I was expecting a full-on kitschfest as Dave and I made a right turn off one cornfield-lined county road onto another headed for West Bend, Iowa. We’d been on a trek to northwest Iowa to see family, and were perusing the Iowa visitor’s guide for things to see nearby—when we stumbled upon an entry for “the world’s largest manmade grotto.” Pretty enticing right there, but when Dave piped up that as a teenager he’d met the priest that built it —we were headed to the car.

Dave awaits our entry into the grotto.

The Grotto of the Redemption was not what I expected. It covers an entire city block. It is kitschy. But it’s also extraordinarily beautiful. “Priest, spelunker, and grotto builder extraordinaire,” is how the grotto’s website describes Father Dobberstein who was born in Germany in 1872. I’m thinking you could count on one hand the list of “priest spelunkers” throughout history. Father Dobberstein immigrated to America when he was twenty and entered a seminary near Milwaukee, but soon became critically ill with pneumonia. As he fought for his life he prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for him and promised to build a shrine in her honor of he lived. The illness passed, and he came to West Bend as Pastor of the local Catholic church in 1898. He began stockpiling rocks and precious stones and commenced keeping his promise in 1912. He worked on the grotto for the rest of his life—after which the next pastor (the one Dave met) Father Greving took over. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of stones cover the massive construction, many donated to the project from all over the world. During the depression when there wasn’t money to have stones shipped in, Father Dobberstein would melt glass in his kiln and mix it with crayons to create gems. And on the brilliantly sunny day we visited, those “Dobberstein stones” as they call them, along with the thousands of others,

While the angel announces the arrival of the Christ child, sirens behind stand ready to announce the arrival of a tornado.

Proof that a tornado shelter can be both esthetically pleasing and built from very sturdy materials.

The Way of the Cross.

were putting on a stunning show. It is indeed a very inspiring creation. And as we learned later from a local, a great place for the town’s teens to go drink beer at night.