Point of interest
Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

Chapel of the Poor Souls in the «Aletschji»

The almost 100 years old chapel in the Aletschji was built by the co-proprietors of the Alp (Alpgeteilen) in drudgery of granite rocks from the Oberaletsch area. The Municipality and the citizenry supported the construction of the widely visible chapel with CHF 50,00 each. The Mass devices such as the chalice and the chasuble were kept in a private cabin for lack of storage space. The main character of the legend «d’alt Schmidtja spinnt noch» 
adorn the small altar. The walls show, as appropriate for this place, dead picture of dead people from the parish Naters. The parish priest Zenklusen wrote on June 6, 1944: "In a private chapel no mass can be offered, but it is possible to make a donation to the parish church, with the obligation to celebrate the mass in the chapel in the Aletsch." Thereupon the co-proprietors (Geteilen) from the Aletsch donated a mass once a year's time in the parish church, which is read every year on the Federal Day of Prayer and Repentance in the presence of many believers in Aletschji. For years the Jodelclub Aletsch makes the performance of the yodelling mass an impressive experience.