Marlenberg Chapel Marlenheim

Perched on the Marlenberg hill, the current chapel was built in 1683 after the previous building was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. However, its origins date back to a much older Marian sanctuary mentioned as early as 590 by Bishop Gregory of Tours under the name *oratorium domus Marlegensis*. This place of worship, associated with the Merovingian kings, was located more in the plain near the supposed site of their royal villa, not on the hill where the chapel now stands. Several legends surround this site: one tells of a thief who was paralyzed while trying to steal the statue of the Virgin and was handed over to justice by local winegrowers, while another speaks of three brothers who promised to build a chapel after surviving a storm at sea in the 15th century. Before the final construction, a cross was erected in 1673 by David Rapp, a citizen of Marlenheim, in the context of the Counter-Reformation. Enlarged in 1772, the chapel now features a Baroque-style Way of the Cross, adding to its historical and spiritual charm.