Wallfahrtstätte Eremitage

The origins of the Eremitage date back to 1684, when the Jesuit Anton Hülse had the Chapel of Grace built. This chapel succeeded an earlier Marian chapel that had been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. The Chapel of Grace, which combines elements of the Renaissance and Gothic styles, houses the tomb of Prince Franz-Josef of Nassau-Siegen, the Catholic hereditary prince who died in 1703, beneath its dome. A Baroque altar from 1736 adorns the interior, complemented by a Pietà created by Else Hoffmann in 1961. The complex also includes a hermit's cell, a half-timbered building considered one of the oldest in the Siegerland. The Jesuit Conrad Manz lived here until his death in 1733, and his name gave the entire site its designation. He was buried next to a shrine featuring a figure of Ignatius of Loyola. The cell later served as a pilgrim's inn and is now the sacristy. From 1953 to 1966, the Eremitage was a monastery of the Poor Clares, who dissolved their establishment in 2014. Since 2021, two Franciscan sisters have resided there. The official declaration as a pilgrimage site occurred in 1861. A Way of the Cross, erected in 1933, surrounds the pilgrimage complex.

The Eremitage is situated in the Siegen-Wittgenstein region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near Federal Highway 54.

The Chapel of Grace was reopened in early 2015 after renovation work, with particular restoration of the Baroque altar. Since 1993, the German Caritas Association has used the house for training caregivers of people with dementia. In 2015, the monastery temporarily served as a refugee shelter. In mid-2016, St. Marien-Krankenhaus Siegen acquired the monastery complex and established the Louise von Marillac Hospice there, completed in February 2018, which also includes a spiritual center. The tradition of Marian pilgrimages is still maintained in the open area with its old beech trees and the quarry stone wall from 1933. Annual processions and pilgrimages take place, and a Holy Mass is celebrated on Thursdays.

• Oberes Schloss (Siegen) (castle, approx. 3276 m away)
• Unteres Schloss (Siegen) (castle, approx. 3655 m away)
• Ruine Alte Burg (Dreis-Tiefenbach) (ruin, approx. 6258 m away)
• Burg Hainchen (castle, approx. 10703 m away)