St. John's Chapel
The Johanniter Chapel is a former Roman Catholic chapel. It is located on Johannitergasse in the immediate vicinity of the Johanniterkommende and can be rented as an exhibition space.
Church of the Johanniterkommende.
The Gothic building faces north towards the Rhine and was built around 1450. The masonry is made of plastered quarry stone, while the frames and tracery of the pointed arch windows are made of Upper Rhine sandstone in various shades of red. A gilded cross of the Order of St. John is attached to the southern end of the gable. Directly opposite is the Johanniterkommende, which is now only privately accessible.
The Lösel altar.
Inside, a wall separates the choir from the nave. The altar house, which is raised by one step, has numerous sound pots in its masonry. Next to the western choir window is a sacrament house made of red sandstone, whose frame columns are decorated with coats of arms of the order and Commander Johannes Lösel.
The entire chapel is decorated with murals, including a depiction of the Last Judgement, which dates from around 1500 and is attributed to a pupil of Martin Schongauer.
Insider tip: Känzeli.
Below the chapel is a beautiful square directly on the Rhine, which invites you to linger and offers a beautiful view of the Messerturm and the Rhine bridge.
A walled-up doorway can be seen on the upper floor of the east façade. From there, a bridge-like connection led across the Rhine gate to the Kommende. This connecting passage was demolished in 1820.
Edi Steiner, city guide since 1996
"Of course, I also like the more than 500-year-old fresco of the Last Judgement in St. John's Chapel.
But I was particularly fascinated by the strange bell jars. They look like flower vases, and it wasn't until the 19th century that the German physicist Helmholtz described how these medieval pots really worked.
Since then, they have been called Helmholtz resonators, and they are still in use. For example, the Porsche owes its rich sound to just such a resonator!
The old mufflers can only be seen in very few places. And there are several of them in Rheinfelden. So they are a small sensation."
Exhibition space for art and culture.
After the Kommende was abolished in 1806, the chapel was used as a storage room and has been used as an exhibition space since 1996.
The Johanniterkapelle can be rented exclusively for selected cultural events (lectures, classical concerts and exhibitions) via the cultural office of the town of Rheinfelden.
Further information
Good to know
The newly restored St. John's Chapel is once again open to the public. The key to the chapel can be borrowed from the town office or the Fricktal Museum. Or you can visit the chapel on one of our numerous guided tours of the town.
Contact key series
Fricktal Museum
Marktgasse 12
4310 Rheinfelden
+41 61 831 14 50
fricktaler.museum@rheinfelden.ch
fricktaler-museum.ch
Contact cultural events
Rheinfelden Cultural Office
Town office, Marktgasse 16
4310 Rheinfelden
+41 61 835 51 11
raumreservationen@rheinfelden.ch
culture-rheinfelden.ch
