The Grotto rocks

West Bend grotto "a miracle in stone"

By Jean Lundquist, Special to The Free Press

It’s hard to describe the Grotto of the Redemption to someone who has not seen it.

Rhonda Miller, executive director, calls it “a miracle in stone. Or maybe the eighth wonder of the world.”

To describe the Grotto as rocks and semi-precious gems set in concrete doesn’t begin to describe the majesty of the work.

The Grotto in West Bend, Iowa, is the largest grotto in the world. It was the brainchild of Father Paul Doberstein, who came to West Bend in 1898. As a boy in Germany, Miller says, Doberstein explored the caves and caverns near his home. It was those memories that led him to start work on the Grotto.

In 1906, a small lake was dredged from a swampy area in town. That lake helped fund work on the Grotto, which began in 1912. Ice from the lake was cut in winter and sold to people with ice boxes in the area. People were invited to swim in the lake during the summer for 10 cents. Swans were added to the lake as an unusual enhancement of the experience of visiting the lake, a feature which still exists today.

As work began, Miller said, Doberstein had no blue print for the work, just an idea. Through networking with other rock enthusiasts, people in mining industries and world travelers, he was able to acquire some beautiful and unusual rocks for his work.

There is a 300-pound amethyst from Brazil brought back by friends traveling there. There is also a 2,200-pound stalagmite that came from the Carlsbad Caverns shortly after they were discovered by land owner Jim White. Another area of the Grotto features a petrified log from the Petrified Forest in Arizona.

“It would never be possible to get these things today,” Miller says.

But through his letter writing and networking, Doberstein was able to get rocks and shells from all over the world, including from missionaries working in Africa.

Doberstein often worked in his house or in a shed during the winter. During the warmer months, the rosettes would be placed in the Grotto.

A question Miller is often asked is, “How many rocks are in the Grotto?” The answer Miller gives isn’t the number of rocks, but rather the number of train cars that brought the rocks to West Bend: 100.

When Doberstein died in 1954, the Grotto was 80 percent complete. Doberstein’s successor, Father Louis Greving, and Matt Szerensce, a parishioner, continued work on the Grotto. Miller says only some marble statuary is missing from the original plans, “but that’s pretty spendy.”

In addition to the Grotto and the SS. Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church adjacent to it, which features more of Doberstein’s stone work, there is also a museum, gift shop and campground at the site.

West Bend is home to 800 people. Last year, they hosted 30,000 visitors to the Grotto. Miller says those people came from all 50 states and 47 foreign countries.

“In its heyday, there were 80- to 100,000 visitors a year,” she said.

Although the theme of the Grotto is certainly Catholic, only about half of the visitors each year are Catholic, according to Miller. The Grotto appeals to people for many reasons, she says.

Some are interested in architecture, some in geology and rocks, some come to see the swans and others are interested in the religious aspect.

One woman told Miller she wasn’t sure if she should visit or not, as she claimed to be an atheist. Miller says all are welcome.