1365Chapel and cemetery on the Frauenberg

On June 5, 1365, at the then-seat of Landgrave Heinrich II’s chancery in Kassel, a document was issued which, bearing the seals of the Landgrave and Pastor Stephan of Alsfeld, contained a donation from the Landgrave to the “beloved faithful, the jurors and the community of our city of Alsfeld.” The Landgrave gave the city the site on the hill next to the watchtower “die Warte,” called “Silbirbul,” as well as the right to build there “for the worship of Almighty God and his mother, the glorious Virgin Mary, and for the salvation of their own souls and those of their ancestors, a cemetery and a chapel.”

For the city and its pastor Stephan, who also held the position of treasurer and was a confidant of the Landgrave, there were several reasons for wanting a new cemetery outside the city walls. Firstly, the increase in population; secondly, the burial space at the churchyard had become too small due to the conversion of the Walpurgis Church into a hall church; and thirdly, the fear of burials within the city walls in view of the increasingly frequent plague epidemics—the last one in the years 1348/49 had claimed a large number of victims. (MNic)