WEHINGEN'S LITTLE GEM

St. Mark's Chapel has stood on the foundations of an old chapel since 1773. The baroque altar inside is the centrepiece of the chapel.

Wehingen was first mentioned in an official document in 1030.

It refers to a small chapel dating from the 18th century which is considered to be the jewel in the crown of this district of Mettlach. This chapel is located in the middle of Wehingen, the previous chapel being mentioned as early as 1729 in the publication by Matthias Gros and Alfons Retten "St. Martinus Tünsdorf - Schicksal einer Grenzpfarrei".

In the same publication it is mentioned that during the visit of the pastor of Grosshemmersdorf, deanery of Perl, on 18 July 1772, the church is to be considered bad and is described as ruinous. One year later, the inhabitants of Wehingen built the present St. Mark's Chapel on the foundations of the aforementioned chapel.

The chapel is a simple plaster construction. Its square roof, flush with the entrance wall, bears an octagonal helmet topped by a cross with a rooster. A statue of the Sacred Heart stands in the arched niche above the entrance. Above is a cross perched on a pedestal on which the year 1772 is engraved, year the chapel was built.

The centrepiece of the chapel is the baroque altar. The date of its inauguration is given as 1707. At that time, the altar would have belonged to the Abbey of St. Sixtus in Freisdorf or to the Abbey of Holy Cross in Busendorf. It is not known whether it arrived in Wehingen when the chapel was built in 1773. The interior of the chapel is also decorated with several statues (Virgin of Lourdes, St. Joseph, St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Hubert). In 1922, the interior was enriched with framed pictures depicting the Stations of the Cross.

Since October 2007, another cross can be seen above the exit when leaving the chapel. This is the cross that was carried during all prayer processions in Wehingen until 2005. Since then, there are no more prayer processions in the Wehingen branch of the Tünsdorf parish. A small bell, which had been confiscated during the First World War and was to be used for military purposes, returned to Wehingen after the war. It was replaced on 21 May 1953 by a new bell weighing 130 kilograms and made by the Mabilon bell foundry in Sarrebourg.