Our Lady of Altötting

History of the sanctuary: the Marian heart of Bavaria

Altötting is the oldest Marian sanctuary in Germany and one of the most venerated in all of Europe. Its history dates back to the 7th century, when the Alta Bavaria region was a border territory between the Christian world and the pagan Germanic traditions. The octagonal chapel that today constitutes the heart of the sanctuary - the Gnadenkapelle o Chapel of Grace - was originally built around 660 AD, making it the oldest religious building in Germany dedicated to Marian devotion.

The tradition links the origin of the sacred place to Saint Ruperto of Salzburg, who in 680 baptized the first Christian Duke of Bavaria, Teodo II. Saint Ruperto chose this place - an old pagan cult site possibly dedicated to the goddess Freya, associated with love and fertility - to build a baptistery of octagonal plant, symbol of spiritual renaissance. The octagonal form also recalls the sacred tils (Marin limes) that the pre-Christian peoples were venerating and still growing centuries in the region.

A chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was then erected on the baptistery, and next to it the dukes of Wittelsbach built a castle that would make Altötting a spiritual center of Bavaria. Carlemagne himself, having incorporated Bavaria into his empire in 803, personally traveled to this sanctuary to entrust himself to the Mother of God. Throughout the Middle Ages, Germanic emperors and European princes walked through Altötting to seek divine protection and forge alliances.

The Black Virgin: the miraculous image

In the interior of the octagonal chapel, on an altar of richly decorated silver, the image of Our Lady of Altötting, a size in tile wood, is venerated (birds) 66 centimeters high, dated around 1330 and belonging to the early Gothic style. The Virgin holds the Child Jesus with her right arm, while in her left hand she carries a cetro topped in a lily flower, a symbol of purity. The Child, for his part, holds a sphere that represents his divine sovereignty.

The dark color of the image - which identifies it as a "Black Virgin" - is not due to an intentional pigment, but to the cumulative effect of centuries of smoke of candles and oil lamps, combined with the natural oxidation of tile wood. This negation, far from subtracting beauty from the image, gives it an atmosphere of mystery and antiquity that deeply impresses pilgrims.

Since 1518, both the Virgin and the Child are dressed in blankets and crowns richly embroidered in gold and silver, donated by kings, nobles and anonymous faithful over the centuries. The treasure of the sanctuary includes garments donated by Empress Mary Teresa, King Louis II of Bavaria and Pope Benedict XVI. The latter, natural of Marktl am Inn, a few kilometres from Altötting, would leave his episcopal ring as an offering to the Virgin during her 2006 visit.

The miracle of 1489: the origin of the mass pilgrimage

Although Altötting was already a place of veneration for centuries, it was a miracle that occurred on June 14, 1489 that triggered the massive pilgrimage that continues to this day. A three-year-old boy named Niklas had drowned in a nearby stream. His mother, desperate, took the lifeless body of his son and ran to the chapel of the Virgin. He placed the child on the altar and, in tears, begged Our Lady of Altötting to intercede for her son. According to the chronists of the time, after long prayer, the child returned to life without any sign of harm.

A few weeks later, a second miracle shocked the region: a six-year-old fell out of a car and was crushed by the wheels. His parents took him to the Virgin and the next day the child was completely healthy, without a trace of wounds. The news of these portents spread throughout Europe. During the following decades, crowds of pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and even Italy became Altötting. The sanctuary was filled with exvotes - more than two thousand commemorative plates - which still today cover the walls of the cloister around the chapel.

Arquitectura: la Capilla de la Gracia

The architectural set of Altötting is articulated around the Gnadenkapelle, an octagonal chapel dating back to the 7th century, although it has undergone numerous reforms over the centuries. The octogone - the traditional form of the paleocristic baptisteries - symbolizes the resurrection and the eternal day (the eighth day). The chapel is surrounded by a porticated cloister from the 17th century, whose walls are covered with exvotes donated by grateful pilgrims.

Next to the chapel is the Basilica of the Holy Apostles and St. Philip Neri, built between 1910 and 1912 in Neobaroque style to welcome the growing multitude of pilgrims. The basilica can house more than 8,000 faithful. The whole is completed with the parish church of San Felipe Neri, the Chapel of San Miguel and the old Jesuit school, which today functions as a centre for the reception of pilgrims.

On the west side of the chapel, a silver urn guards the hearts of 28 members of the house of Wittelsbach, the royal dynasty of Bavaria, from Duke William IV (1508-1550) to King Louis II - the "king of fairy tale" - whose heart rests here as a symbol of the union between the Bavarian crown and its heavenly patron.

The treasure and tradition of the devotees

The treasure of the sanctuary houses one of the most impressive collections of Bavarian sacred art. It includes gold chalices, jeweled custodians, liturgical garments embroidered in gold, silver relicaries, and the famous wedding crown of the Empress Sissi (Isabel de Bavaria), donated by it to the Virgin as a thanksgiving.

The museum of the pilgrimage contains a spectacular diorama divided into 22 three-dimensional images that narrate the history of the pilgrimage to Altötting. It also highlights the Panorama of Jerusalem, a monumental circular painting that shows the holy city in the times of Christ, installed in 1903.

The visit of Benedict XVI: the Pope of Altötting

Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn (only 20 kilometres from Altötting), considered this sanctuary his "spiritual homeland." His brother, Georg Ratzinger, was born in Pleiskirchen, also in the vicinity. The Ratzinger family often traveled to Altötting during Joseph's childhood.

On 11 September 2006, a few months after his election as Pope, Benedict XVI visited Altötting. During the homily, he said: "Altötting is for me from childhood a place where pilgrims come with their concerns and needs, a place of grace, a place of salvation." In a sign of devotion, he donated his episcopal ring - an amatist set in gold that his brothers gave him in 1977 on the occasion of his episcopal ordination - to be set in the scepter of the Virgin. Two years later, the Pope granted the Golden Rose to the sanctuary, one of the highest papal honors.

The pilgrimage today

More than a million pilgrims visit Altötting every year. The sanctuary receives organized pilgrimages from all over Europe, especially from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. The traditional pilgrimage on foot - the Pilgrimage- continues to be common practice, with groups that travel tens of miles singing and praying the Rosary. The Way of Benedict, a pilgrimage path that connects the children's places of the Pope, links Marktl am Inn with Altötting.

The devotion to Our Lady of Altötting is so deep that, during the time of the Reformation, while much of Germany became Protestant, Altötting remained an unwavering stronghold of the Catholic faith. In 1913, Pope Pius X granted the canonical coronation of the image. In 1970, Pope Paul VI raised the sanctuary to the rank of lower basilica.

Prayer to Our Lady of Altötting