Alte Kapelle, Medieval Majesty and Awe

During our honeymoon planning, we discovered the Alte Kapelle, and it immediately became one of our top destinations. "Alte Kapelle" is German for "Old Chapel." It should be called the "Old Awe-Inspiring Mind Blowing Beautiful Chapel," but that would be too long in German. 

Door from Narthex to Sanctuary

While the church was established in the 7th century, it's décor and architecture is much more modern, including elements of Gothic, Baroque and Roccoco. This is due to several phases of decline and revitalization, rather than 7th century time traveling architects, as you might think. Gothic influence is seen in the large vaulted ceilings. It is also seen in the emo teens wearing black fingernail polish, lipstick and clothing.  The Baroque and Rococo periods are seen in the décor. As I always say, if it ain't Baroque, don't fix it, none the less, there were Rococo-era enhancements as well. I was disappointed to learn that rococo was not a hot chocolatey beverage. Rococo is a late-Baroque period of architecture and art, and was exquisitely detailed and ornate.

 

We almost missed our opportunity to see the church. Alte Kapelle was high on our list, but unplanned variables kept diverting us away. We wandered the city, ran across other things on our list, and took time to savor the things we found as we came across them. I think that is the best way to travel: with a list of objectives but no agenda.  Take advantage of spontaneity, be in discovery mode, live in the moment.  Some of the best things in life are discovered happenstance.

We looked for it, but got distracted and detoured, saw other great sights, and decided to go back to the hotel. As we were heading back we stumbled across the Alte Kapelle. It was subtle. We were walking past it and almost did not notice it. The exterior is quite drab, non-descript, and it looks like nothing special at all. There were crowds, no big signs, and the courtyard was quiet. But we had this sudden urge to stop and read the sign on this drab building, when we realized what it was.

Alte Kapelle Exterior

We went in, took a few pictures, walked around in awe, then sat in a pew to pray. There were not many people inside. There was a humble elderly gentleman in the back pew praying, and two families praying in pews in the middle of the church. The families left. We were sitting, too mesmerized to move. Finally, I stood up to go take pictures at the front. That's when the man in the back approached me. My German is not very good, but I understood he was telling me the church was closing. I thanked him, and he recognized my American accent immediately. So then he explained in English. The church was not supposed to be open at this time. He unlocked it so he could go inside and pray for awhile, but it was not supposed to be open, and he had to leave, and had to lock it up. He was very kind and considerate and clearly felt bad in asking us to leave. But I did not feel bad at all; he was responsible for locking up this beautiful church. Rather, I felt blessed that we happened to be there at the right time to see this Regensburg highlight. I was grateful that this parishioner allowed us to be in this great church, and I thanked him. "Vielen Dank, Vielen Dank." Shaking his had. "Die Kirche ist sehr schön."  (Thank you very much the church is very beautiful.)

The man in the back pew is the kind parishioner that let us in

One of the amazing things about seeing these old churches is to stop and think about the fact that day after day, year after year, decade after decade, century after century and on to millennia, people have stood in that building and worshiped. Millions have stood and prayed and paid reverence to the creator.  Millions of souls through the centuries have gone to this place searching for God, trying to find meaning in their lives. The depth and history and layers of faith and prayers make it a holy place. All this spiritual energy imbues something deep and powerful and transcendent. You can feel a palpable reverence when you step into these ancient European churches, especially if you enter with a reverent frame of mind.