Aloysius chapel

Chapel (1756) of the former convent in the city quarter of Borghorst, Kapellenstraße
Octagonal central structure in the Rococo style

Today's residential area of Breul was once a forest forming part of the convent property and covering an area of around 250 acres. It takes its name from the Old German word ãbroilÒ, which can mean both forest and marshland, as well as holy grove. Using her own funds, Abbess Antonette Isabella Josina von Nagel zu Vornholz (1736-59) had a chapel built in this small forest, probably towards the end of the 1740s. It offered the ladies of the convent an opportunity to take a stroll and enjoy some reflective rest. Aloysius of Gonzaga is especially venerated by the Jesuits, who view him as an example for young people due to his chastity and calmness. Aloysius is the patron of the chapel, the only convent building in Borghorst to be preserved.

The chapel is in the form of an regular octagon: each side is 2.60 m long. The four large windows are arranged in the shape of a cross, providing plenty of light to the interior. The entrance is to the south and is surmounted by a round niche containing a statue of St. Aloysius. The roof is shaped like the dome of a Dutch windmill. Just below the dome, above the windowless walls, are four skylights, adding to the sense of brightness. The point of the roof is decorated by a copper sphere with a radiant circle. It is not only the external shape of the dome which echoes the design of a Dutch windmill: further echoes can be found in the entire design as well as the execution of the roof truss, lending weight to the theory that the chapel was built by a Dutch mill builder. At all events, it is certain that a Dutch craftsman created the bell.

The interior wall are tiled with blue and white patterned Haarling tiles right up to the blue-painted ceiling; the tiles are painted with fruit garlands and stylised rosettes in the Rococo manner. The altar makes both a happy and a delicate impression. In the centre of the table, on a plaque surrounded by a laurel wreath, one can read the letters AOI, an abbreviation for St. Aloysius. The three saints - Aloysius, Ignatius and Xavier - are depicted in metal on the lower section of the altar piece. Small relic cushions, embroidered with sequins, are mounted around the pictures.

The slightly larger figure of St. Johannes Nepomuk is depicted on the upper section of the altar piece, surrounded by small alabaster sculptures of the Mother of God and the Apostles, each standing on a miniature console. These are copies (executed precisely to scale) of the original statues, which have been kept in the safe of St. Nikomedes Church since 1981.