Pius Chapel Furtwangen

During the turmoil of the Second World War, men and women from Furtwangen vowed under their then parish administrator A. Simon, who died on 22 January 1952 in Neuburg Monastery near Heidelberg, to build a chapel in honour of the Mother of God if the hometown survived the war in good health. In the search for a suitable place to fulfil the vow, the suggestion was also made to choose the "small Katzenbuckel" near the schoolhouse in Katzensteig as the building site. However, a large part of the population rejected this proposal, as it was felt that the chapel should be located in the immediate vicinity of the town of Furtwangen, as the town in particular was meant by the vow, while the surrounding farms were less in danger.

Although the proposal to build a chapel in Katzensteig was postponed, it was never completely abandoned; Father Neininger, who as the last monk of St Georgen Monastery was in charge of the parish of Furtwangen, had already considered a branch church in Katzensteig in his description of St Martin's Chapel. Neininger writes: "It is fair to say that where the chapel now stands would be the most convenient place to found a branch church of the parish of Furtwangen."

The married couple Hubert and Edwine Kirner from the Doldenhof farm had made a start on the realisation of this plan by making the land on the "small Kaztenbuckel" available.

The path up the mountain was immediately built by the residents of Katzensteig themselves. However, the currency changeover in 1948 brought the building project to a temporary standstill until the request for approval was submitted to the Archbishop's Ordinariate in Freiburg in autumn 1953 and the Archbishop's Building Office was asked to plan the project. After lengthy negotiations, construction work began on 12 July 1954 and the foundation stone was ceremoniously laid on 8 August 1954, the feast day of the patron saint of the town church, St. Cyriac.

In his speech, the then parish priest Blattmann announced that the chapel was to be dedicated to Pope Pius X, who was canonised on 30 May 1954, as a contemporary saint whose cradle had been in a poor farmhouse.

The not entirely easy financing was solved by a loan, on which interest was paid and repaid from the church tax without any increase in the tax, by foundations and by founding a church building association. The shell of the building was soon completed and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in mid-October 1954. Some of the interior work was then carried out during the following winter months.

On 4 November 1956, the Pius Chapel was solemnly consecrated by the then Vicar General, Dr Simon Hirt, with the participation of a large number of believers. The Catholic church choir under choirmaster Alfred Imhof and the town band under conductor Fritz Faller provided the musical accompaniment.

Once the tower was completed, a bell was immediately installed, although it only rang out to the faithful on 27 April 1958, after the ringing system had been completed. This is the smallest bell of the bells cast by Karl Rosenlächer in Constance for the town church in 1863, whose three larger sisters had to be removed from the tower in 1942.

After the new bell was purchased in 1952, this bell was then available. Soon afterwards, the former "death bell" was given a companion through voluntary donations.

On 21 September 1953, a letter was sent to the archbishop's building authority requesting "basic approval" for the construction of the chapel. Among other things, it stated: "50 families with 190 - 200 people live in this neighbourhood. In general, the residents are not very active religiously, which is of course due to the long distance to the church. The children have to look after it in summer and in winter the paths are often impassable, especially in thawing weather."

The uniquely beautiful but difficult to develop site on the Katzenbuckel was not without controversy, but it was a given thanks to the donation from Doldenbauer Hubert Kirner. The size of the chapel also went back and forth for a long time. Originally, it was to be significantly larger and offer space for 200 people.

The design of the windows in the choir was the subject of a particularly long debate.

A note from 12 May 1955 reads: "Designs were drawn up in natural size. The overly modern design was not met with great enthusiasm by the foundation councillors. The depiction of Maria Goretti, whose face is too old and whose feet are far too large and unattractive to the unbiased observer, was least liked." Although the following can be read on 16 June 1955: "X. had rejuvenated Maria Goretti somewhat and changed her large feet slightly", designs were commissioned from another sculptor, Hans Baumhauer. Baumhauer was eventually awarded the contract. The windows cost 7200 marks.

In the end, almost 100 cubic metres of wood were donated. Numerous monetary donations were also received; even various old silver coins, three gold coins and jewellery were donated.