Forest Chapel on the Mönchsweg

The smallest church in northern Germany is located here. The small chapel stands beneath seven hundred-year-old beech trees and offers a place of prayer, silence and harmony with nature. A guest book is available for visitors, pilgrims and cyclists. Baptisms and weddings also take place in the chapel, and once a year, on October 3rd, an ecumenical service is held.

not only is the chapel an idyll, the paths to it are simply very attractive

The Mönkloh Forest Chapel is a popular place of contemplation and inspiration. Considered the smallest church in Northern Germany, it is located in the Rantzauer Forest and is part of the 343-kilometer-long Monks' Trail, which runs from Glückstadt in the southwest to Fehmarn in the northeast of Schleswig-Holstein. It owes its construction to the private citizen and Catholic Hans-Jürgen Frese from Hamburg. He leased the site from the State Forestry Administration in 2001 and had the small church built on his own under seven magnificent beech trees. The trees symbolize the apostles and offer protection from sun and rain.Since then, an ecumenical service has been held every October 3rd, German Unity Day, with the participation of Catholic and Protestant clergy, attended by up to 300 worshipers. For the tenth anniversary, for example, the then Archbishop Dr. Werner Thissen preached in front of the small church.Numerous hikers, whether on foot or by bike, stop to rest under the seven hundred-year-old beech trees beneath which the magnificently decorated chapel stands. People who haven't seen the inside of a church for decades are inspired by the Mönkloh Chapel and confide their innermost thoughts in the guest book.Although Frese had to overcome some resistance before construction began, the church is now very well received, with people having their children and grandchildren baptized in the chapel. In addition to baptisms, there are also regular weddings and silver, golden, and diamond wedding anniversaries.seliger-eduard-mueller.de/2019/05/18/waldkapelle