St. John's Beheading Chapel - Eupen

In order to spare the inhabitants of the hamlet of Nispert the journey to the Eupen parish of St. Nikolaus, in 1747 the merchant and dye factory owner Erich Adolph Görtz and his wife Isabella, née Fey, daughter of the cloth lord and mayor Arnold Fey-Janssen (1654–1717), decided to build a chapel as an extension to their Nispert house.

A slate mansard roof with rounded corners, typical of Couven, forms the upper end of the three-aisled nave with arched openings. An octagonal bell tower with sound hole and a polygonal onion with attached cross above the choir crown the building. The portal is characterised by a wrought iron double wing door with arched panels, above which the arched monogram “FR” of the Fettweiß family foundation, which owned the chapel in the 19th century, is embedded in an oval cartouche.

The chapel was dedicated to John the Baptist and corresponds to the Baroque style of that time, while the interior is characterized by the beginning of the Rococo decorative style. The head of John the Baptist can be seen under a small ornamental canopy above the window of the organ gallery.

It was added to the list of protected buildings in Eupen on 25 March 1983.

Restored in 1972-1975 by the "Belangengemeenschap Nispert". Interesting stucco work inside.

Willem Vandenameele