The Chapel of St. Roch (german: Rochuskapelle) is a German pilgrimage chapel, dedicated to

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

, located on the Rochusberg southeast of

Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ''Mäuseturm'', k ...

History

The first building, dating to the plague year of 1666, was destroyed during the

campaigns of 1795 in the French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1794 between Revolutionary France and the First coalition. The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking the Dutch Republic in the middle of winter. The Dutch people rallied to the Fr ...

of the

Rhine valley ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. The second was built 1814 in the wake of a

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

epidemic brought by soldiers returning from the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

wrote a description of its dedication ceremony. This building's flèche was hit by lightning in 1889 and the chapel burned down to the brickwork. The present building, built in 1893–95, has Neo Gothic designs by the Freiburg

master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in ...

Max Meckel and the Berlin

stonecutters Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

, Zeidler & Wimmel. At this time a small Bethlehem Chapel was built under the main chapel's east window, recalling an earlier chapel of that name on the site from the Crusader era. Parts of the earlier Roch chapels' art collections survive, but the only thing to survive the 1889 fire was the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

statue of the patron saint at the high altar.

References

19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Roman Catholic churches completed in 1895 Roman Catholic chapels in Germany Roman Catholic churches in Rhineland-Palatinate {{Germany-church-stub