Bricciuskapelle Heiligenblut

The Bricciuskapelle stands high in the upper Möll valley near Heiligenblut, a village beneath Austria’s highest peak. It sits at 1 629 metres on the Sattelalpe meadow above the Kräuterwand, beside the Alpine flower trail that leads from Heiligenblut up to the Glocknerhaus. The little chapel is named after Briccius, a legendary figure later honoured as a saint. A protected monument, it appears on the national list of historic buildings.

First recorded in 1271, the present structure dates from 1872 and is a small rectangular building with a three-eighths apse and a barrel vault with lunettes. Inside, the Baroque altarpiece shows sixteen scenes from the story of Briccius, illustrating how the chapel came to be. The legend tells of a Danish prince who perished in a snowslide in 914 while carrying a vial of Christ’s blood.

Visitors reach the chapel along the flower-strewn Alpine path, where summer brings edelweiss and gentians. The chapel itself houses the relic said to be that vial of blood, kept in Heiligenblut church since the discovery. Nearby, the Briccius spring is believed to cure eye ailments, a reminder that the site may once have been a pagan healing well. The quiet meadows around the chapel offer wide views of the Hohe Tauern peaks.