the patronage of John the Baptist. During the Thirty Years' War it was the only place of worship in the Basse parish still holding services, and from 1627 to 1631 the pastor resided in Metel. The last service took place in May 1946; after restoration in 1951–52 the chapel was reconsecrated, and it was thoroughly renovated in 2012.
The chapel's patron is John the Baptist, attested by 1594, not the Apostle John. Services were probably held four times a year. Since the last service in May 1946, the community has used the schoolhouses of Metel and Scharrel for worship.
The chapel stands in Metel, a district of Neustadt am Rübenberge; the last regular service there was held in May 1946, after which the congregation moved to the schoolhouses of Metel and Scharrel. The building is a protected monument and was fully restored in 2012, so visits depend on the parish rather than fixed opening hours. Look for the baroque gravestone fragment with the year 1661 leaning against the outside of the nave.
The bronze bell hanging in the roof turret was cast in Hanover by Ludolf Siegfriedt in 1650, replacing one stolen around 1626 by Tilly's troops. Its Latin inscription names Pastor Theodorus Flebbe of Basse and the altarists of Metel and Scharrel who paid for it. Restored in Nördlingen in 2013, it measures 46 cm across.
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