Marienbrunnen (Mary’s Well)
Gnadenbrunnen (Blessed Well)
These
two holy wells in the small Saarland town of Marpingen have a complex and
fascinating history. Marpingen is
located between the towns of St. Wendel and Tholey (both ancient religious
sites). It is east of the border town
of Saarlouis and north of Saarbruecken.
At various times in its history it has been alternately under French or
German control.
The
settlement dates to the 5th century, during the time of the great
invasions following the collapse of the Roman Empire. Marpingen is thought to derive from an early landowner or settler
named Marbod or Merbod. It was first mentioned in documents during the 11th
century.
About
a kilometer east of the present village is the crossroads of two ancient and
important trade routes. The north-south
route connected Strasbourg and Trier, via the “Alte Roemerstrasse” or Old Roman
Road. The east –west route connected
Metz and Mainz, and ran through the present town of Marpingen. The present intersection is marked by a
hamlet called “Rheinstrasse” or Rhine Road or Road to the Rhine, Mainz being
located on the Rhine River.
Near the parish church,
located atop a steep hill at the west side of town is the “Marienbrunnen” or
Mary’s Well. This holy well has been in
use at least since the 14th century. According to the local folklore, an image of the Virgin Mary was
found in the well, and many miraculous cures followed. A lovely stone chapel
has been built just above the well, which also has a stone surround. This well was in use until 1876 exclusively
The
stone well surround at the Marienbrunnen (Mary’s Well)
In
the summer of 1876, three eight year old girls were picking berries in the
Haertel Woods just east of town when they saw a “White lady”. Further apparitions occurred to these
children and other villagers. The “White Lady” identified herself as the Virgin
Mary, and among other messages, directed the villages to stop using the
Marienbrunnen and start using a spring in the Haertel Woods. This spring is located about 400 meters
uphill from the chapel at the site of the
first of many apparitions in the summer of 1876.
Gnadenbrunnen or blessed Well. White and red sign at left is an official warning about health hazards in using the well water.
The
news of the appearance of the Virgin Mary and many cures using the waters of
the Haertel Woods spring spread, and first hundreds and then thousands of
pilgrims descended upon the small town.
At
this time, Marpingen and much of the Saarland, was under the control of
Prussia, and gatherings of the people of any sort were frowned on. Prussian
control seems to have been of a rigid and unsympathetic type. Within several weeks, troops were sent to
Marpingen and forcibly quartered there. The three little girls and the local
parish priest were relentlessly questioned. The site of the first apparitions
and the spring in the woods was forbidden; in fact it was turned into a
military restricted area and remained so until 1917. The three little girls
were even taken from their families and put in a Protestant home for
children. They were returned to their
families, probably because of local outrage.
Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck stated flatly “There will be no Lourdes in Germany.” However, once the troops were removed from
Marpingen, I feel quite sure the local people continued to use the Haertel Wood
Spring, now called the “Gnadenbrunnen” or Blessed Well surreptiously. After the end of WWI, a chapel was built on
the site of the apparitions, with Stations of the Cross stretching up the steep
hill to the Gnadenbrunnen. A small open-air chapel was built beside the capped
and covered Gnadenbrunnen.
Both
of these chapels have images of St. Michael the Archangel, which leads me to
suspect the holy wells here have been in use a very long time.
Images
in well chapel. According to local
German beliefs, St. Michael was given protection of healing and holy waters
with the advent of Christianity.
Previously waters had been in the care of Apollo and later, Odin or
Woden.
Now
to May of 1999. Three young women
reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary again, at the same site where the
chapel stands. The Catholic Church and Bishop of Trier took a very cautious
view of these apparitions and a great deal of controversy developed. The visions continued all summer. The 13th and last apparitions
occurred early in October. Up to 30,000
people came to Marpingen, many of them spending a very cold night in the woods
and meadow near the chapel.
As before, the Virgin Mary
urged believers to use the water of the Gnadenbrunnen for healing, and water
was dispensed to the faithful. Both
wells now bear the sign “Kein Trinkwasser”
(Non-potable water) and the water of the Gnadenbrunnen has been tested
and found to be polluted.
The
people of Marpingen are reported as not favoring their town turning into a
German Lourdes. However, pilgrims continue to visit the holy wells and the
chapel.
Bill
and I went to Marpingen on a rainy, foggy Saturday afternoon. The chapel was
not easy to find (since we had a map and still ended up at the old road
intersection near Rheinstrasse!) but we found it at last and parked beside the
small white chapel. Just east of the
chapel is a grotto with a statue of the Virgin and Child. We climbed up the steep path through the
drizzle, past the Stations of the Cross and the Calvary group. The Gnadenbrunnen and outdoor chapel are
just under the crest of the hill. The well is capped and no water was
flowing. The cap has taps so the water
can be drawn as needed.
We
walked back down the hill, meeting a nun near the bottom. She asked it the way
was slippery, and we answered while steep it was not slippery. She said the
steeper, the more blessings. We sat in
the little chapel, glad to be out of the rain for a while. The building may
hold 50 or 60 people, and during the last apparition weekend, it must have been
jammed. The spot between the two north
windows is where the apparitions occurred. One window shows St. Michael the
Archangel, the other the Virgin and children.
There
are two Internet sites available. http://aweb.de/marpingen/historie/index.htm is the Community site giving the history of
the town and information about it.
www.marienerscheinung.de gives
information of the past and present apparitions and has many pictures.
We
took the photos you see here. At the top is a postcard we purchased at the chapel and scanned in.
“Die
Muttergottes-Erscheinung in Marpingen (Saar), Friedrich Ritter von Lama, A.
Ruhland, Altoetting
“St.
Michael und die Kirchen zu Weilerbach”, Willi Ludwig Lafrenz. Heimatjahrbuch
des Landkreises Kaiserslautern 1989. Arbogast, Otterberg.
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