In the 14th century, the high early Gothic image of a standing Virgin, possibly made in Burgundy or on the Upper Rhine, carved out of linden wood, came to Altötting, the most important figure of Mary in Southern Germany. With the advent of the pilgrimage numerous replicas were made, such as in Nuremberg and Würzburg.
The Madonna statue is 64 centimeters high and contains incorporated silver plates. Neither the place of origin, nor the exact time of origin could be determined by art historians so far beyond doubt. Presumably, the figure was made at the end of the 13th or early 14th century. With her black hands and blackened face, the Madonna is said to refer to role models in Auvergne. There were such religious wooden sculptures from the High Middle Ages spread, the school of Clermont-Ferrand should have been a groundbreaking workshop. In total, there are 272 "black Madonnas" in Europe alone, and in France, where there are 188 such statues, they are known as Vierges Noires. There are famous black Marian figures except in Altötting in Einsiedeln (Switzerland), Loreto (Italy) and Czestochowa (Poland) and Montserrat (Spain).