Maria Baumgärtle Shrine
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Maria Baumgärtle Shrine
Q: What is "Maria Baumgärtle"?
A: "Maria Baumgärtle" (Arboretum Marianum) is a German pilgrimage site devoted to Our Lady. It is located on the territory of the parish of Bedernau (diocese of Augsburg, Unterallgäu). In 1721 Count Ch. F. Muggenthal built a chapel to house a woodcarved Mary sculpture similar to that of Altötting. The chapel is situated in a wooded region (Schwaiggut) called "Baumgärtle." A hermitage was attached to the chapel. In 1730/32 due to an ever-increasing stream of pilgrims, a church was erected next to the chapel and a community of Franciscans (1734) entrusted with the ministry at the shrine. Church and Franciscans disappeared early in the nineteenth century (1805; 1822). However, shrine and pilgrimage still exist. They were entrusted in 1871 to the Precious Blood Missionaries; and a new church was added to the original chapel. The shrine attracts yearly approximately thirty-thousand pilgrims (see: Wallfahrtsführer "Die Wallfahrt von Maria Baumgärtle," published by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Monastery Baumgärtle, 1983).