World’s Grotto of the Redemption
Title:World’s Grotto of the Redemption
Location:West Bend, Iowa
Description:The Grotto of the Redemption is a titanic landmark to religious devotion and dogged labor. As a young seminarian, Paul Dobberstein fell gravely ill with pneumonia, and promised to build a shrine of precious stones to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. Mary apparently liked the idea, Dobberstein recovered and became a priest, and in 1898 he was sent from Germany to the tiny town of West Bend, Iowa — one of the worst places in the world to build a shrine, since West Bend has no precious stones.
Location:West Bend, Iowa
Description:The Grotto of the Redemption is a titanic landmark to religious devotion and dogged labor. As a young seminarian, Paul Dobberstein fell gravely ill with pneumonia, and promised to build a shrine of precious stones to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. Mary apparently liked the idea, Dobberstein recovered and became a priest, and in 1898 he was sent from Germany to the tiny town of West Bend, Iowa — one of the worst places in the world to build a shrine, since West Bend has no precious stones.
