Oberholz Trinity
Chapel

Sunrise at Oberholz --
Carroll/Charles Overholt © 2012 All Rights
Reserved
This page
features the 208-year-old Trinity Chapel
in Oberholz, Switzerland. |
Compiled
& Edited by K. R. Overholt Critchfield
Photos by Carroll Overholt & Charles Overholt
© 2013 All Rights Reserved
~ Published September 26, 2015 ~
|
Trinity Chapel is one of the
sweetest sights in the village of
Oberholz. It is small, yet distinctive,
and has a significant place in the
history of the community. Charles
Overholt wrote about his visit to
Oberholz in his blog, Inderheimat.
The following paragraph tells about
Trinity Chapel. The
Protestant Reformation hit Switzerland
with full, bloody force between 1523 and
1526. In particular, the years of 1525-26
were the most brutal. When the violent
clash of religion was over, the
Protestant cause had come out on top in
the area around the canton of Zurich.
Wald converted to Protestantism in 1530,
but Oberholz retained the Catholic faith.
The ruling Count of Uznach, who was
Catholic, expected his subjects to share
his beliefs. The citizens of Oberholz had
traditionally worshipped in Wald, which
was now Protestant . . . they were caught
between rival factions. Catholics were
banned from worshiping in Protestant
Wald, and having no church in Oberholz
forced the citizens to go elsewhere.
Uznach was too far away to go on foot for
church services, so the citizens of
Oberholz formed a union with the Parish
of Eschenbach. This union was never
written down, but church records show
citizens of Oberholz regularly attending
services in Eschenbach from 1532 until
1802. Furthermore, the Catholics of
Oberholz refused to carry their dead
across Protestant ground on the way to
the cemetery in Eschenbach, which greatly
lengthened their trip.
In 1706/7, the
citizens of Oberholz built a small
chapel,
"Dreifaltigkeitskapelle"
(Trinity Chapel), in the middle of the
village. On the 15th of March, 1707, the
first services were held in the chapel.
Never having more than 21 households
during this period, it was difficult for
the parishioners of Oberholz to afford a
priest. As a result of this, mass
was largely held in Eschenbach, while the
chapel in Oberholz was used for prayer.
-
Taken from Oberholz Post © 2013
by Charles Overholt
http://inderheimat.wordpress.com/
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Location of
Trinity Chapel

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From
Wald, you will travel along Oberholzstrasse
(Oberholz Street), up the mountain to the
village of Oberholz, which is laid out
like a triangle within a larger triangle.
At the left corner of the first triangle,
you will come upon Trinity Chapel (Kappel
Oberholz) on the right side of the
street. The Kantonsgrenze
(Canton's Border) is across the street
on the left. If you follow Oberholzstrasse,
straight ahead from the Chapel, you will
see the Oberholzer home and their (really
huge) barn. |
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Alongside
Oberholzstrasse

Trinity Chapel on
Oberholzstrasse (1)
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Trinity Chapel on
Oberholzstrasse (2)
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Trinity Chapel on
Oberholzstrasse, Looking Back
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Looking Back at
Trinity Chapel
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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View of Trinity
Chapel & Skilift Oberholz From Kantonsgrense
Patio
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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First Time in
Trinity Chapel

Chapel Door of
Trinity Chapel
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Bell Rope(?) at
Entrance to Sanctuary
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Trinity Chapel
Sanctuary
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Trinity Chapel
Altar
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Stations of the
Cross in Pictures
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Stations of the
Cross & Picture of Saint Elisabetha
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Picture of Saint
Elisabetha
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
|
St.
Elisabetha, "good Betha," was
Elisabeth Achler (1386-1420), a nun who
bore the signs of the Stigmata, and was
venerated as a prophet. In the Roman
Catholic Church, she is known as Blessed
Elizabeth of Reute. Elizabeth of
Reute, BLESSED, of the Third Order of St.
Francis, b. November 25, 1386, at Waldsee
in Swabia, of John and Anne Acheer; d.
November 25, 1420. From her earliest days
"the good Betha," as she was
called, showed a rare piety, and under
the learned and devout Conrad Kügelin,
her confessor, provost of the Canons
Regular of St. Augustine at St. Peter's
in Waldsee, she made extraordinary
progress towards perfection . . . in all
her trials she showed a heavenly patience
. . . After her death, she was buried in
the church of Reute . . . After several
miracles had been wrought through her
intercession, the Holy See was asked to
ratify her cult. This was done June 19,
1766, by Clement XIII. The Franciscans
celebrate her feast on November 25.
- Taken from The
Original Catholic Encyclopedia
http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Elizabeth_of_Reute%2C_Blessed
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Sanctuary Seen
From Choir Loft
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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Trinity Chapel
Choir Loft
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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. . .
The Apostle Jacob
(Jakobus) Statuette & St. Elisabetha
Statuette
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
|
This
statuette of the Apostle Jacob includes
the requisite Book of Gospels in hand,
the staff and pilgrim hat, and Jacob's
emblem, scallop shells (or cockle
shells), that pilgrims often wore on
their hats and clothing. The statuette
was a gift to Trinity Chapel in 1707,
given by Christian Bernet from
Gommiswald. Having identified St.
Elisabetha, something should be said to
identify the Apostle Jacob. We
are referring to the New Testament
disciple, one of the twelve apostles,
known to English-speaking folk as James,
brother of John, both sons of Zebedee
(i.e., the "sons of thunder").
English gives us the name James, rather
than Jacob, because the Hebrew name Ya'qob
went from the Greek translation to
Latin (Iacobus), to a number of
other European languages, to French (Jacques)
to English (James). Apparently,
while the rest of the world will read
from the Letter of Jacob (or Jakobus)
on a Sunday morning, those of us who
speak English will read from the Letter
of James.
Spain claimed Iacobu as a
patron saint, and according to legend,
his remains are held in Santiago de
Compostela in Galicia. Santiago
comes from the Vulgar Latin Sanctu
Iacobu. The Way of St. James
was the most popular pilgrimage for
Western Europeans from the Early Middle
Ages onward.
- See James, Son of
Zebedee (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_son_of_Zebedee
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Trinity Chapel
Window
Carroll/Charles
Overholt © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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