The ruins of the Aschbach Church in Saarbrücken-Gersweiler are a new pilgrimage station in the European model project Sternenweg/Chemin des étoiles. On the occasion of its official inclusion in the network, it was equipped with a stone scallop shell and an accompanying information board. The scallop shell stone was crafted by young people from Saarbrücken as part of vocational training measures. The idyllically located church ruin is today one of the few remaining remnants from the Middle Ages in Saarland and is one of around 300 testimonies of medieval architecture along the Sternenweg. "There is great interest in pilgrimage hiking. The European model project Sternenweg, initiated in 2006 by the Saarbrücken Regional Association, is understood as a supra-regional contribution to enhancing the paths of the St. James pilgrims in parts of Saarland, the Palatinate, Lorraine, and Alsace," explains Regional Association Director Peter Gillo about the project. It provides a simple model of how neighboring regions and municipalities can network today based on cultural-historical anchor points. The hall church, built in the 12th century, was later also used as a plague hospital. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building was converted into a residential house before being largely demolished in 1963. The west wall with entrance portal and windows was preserved. The former choir entrance of the church is visible in the east wall. The remains of the building are now protected as a historic monument. Since the mid-1980s, the Local History Association Gersweiler-Ottenhausen, in close cooperation with the state capital Saarbrücken, has carried out restoration and soil research measures on the ruins. "We are pleased that the Aschbach Church is now becoming known as a station on the Sternenweg in the Greater Region and that our local history museum can also participate in the network of the model project," emphasizes Volker Arnold from the Local History Association Gersweiler-Ottenhausen at the official admission of the Aschbach Church into the Sternenweg/Chemin des étoiles model project.
The website www.sternenweg.net provides further background information about the project and enables individual route planning with the help of an interactive map.
