St. Crucis

St. Crucis is a protected 12th-century Protestant chapel on the Kapellenberg, a porphyry hill in Landsberg. It is the only surviving part of a castle built by the House of Wettin in 1170. The chapel served as a double chapel, separating services for nobility and servants on two floors. A central square opening and a southern staircase connect the levels. Three two-storey apses rise to the same height, a design typical of Staufer-era castles and monasteries. The chapel’s brick construction was unusual for the region. Its fine architectural sculpture includes capitals, a tympanum and the north portal’s posts. The building was renovated in 1861 and again from 1993. It appears in the local heritage register under number 094 55189. Heinrich L. Nickel’s 1960 study “Die Doppelkapelle zu Landsberg” remains the key work on the site. Visitors find a small brick chapel with a steep slate roof on the hilltop. Inside, the upper floor holds the nave for the nobility while the lower floor served servants. The central opening frames views between the two spaces. The north portal’s carved posts and the capitals around the apse show the high quality of the 12th-century stonework. The hill offers wide views over the surrounding countryside.