Käppele Church

The church is located on the north-eastern slope of the 366 metre Nikolausberg, below the Frankenwarte and above the left bank of the Main in the city of Würzburg, the capital of Lower Franconia in the north of Bavaria, Germany.

In the Swabian and Franconian dialects, the word Käppele (pronounced [ˈkɛpələ] ) is a diminutive of the German word Kapelle (pronounced [kaˈpɛlə] ), meaning 'chapel', and is also used in the names of a number of other, mostly small, hill-top chapels in the area, such as the Erlabrunner Käppele, located 15 km further north, or the Zeiler Käppele, some 70 km to the east. Others can be found in Bühlertann, Ebern, Neudenau, Röthlein, Rottendorf, Scheer and elsewhere.

Originally, a local fisher erected a pietà in what was then a vineyard in 1640. About ten years later, four miracle cures were reported in connection with the statue. Around 1650, a first chapel was built around the pietà. Together with some other reported phenomena, the cures began to attract pilgrims to the site, especially around pentecost. In 1690 and 1713, the original chapel was increased in size. Balthasar Neumann, architect of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Würzburg Residence, then drew up plans for a new church which incorporated the older chapel as the Alte Gnadenkapelle. The foundation stone was laid on 5 April 1748. Construction took until 1750 but the interior furnishings were not finished until 1821. The new chapel was officially inaugurated only on 21 September 1824, due to earlier disruptions caused by securalization of 1803. However, the capuchins already began holding services in 1754. During the Bombing of Würzburg in World War II the chapel was damaged slightly.