Shrine of Our Lady of Altoetting

The Story

The Shrine of Our Lady of Altoetting in Bavaria, often called the 'Heart of Bavaria,' is Germany's foremost Marian pilgrimage site. At its center, on the great Kapellplatz, stands the small octagonal Chapel of Grace (Gnadenkapelle), whose core is believed to date from the early Middle Ages, housing a venerated Black Madonna carved around 1330. According to the traditional account, in 1489 a three-year-old boy who had drowned in a stream was laid before the image while his mother prayed, and the child was restored to life; a second reported healing the same year spread the shrine's fame, and pilgrims have streamed to Altoetting ever since. The chapel's walls are covered with centuries of painted votive tablets giving thanks for graces received. The shrine became deeply bound to Bavarian identity: the hearts of Bavarian dukes and kings of the House of Wittelsbach are interred in silver urns within the Chapel of Grace. The Capuchin lay brother St. Conrad of Parzham served for more than forty years as porter of the friary at Altoetting, welcoming pilgrims until his death in 1894; he was canonized in 1934 and is venerated in the nearby Church of St. Conrad. Papal devotion has confirmed the shrine's standing: St. John Paul II prayed there in 1980, and Pope Benedict XVI — born in nearby Marktl am Inn — made a pilgrimage in 2006, presenting a Golden Rose to Our Lady of Altoetting. Today the shrine reportedly welcomes around a million pilgrims each year, with the pilgrimage season running from spring through autumn.

Church Recognition

Altoetting is a centuries-old devotion fully recognized by the Church: the shrine is administered under the Diocese of Passau, its Basilica of St. Anna was raised to the rank of papal minor basilica in 1913, and Pope Benedict XVI honored the image with a Golden Rose during his 2006 pilgrimage.

Catholic Teaching

The shrine expresses the Church's teaching on Mary's maternal intercession (CCC 969) and on the value of popular piety and pilgrimage, by which the faithful entrust their needs to God through the Mother of his Son (CCC 1674–1676).

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Practical

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The Chapel of Grace has drawn pilgrims for over 500 years.

Go Deeper

The official shrine website is https://www.gnadenort-altoetting.de. Read Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 homily at Altoetting and the Catechism on Mary's motherhood in the order of grace (CCC 963–972).