markuskapelle

Located between the Court and the Küchenhof, and although this chapel was located within the immunity of the Altenberger Abbey is unknown how this chapel was connected with the abbey, but the chapel’s origin dates back to the very beginning of the Abbey and was probably consecrated 1145 or 1147 by Archbishop Arnold of Cologne. The chapel was built in its current form 1225 in Rhineland transitional style (hybrid of Romanesque and Gothic) and is the oldest building in Altenberg. Befor the completion of the Cathedral the chapel served as a church to the monks and was later used as church for the sick and the non-Altenberger-abbey inhabitants, the Abbots were also the first to be buried here. After its secularization in 1803 the chapel served temporarily as forge, the thorough restoration in 1897-1902 was led by Royal Architect Friedrich Carl Heimann. When the chapel in 1980 the chapel’s west wall was extended one discovered remains of a beautiful fresco depicting the Ascension of Mary. Interior: frescoes are partly dating back to the period before 1300, vaulted ceiling decorated with small stars, 19th century neo-Gothic Windows, the arch at the Western Wall shows early-Gothic murals "Coronation of Maria".