A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I walked by the little St. Gertrudis chapel in the small Taunus-village Oberreifenberg (Western part of Germany). It is situated on a beautiful hill and it somehow immediately captured my attention. So we decided to have a look - it was open.
I was really impressed, especially with the choice of the quotes inscripted on each wall inside the chapel. I attached a few pictures.
Translations of the inscripted quotes:
1.
"Him who knows the truth, knows this light, and who knows this light, knows eternity. He knows love."
2.
"Thoughts of peace I think, not of perdition."
3.
"Now clear my eyes, that I may rejoice over your light."
4.
"But me, I am stuck in time, and don't know how it will play out, and turmoil fragments my thought and all the deepest life of my soul, until I dissolve into You, cleansed and purified in the fire of Your love."
As far as I can tell, these are quotes from St. Augustine's Confessions. I couldn't find the "orignal" English translation, so sorry for my sloppy attempt.
Anyway, I was fascinated by this beautiful place and the way these quotes were presented, and the choice of the quotes. A quick research also revealed that the 17th century knight Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg is buried there, who seems to have had a rather interesting life. Basically, he made a career within the church/establishment and held powerful positions (among others he was governor of the city of Erfurt and principal of the university of Erfurt), until in 1667 he was accused of treason, moral failure and mismanagement by the archbishop and spent the rest of his life in prison. He left no children.
If you want to have a closer look at the interior of the chapel, here you can find a 3D-panorama-picture of it:
_http://www.ralf-michael-ackermann.de/Oberreifenberg%20Gertrudis%20Kapelle.html
I was really impressed, especially with the choice of the quotes inscripted on each wall inside the chapel. I attached a few pictures.
Translations of the inscripted quotes:
1.
"Him who knows the truth, knows this light, and who knows this light, knows eternity. He knows love."
2.
"Thoughts of peace I think, not of perdition."
3.
"Now clear my eyes, that I may rejoice over your light."
4.
"But me, I am stuck in time, and don't know how it will play out, and turmoil fragments my thought and all the deepest life of my soul, until I dissolve into You, cleansed and purified in the fire of Your love."
As far as I can tell, these are quotes from St. Augustine's Confessions. I couldn't find the "orignal" English translation, so sorry for my sloppy attempt.
Anyway, I was fascinated by this beautiful place and the way these quotes were presented, and the choice of the quotes. A quick research also revealed that the 17th century knight Philipp Ludwig von Reiffenberg is buried there, who seems to have had a rather interesting life. Basically, he made a career within the church/establishment and held powerful positions (among others he was governor of the city of Erfurt and principal of the university of Erfurt), until in 1667 he was accused of treason, moral failure and mismanagement by the archbishop and spent the rest of his life in prison. He left no children.
If you want to have a closer look at the interior of the chapel, here you can find a 3D-panorama-picture of it:
_http://www.ralf-michael-ackermann.de/Oberreifenberg%20Gertrudis%20Kapelle.html
