Grotto of the Redemption

Located in West Bend, Iowa is a beautiful structure called the Grotto of the Redemption.

The Grotto is made up of 15 different parts. They include: Garden of Eden or “Paradise Lost”, The Trinity Grotto, Ten Commandments, Stations of the Cross, 13th Station/Calvary, 14th Station/ Entombment of Jesus, Garden of Gethsemane, Resurrection, Grotto of Nazareth, Stable of Bethlehem, The Christmas Chapel, St Michael, the Archangel, Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, Statue of Fr. Dobberstein, and Grotto Museum/Rock Studio.

The Grotto was started and largely built by Father Paul Matthias Dobberstein. Fr. Dobberstein had an invaluable co worker, Matt Szerensce who started shortly after Fr. Dobberstein started working on the Grotto. Later Father Louis Greving moved to West Bend and the torch was eventually passed to him when Fr. Dobberstein passed away. Szerensce helped Fr. Greving until his retirement and Fr. Greving continued work on the Grotto for an additional 40+ years.

The Grotto attracts over 100,000 visitors a year. It has something for everyone. Including the faithful, art lovers and rock hounds. It truly is a work of beauty and art.

This blog author had never visited the Grotto before this past July of 2010. He was able to do so during RAGBRAI. The blog author did not visit every part of the Grotto, the Museum for example.

Chronology:
September 21, 1872 - Paul Matthias Dobberstein is born in Rosenfeld, Germany.

1892 - Paul immigrated to America. Upon coming America he entered the Seminary of St. Francis near Milwaukee to prepare for the Priesthood. It was there that he began to show signs of unusual artistic ability that was to characterize all the waking hours of his earthly existence.

As a young seminarian he became critically ill with pneumonia. As he fought for his life he prayed to the Virgin Mary to help him with the grace of health. He promised to build a shrine in her honor of he lived. He lived, the illness passed and after being ordained he moved to West Bend a couple of years later. For over a decade he was stockpiling rocks and precious stones.

June 30th, 1897 - Father Dobberstein was ordained.

1897 to 1898 - Fr. Dobberstein served as Chaplain for the Sisters of Mount Carmel hospital in Dubuque.

1898 to 1899 - The Archdiocese of Dubuque was divided and Sioux City Diocese was formed. Fr. Dobberstein was appointed the pastor of West Bend Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. He remained there for the rest of his life serving his community for 57 years as a counselor, instructor, and leader to the parishioners.

1912 - The permanence of his promise to Mary began to take shape. High school graduate Matt Szerensce signed on as a full time Grotto collaborator, which resulted in many years of intense labor.

1936 - Fr. Dobberstein's first and only account about the Grotto is is undated but appeared sometime during this year.

1946 - Father Louis Greving moved to West Bend to assume Fr. Dobberstein's clerical duties, as well as to assist with building the Grotto. New to the rigors of construction, Father Greving immediately envisioned the usefulness of an electric hoist and miraculously convinced his superior to introduce this device, which up until then all the lifting had been done by hand. Fr. Dobberstein worked with Fr. Greving and Matt Szerensce for another 8 years.

7:25 p.m. July 24, 1954 - Father Dobberstein the creator and builder of the famous Grottos at West Bend, Iowa laid down his trowel and was called home by God. After forty-two years as priest, spelunker, and grotto builder extraordinaire, Father Dobberstein passed the torch to Szerensce and Greving. Though he fully believed in the radiating spiritual power of his work, he may never have imagined the magnitude of his influence.

1959 - Matt Szerensce retired.

1996 - Father Paul Greving celebrated 50 years as a priest.

1959 to 2002 - Father Greving cared for and maintained the Grotto until his death.

2001 - The Grotto was placed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Feb. 14, 2002 - Father Louis Greving, having earned his heavenly reward, was called home to be with his God, his labor on earth complete.

During the construction almost 100 carloads of rocks and stones, the vast bulk of which had to be processed, stored, cataloged and handled many times before it found it's final and proper place in the magnificent structure. Though not specified it is believed this is almost 100 train car loads.

Grotto of the Redemption
Walking Tour

RAGBRAI XXXVIII

RAGBRAI or the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa as the worlds oldest, largest, longest and best multi-day bicycle tour. It always occurs the last full 7 days of July. It starts on or near the western border of Iowa and ends on the eastern border. There are bicycle tours that are older, but not as long in terms of how many days. There are tours that are longer but not as old. As far as being the best, that is a matter of personal opinion. RAGBRAI is the "grand father" of the multi day bicycle tours. The title or description comes from the RAGBRAI officials.

