Lourdesgrotte, Wienerwald, Religious pilgrimage site in Klosterneuburg, Austria
The Lourdesgrotte is a religious pilgrimage shrine in Klosterneuburg nestled within a natural rock formation in a woodland setting. Inside stand a marble statue of the Virgin Mary and a representation of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
The shrine was built between 1923 and 1925 under the direction of Father Caspar Hutter as a replica of the French Lourdes Grotto. Its opening attracted thousands of faithful gathered to pray together at this newly established sanctuary.
The Way of the Cross leading from the main road to the grotto consists of 15 tabernacle pillars with rosary reliefs, made in 1936 by the Bartolotti art workshop. A Heart of Jesus statue stands by the road, and a Saint Christopher statue marks the route. The shrine is the largest pilgrimage site of the Archdiocese of Vienna, drawing about 80,000 pilgrims and visitors each year.
The shrine lies about 1.5 km west of Maria Gugging's parish church on the Klosterneuburger Straße (B14). From a Herz-Jesu statue by the main road, a Way of the Cross with 15 tabernacle pillars leads past a St Christopher statue to the grotto. The path is on foot only; the terrain around the former quarry is uneven.
The wrought-iron grille closing the rock niche, like the marble Immaculata and the Bernadette Soubirous statue, is a faithful copy of the originals at Lourdes in south-west France. The site occupies a disused quarry donated by Maria Pflaum (1875–1939), and the 1925 consecration by prelate Ignaz Seipel was reportedly attended by more than 40,000 people.
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