A Jacobite Gazetteer - Bavaria

Altötting - Gnadenkapelle


The town of Altötting is located about 100 kilometres directly east of Munich.

Altoetting Gnadenkapelle
Gnadenkapelle

The Gnadenkapelle (Miraculous Image Chapel) is located in the centre of the Kapellplatz (Chapel Square); the chapel houses a famous statue of the Madonna and Child. In wall niches on the wall facing towards the miraculous statue are silver urns containing the hearts of several members of the Royal Family: The hearts of Queen Mary IV and III and of her husband King Ludwig III of Bavaria are on the left. The hearts of King Rupert and of his second wife Queen Antonia are in the centre.

Altoetting
Urns of Queen Mary IV and III
and of King Ludwig III of Bavaria

King Ludwig III of Bavaria brought the heart of his wife Queen Mary IV and III here at the end of July 1921. 1 King Rupert brought the heart of his father King Ludwig III of Bavaria here April 7, 1922. 2

The tiny chapel is usually packed full of pilgrims. It is difficult to see the urns. One has to turn around with one's back to the statue, and then look up above the entrance door.

The chapel is open daily 5:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; mass is celebrated daily at 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Notes

1 Kurt Sendtner, Rupprecht von Wittelsbach, Kronprinz von Bayern (München: Richard Pflaum, 1954), 458; Arthur Achleitner, Von der Umsturznacht bis zur Totenbahre: Die letzte Leidenszeit König Ludwigs III (Dillingen a. D.-München: Veduka, 1922), 243.

2 Joe J. Heydecker, Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern: Ein Lebensbild (München: Süddeutscher Verlag, 1953): 105.

Image 1 (Gnadenkapelle): http://www.bauplanung-wenger.de/referenzen/denkmalschutzsanierung.html.

Image 2 (Urns of Queen Mary IV and III and of King Ludwig III of Bavaria): Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, https://www.hdbg.eu/koenigreich/web/index.php/objekte/index/herrscher_id/4/id/1049


This page is maintained by Noel S. McFerran (noel.mcferran@rogers.com) and was last updated January 22, 2012.
© Noel S. McFerran 2000-2012.