Acker-Kapelle Hinterlehn

Mary, Help of Christians (24 May)

The small chapel stands on the edge of the forest in the upper Hinterlehn field, on the Rellen hiking trail to the Upper Saul.

The building is a simple type of prayer house with a floor area of 13m2. The altar was drawn and created in 1908 by Johann Knechtle in Schlatt and Johann Koster in Enggenhütten. A plaque on the wall contains the promise to build the chapel in printed letters. The two altar chandeliers made of cast brass date from the Renaissance period and are assigned to the 16th century. In the open turret hangs a small bell, cast in 1943. It comes from a demolished chapel in Bäretswil/ZH and was donated by an Appenzeller. The chapel has 12 seats; it is closed.

History
Long before today's chapel there was a very small chapel, but its age is unknown. In 1900, Johann Baptist Speck (Kopfliseppes) von Schwende had the chapel built. 50 years earlier, he had suffered a serious illness and rested on this spot. In his distress, he invoked the help of the Mother of God in confidence. Speck only built the chapel after he had received a sign from above: he fell from the haystack and broke his leg. Then he remembered the promise he had made half a century earlier. The chapel was consecrated on May 19, 1901. Because minor maintenance work was carried out every year, the chapel has never had to be extensively renovated, apart from painting work, altar gilding and a new door in the 90s. In 2006, the chapel received a turret with a bell, which was consecrated on Ascension Day.