Oberholz Trinity Chapel

Oberholz Trinity Chapel

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

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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. . .

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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