Preserving the Wernerkapelle as a place of learning tolerance

We are collecting donations for the preservation of the original structure of the Wernerkapelle and for our work to promote tolerance and understanding between Jews and Christians – indeed between all religions. 

The ruins of the High Gothic chapel Wernerkapelle, situated in the vineyards above St Peter's Church, were popular among pilgrims in the Middle Ages. Its construction began in the Holy Week of 1287, following the murder of teenage boy called Werner. His death was blamed on the Jewish community of Oberwesel, neighbour town to Bacharach, without any evidence and without any substantial reality behind it, as historians proved later. As a result, Jews were mercilessly persecuted and over 40 people were killed during these pogroms. 

Shortly after, work began on the construction of the Wernerkapelle. Pilgrims started travelling to the grave of the boy Werner, who was venerated as a “popular saint”, and the corresponding inflow of donations allowed for the construction of the chapel in high Gothic style, planned by the cathedral builder lodge in Strasbourg. The south choir of the chapel was consecrated in 1293 and the altar in the east choir in 1337. However, the chapel was not completed until after 1426. 

During the Palatinate War of Succession, the chapel was severely damaged when Stahleck Castle was blown up in 1689 and debris fell on the previously intact chapel. In 1752, the north choir and its figurine-decorated portal had to be demolished due to the danger of landslides. In 1787 all roofs and vaults were removed. Since then, the ruins of the Wernerkapelle have become a symbol of the Rhine Romanticism and a landmark of Bacharach. 

Almost 200 years later, seeing the visibly massive decay and danger of collapse of the chapel, in 1981 a group of citizens of Bacharach created the building preservation association to preserve the Wernerkapelle under the expert guidance of the Cologne cathedral master builder Dr Wolff. The initiators of the restoration felt very strongly about the chapel becoming a reminder for Christians and Jews to treat each other as brothers. 

Since then, the Wernerkapelle has become a forum for events that set an example for tolerance, tolerance between Jews and Christians - between religions - indeed between all people. After the end of the restoration, the first example of this commitment to tolerance was holding a joint Jewish-ecumenical service in the chapel. After that, awareness of the legacy of the Wernerkapelle grew to new levels with the installation of the red WINDOW by artist Karl Martin Hartmann (2007 - 2010) and the three-year lecture series Toleranz vor Augen (Tolerance in view). In addition, since 2017 the chapel has become the central venue for Heinrich Heine's “The Rabbi of Bacharach”, produced by the Willy Praml Theatre from Frankfurt, as part of the theatre festival ‘On the Shores of Poetry’.