St. Anne's Chapel, also known as the Red Chapel, was built at the end of the 17th century and commemorates the time of the witch trials and executions in Wildenburg Land in the first half of the 17th century. Next to it stood a lime tree that was characteristic of the village, which was around 400 years old and unfortunately fell victim to a storm in 2021. The 8 km long Hexenweg (Witches' Trail), an adventure trail in the Sieg Nature Region in the Druiden.Hexen.SiegerLand (Druids.Hexen.SiegerLand) of the Kirchen (Sieg) municipality, runs over this hill of the so-called Blumenberg. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
On the Blumenberg hill in Friesenhagen, the Chapel of Saint Anne immediately catches the eye; it is also popularly known as the "red chapel". It was dedicated to Saint Anne and built by Franciscan monks around 1690. Next to it, one's gaze inevitably fell on a mighty, 400-year-old lime tree, which was considered one of the oldest trees in the entire municipality of Kirchen (Sieg). Its age was so precisely known because it was still mentioned as "Lindchen" in connection with the cruel witch trials in the first half of the 17th century. The old lime tree was almost completely destroyed by a storm. More than 200 innocent people were once sentenced to death and executed here as witches and sorcerers; most of them were even burnt alive. This place of execution is therefore at the same time a memorial to this gruesome time of the unfortunate witch mania, which at that time claimed tens of thousands of innocent victims throughout Europe. A young lime tree, which has already grown into a stately tree, arose naturally many years ago from the seeds of the old lime tree.
Contact and directions
Ziegenschlade 1
51598 Friesenhagen (VG Kirchen)