Liebfrauenkapelle (Rapperswil)

Liebfrauenkapelle
Liebfrauenkapelle as seen from the Rapperswil Castle on the Lindenhof hill in Rapperswil
Country	Switzerland
Denomination	Catholic Church
Churchmanship	Chapel
History
Founded	1253
Founder(s)	House of Rapperswil
Dedication	Mary (mother of Jesus)
Consecrated	20 June 1493
Architecture
Years built	around 1253; 1489
Administration
Parish	Rapperswil
Diocese	Chur

Liebfrauenkapelle (St. Mary Chapel) is a chapel in Rapperswil, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, which dates back to the ossuary that was built by the House of Rapperswil around 1253 AD.

The chapel is located next to the Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil (10 metres (33 ft) away to the west) and next to the Rapperswil Castle (20 metres (66 ft) away to the east). It is situated on the Lindenhof hill's eastern slope named Herrenberg, just 100 metres (328 ft) west of the Stadtmuseum Rapperswil. The Catholic city cemetery is situated to the north, hence, the chapel is used as cemetery chapel.

The chapel respectively the ossuary was built around 1253 or earlier when the parish passed from the Busskirch church to the Rapperswil church and accordingly a cemetery was established inside the town walls of the medieval city of Rapperswil. The first chapel was associated to the Rapperswil Castle, but it was built outside of the castle'swalls, as a castle chapel for its inhabitants, probably as the family chapel for the members of the House of Rapperswil, later also for the citizens of Rapperswil. The preceding building of the Liebfrauenkapelle was built as an ossuary around 1220 to 1253. The charnel house was first mentioned as intra cymeterium ecclesia, meaning the church in the cemetery. The present chapel was erected above the ossuary, and latter was rebuilt in our times into a funeral service room. In the second half of the 15th century, the supposedly preceding building (maybe the second one) was mentioned as capellum novam in ceometerio ("new cemetery chapel"). From the ossuary a staircase led in the overlying interior of the chapel; in turn, the access to the ossuary took place from the south via another staircase. The construction of the new building, presumably the third construction phase of the small church, was initiated by the religious Brotherhood of Our Lady (German: Bruderschaft Unserer Lieben Frau) which was founded in 1489 to probably finance the present Liebfrauenkapelle.