Brother Joseph Zoettl, 1878-1961, traveled from his home country of Germany to America as a teenager, where he became a monk. At Saint Bernard Abbey, Brother Joseph worked at the powerhouse, doing ver..
more »Brother Joseph Zoettl, 1878-1961, traveled from his home country of Germany to America as a teenager, where he became a monk. At Saint Bernard Abbey, Brother Joseph worked at the powerhouse, doing very mindless work for long hours at a time. He was not allowed to be ordained as a priest, due to a disability that left him with a hunched back. To keep himself entertained, he began building grottoes made of rock around the religious statues on the property. The other monks noticed and began selling them. Brother Joseph then began making small scale models of religious structures, which he named “Little Jerusalem.” His superiors tasked him with replicating this work on an empty four acres on the estate to create the Ave Maria Grotto. The spectacular work of the Ave Maria Grotto can be seen in these images, which he made just by looking at pictures on postcards. Brother Joseph worked on the Grotto until he was 80 years old. In 1984, the Grotto was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In this image, you can see several of Brother Joseph’s 150 sculptures in the Ave Maria Grotto.
Image is provided for educational purposes only. © University of North Dakota. All rights reserved.
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