The best walks and hikes around Enchenberg

Ste-Vérène (German: St. Verena) is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage chapel near the village of Enchenberg in Lorraine. The chapel plays a significant role in the religious life of the Bitche region. It was listed as a historical monument in 1996. Its preservation is overseen by the Association for the Preservation of the Chapel of Sainte-Vérène. The chapel was built in the 15th century and enlarged in 1685. However, four construction periods are evident in the building. The simple Romanesque choir windows suggest an even older predecessor from the early Middle Ages. A window and door from the late Gothic period are considered architectural masterpieces. Two Renaissance-style gable windows on the west side date from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The entrance to the chapel is in a naive Baroque style. The terracotta Virgin Mary also dates from this period. The choir, made of large, plastered sandstone blocks, creates an unusual scene with its Gothic arches. The old altar disappeared around 1960 and resurfaced damaged in November 1991. It has now returned to its place in the chapel. It is said to be a work by Johann Martersteck, a master from Bouquenom. The attribution can be considered relatively certain due to its strong similarity to the Rahling retable, which was also by Martersteck. The old, richly painted church windows disappeared around 1960. They were only replaced in 2000 by figurative paintings by the artist Sauveur Pasqual. The gable window depicts Saint Verena with her insignia of jug and comb. Next to it, Saint Maurice is depicted with a red flag and a broken sword. A Gothic window depicts Saints Ursus and Victor, martyrs of the Theban Legion like Maurice. Adjacent to the chapel is a Lourdes Grotto, built in 1958 to celebrate the centenary of the miracles of Lourdes. About 100 meters below the chapel rises a spring with very soft water, which may have contributed to the choice of the site and served to supply the hermits living there. It has also been used by the residents of Enchenberg since ancient times as a washing place. Source: Wikipedia

A beautiful chapel, accessible through the picturesque Felsenweihertal valley. A special place.

Great starting point and easy to find if you turn off the main road directly into "Rue de Mouterhouse" - right at the beginning.

The spring was also a former municipal washhouse.

Shortly before Lemberg you pass under the former railway line through an underpass.

https://www.mosl.fr/de/fiche-sit/uebernachten/f853140512_refuge-du-club-vosgien-le-beerenberg-lemberg-de You can stop off and spend the night here. It is currently being renovated (May 2024). The parking lot right next to the hut was full, however.

At the former Lemberg train station there is a hiking car park with a sign indicating the tours that pass by here. Next to it is a children's playground and some fitness equipment.

To the gods next to the chapel: The Virgin Mary depicted and venerated here is that of Lourdes. This well-known Marian pilgrimage site is located in the French Pyrenees and is visited by a large number of people every year, including many sick people hoping for healing. The devotional image of the Mother of God has spread widely, not only in France, and believers have built Lourdes chapels and grottos everywhere. The ecclesiastical memorial day "Our Lady of Lourdes" is on February 11th, this is the anniversary of the apparition of Mary (1858), when the Mother of God appeared to the 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in a rock grotto not far from Lourdes. Bernadette later became a nun and died at the age of only 35. On December 8 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary) 1933, she was canonized by Pope Pius XI. The commemoration of the Lourdes Madonna is also World Day of the Sick.