Franz-Xaverius-Kapelle

The Franz-Xaverius-Kapelle stands in Lochau, a village in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It was built on the main road near the Meßmer wine tavern garden, roughly 415 metres above sea level. The chapel once formed the heart of Lochau long before the village grew around it. Its foundations date back to efforts in 1561 to create a parish church for Lochau and Hörbranz, though those plans failed. The present building was constructed in 1706 by Georg Hagen, his wife Anna Maria, and her parents Hans Dörler and Maria Felder. They dedicated it to Saint Francis Xavier and the Holy Trinity. The chapel played a key role in local religious life for over a century. A weekly mass was funded by Hans Dörler’s 200-gulden donation in 1708. The first service took place on 24 February 1708, and the chapel was consecrated in 1728. By 1837 its assets had grown to 1,257 gulden and 58 kreuzer, rising to about 1,700 gulden by 1849. A priest’s house was added in 1832 thanks to a retired priest named Johann Peter Sohm. When the new parish church, also dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier, opened in 1849, the old chapel was no longer used for worship. Today only fragments remain after the building was largely demolished in 1913. A small section survives, marking the spot where Lochau’s earliest spiritual life began. The site lies close to the wine tavern garden and the main road through the village. Visitors can still sense the chapel’s former importance as the starting point of Lochau’s development. The remaining structure serves as a quiet reminder of the village’s long religious and social history.