Loretokapelle, Wolfegg

The Loretokapelle Wolfegg is a Loreto chapel south of Wolfegg in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. On the southern outskirts of Wolfegg, stations of the cross point to this nearby place of pilgrimage.

The Loreto Chapel of Wolfegg is a replica of the Casa Santa, the Holy House. It is the house of Mary, the Mother of God, which according to legend was transferred by angels from the Holy Land to Loreto in Italy. Gradually, numerous replicas of the Holy House were built, especially in the 17th century in southern Germany. In 1668, Count Maximilian Willibald von Waldburg-Wolfegg stipulated in his will that a Casa Santa be built after he had not found time to make a pilgrimage to Loreto during his lifetime.

The chapel is an almost windowless, dark, barrel-vaulted room, a replica of the chapel in Loreto, but larger in scale. The image of grace is also an exact copy of the original in Loreto and was carried in great procession into the chapel in 1707. In the Baroque period it was decorated with precious gold brocade and silver ornaments. The Loreto Chapel was last renovated in 1968. Inside, the whitewashed frescoes were uncovered and the original brick painting was restored.