The only thing that is certain is that around 1200 a Romanesque chapel stood on the site of the current church; this has been revealed by recent excavations. According to a pilgrimage booklet, the first indulgences date from 1229 and 1270, which proves that the pilgrimage to Retzbach must have existed as early as the 13th century. The goal of the pilgrims was and still is the 1.30 meter tall image of grace - a smiling Virgin Mary with child made of red sandstone, which dates from around 1300. A stone was embedded in the back of the figure, in which there was a piece of cloth from the Orient as well as some bone fragments and earth. These are probably touch relics from Palestine, which were intended to interpret the image as a piece of Holy Land and thus further underline the importance of the place.

In the 14th century a Gothic building was built, which now forms the east choir of the current church. At this time, namely in 1336, the Benedictines from Neustadt/Main also took over the care of the parish and pilgrimage, which was in constant flourishing. In the 15th century, the Güntersleben brotherhood "Mariä Geburt" was moved to Retzbach, and various brotherhood books document its spread throughout the diocese. Around 1600, the small chapel could no longer accommodate the stream of pilgrims, so a nave was added in 1622. The old Gothic portal was integrated into the west façade, and later two baroque stair towers with onion domes were added. The two pillars in front of the church with the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary also date from the 18th century. At the request of the prince-bishops, the Würzburg Jesuits also took part in the pastoral care of the pilgrims. With the secularization in 1803, the Retzbach pilgrimage also came to an abrupt end, and the place was forgotten. The revival of the pilgrimage in the 1930s is thanks to the efforts of pastor Hermann Josef Klug.

In 1968, the roof of the nave had become so dilapidated that the church had to be closed. On a stormy night in June 1968 the roof of the church finally collapsed. What initially looked like a catastrophe ultimately triggered the revival of the Retzbach pilgrimage tradition, which is now one of the liveliest in the entire diocese: Firstly, the pilgrimage church was rebuilt twice its size according to plans by the Würzburg cathedral master builder Hans Schädel, retaining the west façade and choir. Then the old miraculous image was moved to the heart of the church, in the Gothic choir, and placed on a five-metre-high bronze stele by the Würzburg sculptor Otto Sonnleitner. On September 13th 1969 Bishop Dr. Josef Stangl named the church "Maria im grünen Tal - Place of Prayer for Christian Unity". This gave it an ecumenical orientation in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, which is still manifested today in regular ecumenical services.

Source: wallfahrt.bistum-wuerzburg.de/wallfahrtsorte/region-main-spessart/retzbach

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Günther🦎

January 28, 2025

A beautiful church

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Elevation 180 m

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Location: Zellingen, Main-Spessart, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany

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