"Maria im Schatten" Church, Lauffen
"Maria im Schatten" is a Catholic 15th-century church and pilgrimage site surrounded by a local legend linked to the Virgin Mary.
About this building
The earliest mention to a church on this site can be found in a document from 1344. The current church was built in the mid-15th century. This Gothic building has undergone several restorations throughout history, the most significant ones during the 18th and 19th after a fire had destroyed part of the structure in 1754. By the 2020s the church had fallen into disrepair. Restoration and conservation measures were approved by the Federal Monuments Office.
It is said that the statue of the statue of Virgin Mary was found by chance in the forest by a woodcutter. He took it to a chapel standing at that time in the merchant village of Lauffen. However, the next day the statue of the Virgin was gone. It appeared at the same spot of the forest where it had been first found. The people of Lauffen decided then to build a church dedicated to Mary's cult and so they founded "Maria im Schatten", which means "Mary in the shadow". The statue has remained in this church ever since.
