Freeway places of worship are used for individual, anonymous and arbitrary contemplation and reflection for car travelers; church services and contact persons here are exceptions. The first ascertainable basic concept of these facilities was that of the medieval wayside or. The way chapel, thus a kind of the memory or the admonition to remember – in this case in the "rush of the traffic" – of God. Another, more recent motivation for the establishment of such a facility, which is often cited in the media, is that of a "filling station for the soul". This rather flowery name, however, comes much closer to the empirically ascertainable reasons of the visitors of the Autobahn houses of worship: Because the driving situation on the Autobahns generates a very specific stress psychologically, which moves between the typical overtaking and being overtaken ("chasing and being chased") in the flow of Autobahn driving. Even passengers cannot perceive the freeway journey as relaxed. Accordingly, travelers also seek visual fixes and points of concentration in places of worship, find a protected situation here, regenerate mentally by reassuring themselves of God's closeness and attention, respectively. Also the Mother of God Mary. In many cases, the short prayers entered by the travelers in the prayer books on display are intended to protect them from the dangers of the journey or to thank them for their. Thanksgiving for the safety of the passengers so far. The large proportion of visitors to the Autobahn houses of worship who are not churchgoers on Sundays is striking: in these places, the usual ecclesiastical specifications of service times, preachers, content and style are dispensed with in favor of an individually freely determined religiosity.
The chapel in ecumenical sponsorship "Jesus Bread of Life" is located on the A31 Emden-Bottrop, between the junctions Twist and Geeste on the rest area "Heseper Moor. In the planning, based on designs by Josef Wulf (Geeste), a conscious decision was made to use a traditional construction method of the region in the Emsland style of a bakehouse/breadhouse.
The artistic design of the interior, based on designs by Osnabrück architect Dominikus Witte, is in keeping with the overall style of the chapel. In addition to the stylish altar windows, five smaller windows with corresponding biblical passages refer to words of Jesus. The large side window is a reminder of the total of 15 concentration and prison camps that were built in Emsland between 1933-45. The altar, a stone made of dark colored concrete, associates peat or reminds, due to the applied structure, of fields and fields. The circular refectory made of sandstone is similar to a millstone. Refers both to the theme "baking/bread" and to the "round table" as a sign of ecumenism. In a niche, to the right of the entrance, there is a "tree-shaped" candlestick in front of a communion icon mounted on the wall. A kneeler in front of the candlestick invites to prayer. There you can also find the book of concerns. The chapel has room for about 60 visitors and is open day and night.