Mary Brünnlein Pilgrimage Basilica, Catholic pilgrimage basilica in Wemding, Germany.
Maria Brünnlein is a Rococo pilgrimage basilica in Wemding, built from 1748 to 1782 to plans by Franz Joseph Roth, the building director of the Teutonic Order. Its ceiling painting by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and his son Michael shows the Mother of God as a life-giving fountain, ringed by twelve fountain medallions. The grace altar of 1756 by Johann Joseph Meyer holds the wooden Marian image brought from Rome around 1680 by the shoemaker Franz Forell.
A chapel stood over the Schillerbrünnl from 1692, and the Wemding shoemaker Franz Forell brought the wooden Marian image from Rome around 1680. As pilgrims increased, the present Rococo church was built from 1748 to 1782 to a design by Franz Joseph Roth, the building director of the Teutonic Order. Pope John Paul II raised it to a minor basilica in 1998.
Pilgrims have venerated a wooden Marian figure here since the 17th century, brought from Rome around 1680 by the Wemding shoemaker Franz Forell; it stands on the grace altar, also called the spring altar. Many visitors link their visit to a drink from the Gnadenbrünnlein. The church holds numerous votive offerings given in thanks for answered prayers.
The basilica stands on the edge of Wemding, and a footpath leads from the car park to the main portal, lined with 15 glass-painted Stations of the Cross set up in 2009 by the Jesuit brother Michael Kampik. Six devotional stones made by Ernst Steinacker in 1983 mark the way to the church. A pilgrim house built in 1996 by architect Karl-Heinz Schmitz forms a courtyard with the basilica.
The grace altar, also called the spring altar, was built in 1756 by the Tyrolean sculptor Johann Joseph Meyer; Ernst Steinacker added the base with its basin and volutes in 1953. Pilgrims traditionally link their visit with a drink from the Gnadenbrünnlein. Six devotional stones made by Ernst Steinacker in 1983 mark the way to the church.
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