The historic Heister Chapel stands high above the Wissen district named Schönstein. From here you have a beautiful view of Schönstein Castle, the Sieg valley and parts of the castle village.
"Up above stands the chapel, look quietly down into the valley..." - this popular German song fits the Heisterkapelle in Wissen-Schönstein. From here you have a beautiful view of Schönstein Castle, the Sieg valley and parts of the castle village.
The chapel is actually called St. Sebastian or Sebastianus Chapel, named after St. Sebastian, patron saint of the shooting fraternities. However, due to its location on the so-called "Heister", i.e. a district of Wissen, it is widely known as the Heister Chapel. It is located on the old connecting path between Schönstein and Wissen and is now owned by the "St. Sebastianus Schützenbruderschaft 1402 vom Heister zu Schönstein e. V.".
It is their patronal chapel and was built between 1714 and 1718 by Baron Hermann von Hatzfeld, who also donated a wooden statue of St. John Nepomuk in 1723, which still stands in the chapel next to the altar. The chapel is one of the oldest and the few remaining half-timbered chapels in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
When the parish church also went up in flames during the great fire of Wissen on 17 September 1788, the parish priest Johannes Arnoldi saved the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament and the other consecrated objects from the burning church at the risk of his life and brought them to the Heister Chapel. Even today, every year on the Feast of Corpus Christi, in memory of this event, the procession follows the path that Arnoldi walked from Wissen to Schönstein.
From 1992 to 1994, the Heister Chapel underwent extensive renovation (costing over 220,000 Deutschmarks).
A visit to the chapel is possible as part of the guided tour "The Chapel Trail", which can be booked at the Tourist Information Wisserland in the RegioBahnhof Wissen.
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