The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa, is the largest man-made grotto in the world. It is also home to one of the largest collections of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location.
The grotto represents a story of a priest who recovered from a grave illness and began to construct a magnificent place to glorify God.
Listen to the story on the American Countryside podcast with Andrew McCrea:
“Father Duberstein came to the United States when he was about 20 years old,” says Darcie Kramer, executive director of the grotto. “He was staying with some family when he saw an ad asking for German-speaking priests. He felt compelled to go to seminary. Two weeks before he was to be ordained, he fell ill with pneumonia.”
To ask for help in battling the illness, Father Duberstein started praying. After he recovered, Duberstein promised God he would build a shrine to share the story of Christ.
“Father Duberstein studied geology in Germany for about nine years before he came to the United States,” Kramer says. “So, he knew a lot about rocks, and about where he needed to get them. He would go out and collect the rocks himself. He would also write letters to other countries and have rocks sent to him or have rock shipped back on train carloads.”
Duberstein became the pastor in West Bend in 1898. For over a decade he was stockpiling rocks and precious stones, and he began building the first grotto in 1912. Duberstein continued building for the remaining 42 years of his life. There are nine grottos, each depicting scenes from the life of Christ.
Kramer says the grotto features materials such as amethyst, agate, quartz, copper, petrified wood, malachite, azurite, geodes, jasper, topaz, calcite, stalactites, stalagmites, seashells and more.
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