Habsberg

About

The Habsberg near Velburg in the county of Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate is a place of pilgrimage in the Oberpfalz Jura. On the mountain is the church of Our Lady of Health (Maria Heil der Kranken), a chapel of grace, and a diocesan youth house belonging to the Diocese of Eichstätt. The mountain is 621 metres high.

In the Middle Ages there was a small castle on the Habsberg known as Habsberg Castle, of which a cistern has survived to the present day. The origin of the pilgrimage is associated with the construction of the first chapel around 1680. According to local accounts a man fell from the Helfenburg near Lengenfeld fell very ill with gout. As he prayed, he heard a voice that said to him that he should build a chapel on the Habsberg. So the estate was purchased and, in 1682, the chapel was completed.

The Habsberg became well known for being the site of several miraculous healings. As a result, in 1730 a larger chapel was built.

In 1760 the church of Our Lady of Health ( Maria Heil der Kranken ) was built in the rococo style. Today it is the pilgrimage church.

In 1961 a youth house was built which has been remodelled several times. Halfway up the mountain is a woodland cemetery.