Chapel school Wingeshausen
In the village of Wingeshausen in Bad Berleburg Township, there is a Lutheran church building. It was restored in 1822 and received a ridge turret. During renovation work in 1992, evidence of an earlier building from the 13th century was found. A rectangular foundation was clearly evident — the first and only references to an earlier building as any documents or records were lost years before the discovery. It is believed that the previous building was a chapel school, used to educate the children in the village and to serve as a prayer house. Today, the historic landmark church stands true to its original in the same location in Wingeshausen.
Chapel school Wingeshausen photograph
Wingeshausen in: The Chapel Schools' Book
Chapel schools form a solitary architectural type for the Siegerland and its neighboring regions.
As stand-alone buildings and conspicuous in their surroundings, like the one in Wingeshausen, they reveal the connection between religion and school education starting from the domain of Count William I of Nassau-Katzenelnbogen (1487-1559) and his son John VI of Nassau, Katzenelnbogen and Dietz (1536-1606). The hybrid used buildings existed until the end of the 19th century and in parts even until the 20th century.
Chapel Schools a solitary architectural type
The Siegen fine art photographer Thomas Kellner recognized the historical and cultural value of these buildings and set himself the task of preserving and recalling this typical regional cultural asset through a new medium. By means of photography he transfers the chapel schools into an artistic context and gives the historical topic a new dimension in the present (art).
Just as the chapel schools united in themselves two spheres of life, this publication also conveys different contemporary perspectives on the history and genesis of the chapel schools. While Kellner tries to rethink the type of building, which oscillates between profane and sacred, with his artistic realization, Chiara Manon Bohn, Isabell Eberling M. Sc. Dr. Andrea Gnam and Dr. Stefanie Siedek-Strunk provide an insight into the historical, architectural and religious classification of the chapel schools up to the pictures of Thomas Kellner in text contributions.
