The chapel in Unterlehen

The first chapel was built in the Hof district, but the oldest still preserved chapel is the one built in around 1700 and consecrated towards St. Marcus in the Unterlehen district. The bell was cast in 1698 and is also as old as the chapel.

The bell still hangs today from a ridge turret of the chapel, which is covered by wooden shingles. The bell has a varied history and in earlier years was used as a weather bell which was sounded in times of bad weather and particularly thunder storms, in order to fight off the bad weather.

In World War I the bell risked being sent to the smelting furnace, to be used as ammunition. However, a Bernau citizen managed to bring the bell into safety by hiding it. In World War II, like all other church bells, it had to make its way to be transformed into munitions, and for this reason the bell arrived in Hamburg to be smelted. Again the bell was saved and one day, in 1946, it was returned to Bernau upon the milk float belonging to Alois Maier, who in those days transported milk from Bernau to St. Blasien. The interior of this small house of prayer is dominated by a crucifix above the altar, which was previously above the main doors outside. Wooden figures of St Sebastian and St Theresa are strikingly beautiful, and the work of a wood-carver from Bernau.