Grotto of the Redemption
Shrine · West Bend, Iowa
A complex of nine linked grottos in the small town of West Bend, built into concrete by Father Paul Dobberstein from 1912 and worked on for forty-two years, then continued by Father Louis Greving from 1946. It is faced throughout with minerals, fossils, shells and petrified wood gathered from around the world, and is described by its own sources as believed to be the largest grotto of its kind, and as the world's most complete man-made collection of minerals, fossils, shells and petrifications in one place.
300 North Broadway, West Bend, Iowa, 50597, United States
FREE and open to visitors of any faith or none, running entirely on donations. The grotto grounds are generally accessible during daylight all year and there is no gate on the grotto itself. ⚠ THE GIFT SHOP, MUSEUM AND GUIDED TOURS ARE SEASONAL, broadly the warmer months — a winter visit works but is much less served. ⚠ IT IS AN ACTIVE DEVOTIONAL SITE as well as a curiosity: people come here to pray and pilgrimage groups visit, so keep voices low in the chambers and give anyone at prayer room. The adjoining Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church is a working parish with its own Mass schedule. The structure involves steps, narrow passages and low openings, and the stone ices up in winter and is not fully cleared.
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