RAGBRAI is also one of Iowa's greatest cultural events. It is one of the most diversified annual events in the state. People from all 50 states and at least 6 countries have participated in RAGBRAI during its 38 year history. The ride attracts over 15,000 people. This year was no exception.

RAGBRAI is always the last full 7 days of July. This year the ride was July 25 to the 31st, starting in Sioux City and ending in Dubuque, Iowa. The RAGBRAI festivities always kick off in the start town on the Saturday before the actual ride starts. There is the RAGBRAI Expo and usually concerts food vendors and a lot of fun.

RAGBRAI web site.

Saturday July 24, 2010. The RAGBRAI welcome, kick off, concerts and Expo in Sioux City, Iowa:












































































































































Day 1 Sunday July 25, 2010. Sioux City to Storm Lake. RAGBRAI has many pass through towns, these are 2 from the first day of the ride, Kingsley and Washta. The photos taken in Washta are of Team Bad Boy. Yes that is a full size working grill on the back of the bike. Team Bad Boy have been doing RAGBRAI for at least 20 years and are always fun to talk to and see on the ride.
Kingsley:

















Team Bad Boy in Washta:





































Day 2 Monday July 26, 2010. Storm Lake to Algona. RAGBRAI sometimes has traffic jams of cyclists. This year a big one occured at the pass through town of Varina, Iowa. Another interesting pass through town was Pochontas, Iowa. There is also a historic marker about a church that was moved and a town that no longer exists. The highlight of this years RAGBRAI was The Grotto of the Redemption.

Traffic jam:




























Pocahontas, Iowa:




























Historic Marker:










Grotto of the Redemption:





























































































































































































Day 3 Tuesday July 27, 2010. Algona to Clear Lake. In the pass through town of Wesley there was a beautifully painted semi tractor called Blue Angel. It is a 1981 Peterbilt that has won awards in truck shows and appeared in a truck magazine and has over a million miles. In another pass through town there are some interesting old buildings. The name of the town escapes this blog authors memory but the name of the buildings are part of the facade.

Blue Angel:











































Buildings:











































Day 4 Wednesday July 28, 2010. Clear Lake to Charles City. A resident in one of the pass through towns built some interesting pieces of machinery. This day was also the half way point where RAGBRAI crossed Interstate 35.

Machinery:





































Half way point:




























Day 5 Thursday July 29, 2010. Charles City to Waterloo. In the pass through town of Clarksville had the first yellow fire truck in Iowa and one other antique fire truck on display. The pass through town of Parkersburg had some interesting sculptures on display plus a couple of other interesting things to look at. Hudon, the last pass through town of this day, had a large fake bull used as a sign.

Clarksville:










Parkersburg:














































Hudson:












Day 6 Friday July 30, 2010. Waterloo to Manchester. The over night town of Manchester, Iowa, the over night town on 07/31/2010, has a lot to offer in the way of historic sites. The blog author was only able to visit a few of them. The town also had some interesting sculptures as part of their RAGBRAI theme. For historical buildings there is the Deleware County Courthouse, the Masonic Temple and a few other buildings in the downtown area. There was also a race truck on display at an intersection. There will be a more detailed blog post about the Deleware County Courthouse.

RAGBRAI has many teams that participate. One of these teams is Team Stop A Lot. When they pulled into Manchester they stopped, cranked up their cooler stereo and did a line dance in the middle of a downtown street. The crowd loved it.

Delaware County Courthouse:


























Masonic Temple:





























1876 Building:











Hoac Union Block:




















Interesting Architecture:










Race Truck:










Bicycle Sculptures:






















Team Stop A Lot:














































Saturday July 31, 2010. Manchester to Dubuque. The last day of this years RAGBRAI offered beautiful scenery, architecture and the tire dip at the Mississippi River at the Port of Dubuque. RAGBRAI has food vendors along the route, typically at farm houses and in the pass through towns.

Breakfast stop:



















In the pass through town of Dyersville is the beautiful St. Francis Xavier Catholic Basilica. There will be a detailed blog post about the basilica:


























































































Some of the beautiful scenery included the hills and valleys around an area called Potter Hill:






















































The Port of Dubuque is a scenic area with the view of the Mississippi river and the bridge crossing into Illinois and Wisconsin: