7 - St Wenceslas´Forest Chapel

In the 1840s, the then owner of the Kyselka Spa, Count Wilhelm von Neuberg, had the forest chapel (Waldkapelle) built on a prominent granite rock promontory overlooking the Ohře (Eger) River valley. An access path to the spa originally led there. The open chapel, whose front gable and saddle roof with small bell tower were supported by a pair of wooden posts, was one of the landmarks of the glorious landscape in the environs of the local spa resort. In the period prior to 1885, Heinrich Mattoni had the chapel adapted. It was apparently at this time that the chapel was given a bricked, three-sided apse with stained-glass windows and carved decorations in the gable and small bell tower. The entrance was protected by a railing made from wooden saltire crosses.

After 1945 the chapel ceased to be maintained and gradually fell into disrepair. The year 2008 saw the total restoration of the devastated chapel by the company Vojenské lesy a statky ČR s.p. with the financial support of the Karlovy Vary Region. The ceremonial re-opening of the restored chapel took place on St Wenceslas’ Day, 28 September 2008.