Mutter Gottes von Ast
(Our Lady of Ast)
This is the front cover of a 17-page story about the Mutter Gottes von Ast (Our Lady of Ast) painting which found its way from the small village of Ast in Bavaria, Germany - across the Atlantic Ocean - to St. Anne's Shrine in the small village of Plain in Sauk County, Wisconsin.
Mutter Gottes von Ast - Our Lady of Ast:
The painting which traveled from Ast (Bavaria, Germany) to Plain (Wisconsin)
Author: Debra Blau, 2011
On August 26, 1929, George Hetzel and his wife Barbara Pfeiffer Hetzel of Plain took a voyage to Europe. They returned to the United States on November 10, 1929.
While visiting friends and relatives in Bavaria, George and Barbara went to Ast and ordered the "Mutter Gottes von Ast" painting. The "Kirchenmaler" (church artist), whose name is now unknown, finished the painting in December 1929. The painting showed the Mother of God with Child in tree branches, a depiction of the legend at Ast dating to the year 1409. The painting was mailed to America around the 10th of January in 1930 by George's brother Joseph Hetzel of Spielberg, Germany.
The artist charged 70 Deutsche Mark (DM). At this time, 70 to 90 DM was the average monthly income for workers in Germany. In 1929, one US Dollar equaled 4.20 DM1, so translated to US dollars, the painting was $16.67. In 2010, the parish priest at Ast could not find a record of the painting purchase. When the painting arrived at the Hetzel home in Plain, it was donated to St. Anne's Shrine, a new chapel which was dedicated on July 26, 1928. St. Anne’s Shrine was located at the top of Council Bluff (a hill behind St. Luke's Catholic Church) in Plain, Wisconsin.
[The story continues with pictures, documents, and German letters written about the purchase of the Ast picture]