St. Odile is a forest sanctuary in Freiburg's suburb Waldsee. It is located at a height of 480 m in a forest clearing in the upper St. Odile ravine in the

municipal forest A municipal forest or municipal woodland is a forest or wood owned by a town or city. Such woods often have a higher density of leisure facilities like play parks, restaurants and cafes, bridleways, cycle paths and footpaths. Unlike an urban forest ...

of Freiburg at the southern slope of the Roßkopf at a distance of approximately 750 m from St. Wendelin.

History

It is one of the oldest

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

destinations in Germany. The chapel is consecrated to

Saint Odile Odile of Alsace, also known as Odilia and Ottilia, born - at Mont Sainte-Odile), is a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. She is a patroness saint of good eyesight and of the region of Alsace. Saint ...

. She is usually depicted with an abbess bar and a book on which two or three eyes are lying, indicating that she was born blind and is believed to cure

eye disease This is a partial list of human eye diseases and disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a classification of known diseases and injuries, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ...

s. The church was built over a spring whose water contains

radon Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...

which is said to alleviate eye diseases. It is open to the public. The first chapel stood at this place in 679 (in accordance with the information board in the chapel).Information board in the chapel
/ref> In around 1100 a new chapel was built. In 1503 Peter Sprung, councillor of Freiburg, and his wife Elizabeth Zehenderin donated the reconstruction of the church. The consecration took place in 1505. Several wars severely damaged the church, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

from 1632 onwards it was looted several times by the Swedes. In 1648 it was repaired. The altar structures were installed in 1663/64. At the siege of Freiburg by the Duke of Villars in 1713 it was so badly damaged that it had to be extensively rebuilt in 1714. At the same time it was extended towards the west and the up to then freestanding Saint Odile spring was integrated into the building. The last restoration took place in 1966/1967. On that occasion magnificent medieval

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es were uncovered. The pilgrimage reached its peak in the 16th century, the beginnings of the pilgrimage were between the 7th and 13th centuries. The dissolution ordered in Vienna in 1770 could be averted from the hermitages and forest sanctuaries St. Odile, St. Wendelin, St. Valentine and the Loretto Chapel. Later, the closure of all subsidiary churches and chapels was ordered by an imperial

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of 1783. The estates of the chapels should be ceded in 1788 to the parish Horben. The protest of the citizens was successful: In 1791 came the decision that St. Odile could be reopened. With a reference to this decree the attempted closure by the Badish government in 1807 could be averted as well. The new friary was built in 1885/86 and in 1888 the present inn built as a successor of that building which was destroyed by fire. The site was linked in 1885 by a driveway (car-free), a further connection by a footpath from the cannon-place on the castle mountain above downtown Freiburg was added in 1903. It can also be reached by car from the Kartäuserstraße. Moreover, a

way of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers, These stations are derived from the im ...

leads through the St. Odile ravine, also from the Kartäuserstraße, to the chapel.

References

: ''Ottilie''. In: Badisches Sagen-Buch (Badish Legend Book), 1846 * August Schnezler: ''St. Ottilien''. In: Badisches Sagen-Buch (Badish Legend Book), 1846 * August Schnezler: ''St. Ottilien''. In: Die Volkssagen der Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau (The Folktales of the Town Freiburg in the Breisgau), 1867 * Wilhelm Wiegand: ''Odilia''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (General German Biography). Vol. 24. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, P. 149 et.seq. * Karl Bannwarth: ''St. Ottilien, St. Wendelin, St. Valentin. Drei bei der Stadt Freiburg i. Br. gelegene Waldheiligtümer'' (''St. Odile, St. Wendelin, St. Valentine. Three sanctuaries in the forest of Freiburg in the Breisgau''). Freiburg i. Br., Komm.-Verl. d. Charitas-Dr., 1905 * Franz Nowacki (editor): ''Wallfahrtskirche St. Ottilien bei Freiburg im Breisgau'' (''Pilgrimage Church of St. Odile at Freiburg''). Freiburg, Herder, 1970

External links

Wikimedia Commons

The Legend of Saint Odile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Odile, Freiburg Roman Catholic chapels in Germany Buildings and structures in Freiburg im Breisgau Tourist attractions in Freiburg im Breisgau Roman Catholic churches in Baden-Württemberg

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links