Barbara-Kapelle, Lölling

The Barbarakapelle stands at 1,142 metres on the sunny side of Lölling in the municipality of Hüttenberg. Built in 1862 by miners with help from the Dickmann-Secherau mining family, its steep slate roof sits between two stepped gables. A wide pointed arch marks the south door, above which a marble relief shows the family’s coat of arms. The chapel once held a bell hung between two spruce trees, but it disappeared before the First World War. In 1929 thieves took a silver monstrance, silver candlesticks and the sanctuary lamp; only the brass mining lamp version was later reinstalled, only to be stolen again in the 1970s. The original painting of Saint Barbara was restored in the late 1950s and moved to the nearby Knappenberg church, leaving a reduced copy on canvas in its place. Inside, the single room is lit by a plain brass lamp hanging from the ceiling. The walls are whitewashed, and the altar table stands beneath a small pointed arch. Outside, the chapel overlooks the valley from its high clearing, surrounded by spruce and mountain meadows that stretch toward distant peaks.