Adelgundis Chapel on Staffelberg

The first Adelgundis chapel on the Staffelberg was destroyed during the Peasant Wars; today's chapel was consecrated in 1654. A hermit's hermitage was then built, which was replaced by a new building at the end of the 19th century. Today the hermitage, which was a hermit accommodation until the beginning of the 20th century, serves as a restaurant. One of the residents, the hermit Ivo Hennemann, became famous through Victor von Scheffel's "Frankenlied". Adelgundis, the namesake of the chapel, is regarded in the Catholic Church as an emergency helper in the event of serious illness and danger; she died at the end of the seventh century as the abbess of one Monastery in France.

The Adelgundiskapelle was destroyed in 1525 during the Peasants' War. Reconstruction only takes place in the middle of the 17th century. This also led to a revival of the pilgrimage to the Staffelber

Three groups of moving figures depict Jesus' ordeal, his death and the resurrection in the Easter period. For some, it is a cheesy, colorful doll carousel, for others an expression of intense cross and passion worship. Although the grave aroused displeasure since its creation in 1751, it survived the centuries and is rebuilt annually since its renovation in the early 1970s.
Some 250 years ago, the hermit Jakob Hess created the Holy Sepulcher for the Staffelberg Chapel. The special feature of the tomb is its step-like structure and its old, but sophisticated mechanics. An electric motor ensures that the three groups of figures move with scenes from the Bible. In the middle rests the corpse of the Lord, surrounded by sleeping soldiers and discussing scribes. In the lower level, prophets and the righteous are waiting in the so-called limbo for their salvation. Angels guard and mourn the rock tomb of Jesus Christ. The images of the outer walls depict biblical scenes of the dread and resurrection of Christ.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, around 6,000 people moved to the Staffelberg every year on Good Friday, to watch and pray at the Holy Sepulcher. In the early 1970s, it underwent a thorough renovation. Since then, six to eight men from the parish of St. Kilian annually rebuild the artwork at Easter. They need three days and a lot of tact to let all the characters move as they should. Finally, the helpers decorate the scenario with spruce branches and moss.


Info from br.de/franken/inhalt/kultur/jesus-mobile-staffelberg100.html