History:
In the booklet "Hageröschen" Peter Soemer tells in 1896 about the Dörnschlade: "Half an hour from Wenden, almost on the border of the Siegerland, stands on a ridge in the shade of old, gnarled beeches the chapel of the Mother of God to the Dörnschlade. In a document of the year 1414 this place of pilgrimage is mentioned. The old picture of grace is almost two feet high, carved without any art and represents the Blessed Virgin with the Christ Child on her arm. ... The picture used to stand in a little house, which was barely wide enough for three men to stand bent over. Already in the year 1776 one wanted to build a new chapel at its place, but in the enlightened time of that time the church authority in Cologne did not hold much on the pilgrimage."
Soemer continues that in 1859, in the first sermon of a newly ordained priest, the construction of a new chapel was again suggested and after collections in the individual village communities, a beautiful Gothic chapel was built on this site. It was consecrated on November 13, 1864 by Pastor Schmidt and has a Vorhalle and a Gothic altar on which the image of grace is placed. In 1865 a hermitage was built in the immediate vicinity, where the hermit lives.
The whole history of the Dörnschlade, the long and tough struggle of the believers of Wenden with the state and church authorities for the construction of this chapel is documented in a book published by Karl Jung in 1989 for the 125th anniversary of the Dörnschlade. This booklet can be purchased at the Dörnschlade bookstall or at the parish church bookstall.
Tours:
About the parish of St. Severinus
Text: https://www.pv-wendener-land.de/kirchen/doernschlade