St. Oswald, Catholic pilgrimage church in Boßweiler, Germany

St. Oswald is a Catholic church on St. Oswald street in Boßweiler. The Gothic Oswald chapel, originally with its choir to the east, was incorporated as the transept of a Baroque parish and pilgrimage church built between 1700 and 1707, giving the building an unusual north-south axis with the choir to the south. The church holds a skull relic of St. Oswald and the non-public burial vault of the Merz von Quirnheim knights, whose colourful coat of arms decorates the ceiling.

The Catholic Merz family of Quirnheim had the Gothic Oswald chapel rebuilt between 1700 and 1707 into a Baroque parish and pilgrimage church, since the old parish church at Quirnheim Castle remained Protestant. The chapel's east-facing choir was kept as the transept, giving the new church an unusual north-south axis with the choir to the south. The site held an old pilgrimage to St Oswald of England, a rare plague and cattle patron whose skull relic the church still keeps.

The church keeps a skull relic of St. Oswald of England, a rare patron invoked against plague and livestock disease, and an old pilgrimage to him existed here. The Boßweiler Altar, a winged altarpiece made around 1485 in the circle of Martin Schongauer, was found damaged in the church in 1860 by Wilhelm Molitor and is now in St. Ludwig in Speyer.

The church is accessible for regular visits and provides a good overview of its interior from the entrance. Visitors should remember that this is an active place of worship and appropriate respect is expected.

A memorial tablet inside commemorates Colonel Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, who took part in a 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. This historical link connects the religious building with a significant moment of German resistance.