The Altlay Marian Grotto
The Mariengrotte was built in 1957. The initiator was the teacher Karl Schön, who was transferred from Moritzheim to Altlay in 1956. On his walks through the Altlayer forests, the idea came to him to build a grotto at this water point. The cladding for the construction of the dome was made by Jakob Biserloh, a carpenter by trade. The grotto was built by the then 17-year-old Dieter Meurisch and the 19-year-old Josef Pauli. The building material, bricks and sand, was transported on the spot by the Altlayer youths (pupils of Mr. Schön) with the help of Werner Pauli and Paul Storms using a tractor and trailer. The iron lattice urrd decorations were made by Paul Storms (he worked as a locksmith's apprenticeship at the ore mine in Altlay) and his teacher Roni. The statue of the Virgin Mary made of red sandstone was bought by teacher Schön in Maria Laach. He carried her in a backpack on his back on his motorcycle from Maria Laach to Altlay. The panels that are attached to the walls come from bells that asked for intercession about a matter at the Grotto Maria, and whose prayers have been answered. The first panel comes from the Reinhold Heib family, whose son fell down a steep mountain slope with the tractor and, as if by miracle, survived the accident unscathed. Source: Text information board