Spiritual hike to the Wilzenberg

Picture shrine "Mother of God with Child"
The picture shrine "Mother of God with Child" stands on the procession path at Aberg. It was erected in 1930. The picture shrine made of concrete with a flat wooden relief "Mother of God and Child" is surrounded by figures and religious symbols and bears the inscription: "O Mary always help."

Way of the Cross station at Aberg
The Way of the Cross station at Aberg was built in 1989 by the Catholic Parish of Schmallenberg.

This Way of the Cross with copies of original station pictures donated by H. J. Falke (28 J. 1842) was erected in 1989 from donations from the St. Alexander Parish. Its course in the lower part recalls the "Seven Waterfalls" documented in a foundation document from 1769 on the way to Wilzenberg, a precursor to the Way of the Cross. By including the soldiers' graves (XIL Station), the suffering and death during World War II are to be remembered.

Cross with Soldiers' Graves
The cross with soldiers' graves "Am Aberg" was erected in 1945/46. The wayside cross with corpus, roof, and back wall, below which an old colored representation of the 12th Station of the Way of the Cross at Aberg is located.

On a wooden plaque is the following text:
"All the splendid nature shows you the great God's trace.
But if you want to see him at his greatest, stay at his cross."

On the soldier's cross next to it with a roof are the names of the soldiers resting here from World War II: Josef Kohl, Hans Pesch, Jurt Eisinger 06.04.1945

Many hikers pause in front of the wooden cross on the pilgrimage path to "Wilzenberg" and pray to the King of Peace for peace in the world.

Picture shrine "Mother of Good Counsel"
The picture shrine "Mother of Good Counsel," at Aberg at the fork in the road, was built around 1800. It depicts the Mother of God with the Child Jesus in wood and was erected by the sculptor Ignaz Hartmann from Wiedenbrück in 1956 or 1958. In popular parlance, it is also called "Dammes Holy Shrine."
On Ascension Day, the procession makes a stop here on the way back, prayers are said, and the Marian hymn is sung.

The Wilzenberg
From afar, you can already see the legendary Wilzenberg. It is also known as the pilgrimage mountain of the Sauerland. On Wilzenberg, there was a wall and refuge castle, which can still be partially recognized today.

The pilgrimage chapel in its present form dates back to 1773 (demolished in 1508 and 1732). The Stations of the Cross date back to 1773.

In 1895, a lookout tower was built, which was renovated in 1990 and raised from 9 m to 17 m. From this lookout tower, the "holy mountain" of the Sauerland, you can look out over the Land of a Thousand Mountains and understand why our ancestors believed the gods and heroes resided in the most sublime treetops.

At the summit, there is a fountain, also called a "Püttken." Children were told that the stork brought babies from here.

Countess Chuniza
Countess Chuniza (Kunigunde = Queen) lived on the legendary Wilzenberg. With her first husband Kuno, she had a son "Timo." According to legend, she bewitched and poisoned her first husband Kuno and six other husbands/men, mixing extract from the red foxglove into the wine.

Out of remorse and penance, she gave all her monastery farms, lands, forests, and estates to the Grafschaft Monastery. Anno von Köln had a monastery and a small town (Smalenburg, today Schmallenberg) founded for the sins.

In the Chuniza Ballad, recorded on the occasion of the 725th anniversary in 1969 and sung by "Will Bräutigam," now Tom Astor, it says, among other things:

On the castle in Sauerland
There was once a notorious woman
known for murderous deeds.
High on the wild Wilzenberg
there she killed seven men,
a real devil's brood.

When she dispatched the seven men
she then gave the Archbishop
the inheritance of her fathers
Anno von Köln founded a monastery and a small town for the sins.
But that was somewhat later.

Grafschaft Monastery
Ora et labora is the motto of the Benedictine monks, "pray and work," and that is exactly what the diligent monks did when the Archbishop of Cologne, Anno, founded Grafschaft Monastery in 1072. Subsequently, the place was to become the cultural center of the Sauerland and the nucleus of the city of Schmallenberg. The monastery experienced its heyday during the 12th century. Later, discipline and order must have suffered, as the number of brothers dwindled to seven. This explains why the abbey was incorporated into the Bursfelde Congregation in 1508, a movement that emphasized the strict rule of Benedict and intensive academic studies.

The monastery owned almost all the forests and fields in the Kurköln Sauerland and beyond, which were mostly leased out. For this, the tenants, mostly farmers, had to pay their "tithe." This usually happened around St. Martin's Day (11.11.).

The monastery experienced a new upswing, at least economically, in the 17th and 18th centuries. The iron industry in the Sauerland began to flourish, and the monastery supported this movement on its lands. The building parts that can still be seen today were rebuilt in 1729. In particular, the splendid gatehouse catches the eye, giving the impression behind the walls of a castle rather than a monastery.

In 1827, the monastery passed into the possession of the von Fürstenberg family, who are still predominantly the owners today.

In 1948, the Sisters of the Borromean Order came to Grafschaft to continue their monastic life here. The displaced nuns from Silesia rebuilt the monastery with considerable time and effort. The buildings must have been in a pitiful state at that time.

In May 1997, the Grafschaft Monastery celebrated its 925th founding anniversary (1072). On this occasion, a museum on the "Art and History of Grafschaft Monastery" was opened in the monastery. In the monastery museum, liturgical objects, writings, and relics are on display.