Klausencahle - Kordel

Saint Athanasius was banished from Egypt to Trier at the beginning of the 4th century . He brought with him the news of a saint who was trying to achieve his eternal salvation through a life of complete seclusion. It was Saint Anthony.

The news of this hermit life spread and was imitated in the Trier region. In many cases it was monks who , with the permission of their superiors, withdrew into solitude in order to be close to God in nature.

Some hermitages, also called Klausen , became so influential that they themselves became centres of new monastic settlements, such as Einsiedeln in Switzerland and Eberhardsklausen near Wittlich.

From the 8th century it is known that there were even representatives of hermits.

In the district of Kordel there were hermitages in the Kaulay rock above the village and in the middle Laufbach valley, near Klausengrund, the Klausenhöhle. It is not known since when and for how long the Klausenhöhle was inhabited by hermits.

On both sides of the cave entrance, buttresses for square beams can be seen, between which is a stable door. Inside, at a height of about 2 m, beam holes can be seen at regular intervals on both sides. The space was probably closed off by a ceiling from the high rock plate that ran upwards. Deep in the cave, more holes in the beam can be found, indicating a subdivision of the space. At the top of the cave (right), there is a projection with a hole in the outer rock wall. This provided a protected sleeping place. The niche under this floor space was clearly intended as a prayer room.

In the window opening in the floor, and also outside on the west side, primitive faces can be seen , vaguely reminiscent of death masks . They probably served an exorcistic purpose . Evil spirits were supposed to be kept away.

After secularization in 1802, the empty hermitages were no longer inhabited. They remained orphans. Their remains and with them the memory of this religious way of life are becoming increasingly scarce.

willem vandenameele