II. Der Kirchwald in der Pfarrei Nußdorf. / 51

Title

II. Der Kirchwald in der Pfarrei Nußdorf. / 51

Description

Wood engraving showing the pilgrimage church of the Visitation of Mary in Kirchwald, located above the village of Nußdorf am Inn. From the "Sulzbach Calendar" a calendar for Catholic Christians.

ca. 1860

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

The pilgrimage church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Kirchwald, a district of Nußdorf am Inn, was built by the Aibling master builder Wolfgang Dientzenhofer (1678-1747), who also built the parish churches in Au near Bad Aibling, in Flintsbach and in Götting. n 1644, Michael Schöpfl, a pilgrim returning from Rome, built a hermitage in a rock cave below the present church. From Rome he brought with him an image of grace and relics. According to a legend, he asked for a sign where to build a chapel. When in September 1644 he came to the place of the present church hermitage, he saw the shoe of the Child Jesus open on the image of grace. Then he knew that he could build the chapel here. This legend is referred to by a Lüftl painting on an old farmhouse in the Gritschen. chöpfl settled down as a hermit in the Kirchwald at the foot of the Heuberg near a spring. The spring was considered harmful to humans and animals, but when he poured consecrated water into it and placed his Roman relics in the water, Mary answered his prayers. The water even became curative, so that sick people from all around came and were cured by the water. The Sanctuary of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary has the peculiarity of being a pilgrimage site with a hermitage. From 2013 to 2018 it was inhabited by the hermit Brother Clemens Wittmann OSB, who ran a candle workshop there. Politically, the Kirchwald belongs to Nußdorf, but it is also very closely connected with church life on the Samerberg.