Bracht

The small village, which had only four fireplaces at the end of the 15th century, originally belonged to the Thommen farm as “Braicht”. Using his own funds, the pastor of Burg-Reuland, Mathias Breitfeld, had a chapel built here in 1695, which was rebuilt in 1865. The single-nave church, extended in 1935, contains architectural elements of the original structure. The material used was brownish, slate quarry stone, as it is often found in the area. Immediately next to the eight-sided slate tower and the sandstone portal with the date 1695 is the white plastered rectory. The Painful Mother in the form of the Pietà stands in the portal niche. This is the “Consoler of the Afflicted” from Luxembourg, who is also venerated in the Lower Rhine pilgrimage town of Kevelaer.

Two other references to the Sorrowful Mother can be seen on the altar, as well as on a bell inscription from 1953. The oldest bell dates from 1698 and contains on its rim two images typical of hunting in rural areas: high on horseback, a rider pursues a wild boar; a farmer tries to kill a deer with a pitchfork. The Stations of the Cross of the small church are located at the level of the barrel vault and were painted in 1938 by the Luxembourg artist Carl Wilhelmy from neighboring Vianden. Consequently, the Passion is prominent in the church interior, as well as in the choir with the symbols of the Lamb of God, the Eucharist and the Pelican. The most valuable are a cross with a wooden corpus and a crowned Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus.

Source: Churches and chapels in East Belgium by Freddy Derwahl and Johannes Weber