Heilig Hüsli
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Heilig Hüsli (''Holy house'') is a
bridge chapel A bridge chapel is a small place of Christianity, Christian worship, built either on, or immediately adjacent to, a road bridge; they were commonly established during pre-Reformation medieval era in Europe. Although sometimes built on land at the ...
in
Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
, Canton of St. Gallen,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.


Geography

The chapel is located next to the
Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
, near the Rapperswil railway station. It is situated on a small island on upper Lake Zürich (''Obersee'') off of the
Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the Obersee (the upper part of Lake Zurich) in Switzerland. On 6 April 2001, the footbridge was opened. With a leng ...
, a historical wooden bridge that was reconstructed in 2001. During formation of the Alps, layers of sediment were deposited by ancient bodies of water. This gave rise to the banded rocks that form the
Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (''"Tilia, linden yard"'') is a moraine hill and public square in the historic center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has histor ...
in Rapperswil, and the islands of Ufnau, Lützelau and Heilighüsli. During the last Ice Age the island was under a thick layer of ice. Over time, only the harder layers of conglomerate rock and sandstone remained after the erosion by the glacier, creating the islands.


History

The chapel, built near the former medieval wooden bridge between
Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
and Hurden, was first mentioned in 1485 AD as a wooden prayer house or pilgrim's chapel. The pilgrimage route ''Jakobsweg'' (Way of St. James) leads through the region, from Wattwil over the Ricken Pass to Schmerikon on to Lachen and Buechberg, along the left bank of the upper lake to St. Meinrad Pass, or from Schmerikon along ''Obersee'', passing Bollingen, Wurmsbach and Jona- Busskirch to Rapperswil and then crossing the wooden bridge towards Hurden. Another route leads over the
Hörnli Hörnli mountain is located on the territory of the community of Fischenthal, in the Zürcher Oberland, in the eastern part of canton of Zürich, in Switzerland. It is high. North of the Hörnli, the ''Dreiländerstein'', altitude , marks the ...
mountain through the Töss Valley, passing the former Rüti Abbey via Kempraten and
Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
and the wooden bridge to the St. Meinrad Pass towards the Einsiedeln Abbey. According to an inscription, the present stone building dates back to 1551. The chapel became the site of an execution after a legal dispute over a pasture belonging to the ''Wydenchlösterli'', a nunnery on the shore of the Jona River. The ''Wydenchlösterli'' was a small
Beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christianity, Christian laity, lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in monasticism, semi-monastic ...
nunnery founded by the House of Rapperswil. In the years before the Reformation in Zürich, its last superior, Katharine Scheuchzer (Katharina Schüchter) fought that the nunnery should be dissolved, and asked the neighboring Rüti Abbey and the Old Swiss Confederacy for support. When an epidemic in the Rapperswil hospital broke out in 1563, Scheuchzer was accused of witchcraft."...schantlichs leben und hushan, mit huren und buben husghan, darzu jr dz almusen zu '' Rüti''. Stadtarchiv Rapperswil, A VIIa 1. Although the '' Tagsatzung's'' verdict of 1543 was in favor of the small nunnery, after cruel torture, the old woman was sentenced by the town council to death, put in a bag, and drowned in the Obersee lake at Heilig Hüsli chapel. The property of the nunnery was transferred to the hospital. After the
Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
was built in 1878, the Heilig Hüsli chapel was the only remaining structure of the original medieval wooden bridge. It stood isolated in the lake and was not accessible to visitors until the reconstruction of the former wooden bridge was completed in 2001.


Architecture

The chapel stands on an approximately high base, and measures just x , with eaves standing at about . It has a west-facing apse, in which a miraculous fresco was once installed. The altarpiece, whose outlines are still visible in the interior, is preserved together with a representation of the Virgin Mary with the body of Christ in the Stadtmuseum Rapperswil-Jona. The fresco was replaced by a replica by the Swiss artist Marlies Pekarek, and was inaugurated and blessed on 7 April 2011 with the intention of returning the bridge chapel to its original purpose. The interior of the chapel is visible only through the latticed east side. Following an old custom, pilgrims throw coins into the interior. Heilighüsli IMG 9023.JPG, The bridge chapel,
Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
and Rapperswil in the background Heilighüsli - Holzbrücke - Wägital - Rapperswil Seedamm 2015-05-27 18-00-12.JPG, The wooden bridge, as seen from nearby ''Seedamm'', ''Obersee'' and ''Wägital'' in the background Heilighüsli - Innenansicht (Teilrenovation) 2011-05-12 16-51-56.jpg, Fresco inside the chapel Rapperswil - Holzbrücke-Heilighüsli IMG 0362.jpg, As seen from '' Schloss Rapperswil''
As of today the small chapel is owned by the ''Ortsgemeinde'' (citizenry's community) Rapperswil. The chapel was partially renovated in 1908, 1930, 1957, 2011 and 2015.


Cultural heritage

The chapel is under protection since 1907 and the building itself is listed in the
Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...
as an object of ''regional importance''.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilig Husli Churches in the canton of St. Gallen Buildings and structures in Rapperswil-Jona Roman Catholic chapels in Switzerland Islands of Lake Zurich Lake islands of Switzerland 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Switzerland Buildings and structures completed in 1551 1551 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Cultural property of regional significance in the canton of St. Gallen Tourist attractions in Rapperswil-Jona Gothic architecture in Switzerland