Lourdeskapelle Maltach

The Lourdeskapelle stands in the village of Maltach, part of Schwarzenberg in Vorarlberg’s Bregenz district. It is a small rectangular chapel with a three-eighths apse and a tiny bell tower topped by a pointed roof. A sacristy is attached to the choir, and the nave is covered by a barrel vault with round-arched windows. A low chancel arch separates the choir from the main space, where statues of Saint Anne and Saint Wendelin flank the arch. The chapel’s most striking feature is the life-size Lourdes grotto built into the choir. Above the grotto, the wooden staircase to the gallery is sheltered by a roof, and the walls there hold rows of votive tablets left by pilgrims. The entire building is cared for jointly by the parishes of Alberschwende and Schwarzenberg. Visitors step into a quiet, vaulted interior lit by simple round windows. The grotto’s plaster rocks and the statue of the Virgin contrast with the plain white walls. Outside, the chapel sits among farmhouses at the edge of Maltach, with views across the Bregenzerwald meadows. The scent of pine and the sound of the small bell drifting from the tower complete the scene.