The Statue of the Virgin Mary

Station 8

The Column of the Virgin Mary depicts Mary, the Mother of God, as the Queen of Heaven with a halo of stars. The actual sculptor of the first figure is unknown unfortunately. The sculpture initially stood on the open fields to the west of the Feldertor (gateway to the fields), one of the original three gates of Burgebrach.

However, when the Feldertor was demolished in 1873, the figure was moved to the vacant site of the former gate. The stones of the demolished Feldertor were used as building material for the dwelling house of the "Äußeren Schmied" (outer forge). A part of the coat of arms and a panel on the building are a reminder of this today.

The present statue of the Virgin Mary was newly created by the Burgebrach sculptor Johann Georg Neser in 1865. The master mason Johann Zahnleiter built the base.

The Mother of God originally looked towards the south, until she was turned to face south west in 1987. A hitherto unknown document was discovered during the work which had apparently been inserted by the people in charge at that time.

Here is an excerpt from the document:

"...But may all citizens faithfully follow the sublime virtues of Mary; the blessed Mother of God will then stretch out her protecting hand over Burgebrach during danger and always be an intercessor and mediatrix before her divine son for her true followers in life and in death. ..."

The original had to be replaced by a cast of artificial stone at the end of 2004, since parts of the sculpture had been damaged by the effects of the weather.

The figure of Mary once stood outside one of the former town gates and protected the town. When the gate was demolished, the sculpture was given its own place on a column built on the vacant site. The statue of the Virgin Mary which can be seen today was newly created in 1865. However, only a copy made of artificial stone stands in the open. The actual figure was increasingly being damaged by the wind and weather.