Driving Around Northern Iowa: The Grotto in West Bend

West Bend is 60 miles

 southwest of

Forest City.

 I had read about The Grotto of the Redemption during a previous visit to Forest City and had shelved the idea of a visit because it's so far from Winnebago.  Eric doesn't think an hour's drive to see an attraction is too far to go, and here we are.





Michael the Archangel 
draws his sword on
Satan in front of  the
entrance to The Grotto.

The ornamentation of The

 Grotto of the Redemption

presents a fantastical scene.

Every inch of the structures

are carefully decorated.

Many pieces of semi-precious

stones have been specifically

placed to create designs.

Geodes & Sea Shells are
included in the Shrine
that covers a city block.

An Angel

blows on the trumpet...

Glory to God in the Highest

Stairways lead to the tops 

of some of the structures.

Eric took this picture of

an Angel kneeling inside

of a heart.

The Grotto of the Redemption tells the story of Jesus' life, ministry, and his journey to the Cross.

Jesus prays in the

Garden of Gethsemane.

Each Station of the Cross.

which chronicles Jesus'

trial, crucifixion &

burial has been

exquisitely decorated.

Mary holds her dead son

at the foot of the cross.

 Jesus was laid to rest in a donated crypt.

When Mary Magdelene, Mary, the
mother of James the Apostle, &
Salome go to the crypt to tend to
Jesus' body, three days after the
crucifixion,  the crypt is empty
& an Angel saysto them,
"He is risen. He is not here."

The Rock Display Studio

sits behind The Grotto.

Father Paul Dobberstein
came to West Bend in 1898.

His statue was installed
in 1992.

After ten years of rock collecting, he began work on The Grotto.  The Shrine, which includes numerous structures, was created without reference to written plans.  Father Dobberstein was joined by Reverend Louis Greving in 1947.  He died in 1954 and Reverend Greving continued to work on The Grotto until his retirement in 1996.

I am fascinated by the sprawling Shrine.  Supporting structures were designed and built before ornamentation began.  The marriage of math and art creates an exotic and otherworldy religious site on the plains of Iowa.