Black Madonna of Langenzersdorf

The Black Madonna of Langenzersdorf was installed in 1708 as a copy of the famous Einsiedeln Black Madonna, part of the spread of Marian devotion throughout Habsburg territories during the Counter-Reformation. The original at Einsiedeln traces its history to Saint Meinrad's 9th-century hermitage and carries traditions of miraculous origin.

The story begins not in Austria but in the Swiss forests of the 9th century. In 835, a nobleman named Meinrad withdrew from the world to become a hermit. Abbess Hildegarde of Zurich gave him a statue of Mary as companion. For 26 years he lived in solitude, his only companions two crows—until 861, when bandits murdered him for imagined treasure. According to tradition, the crows followed the killers to Zurich, circling and shrieking until justice was served.

A monastery grew on the site of Meinrad's hermitage. On September 14, 948, Bishop Conrad of Constance arrived to consecrate the chapel. According to the account confirmed by papal bull, Conrad had a vision of Christ himself approaching the altar to perform the consecration. This 'Divine Consecration' has been commemorated annually ever since, and Einsiedeln became one of Europe's great pilgrimage centers, drawing some 800,000 pilgrims each year even today.

The current Black Madonna at Einsiedeln, carved around 1466 from linden wood, inherited all this accumulated sanctity. And in 1708, unknown hands created a copy for a parish church in the Vienna lowlands—St. Katharina in Langenzersdorf—bringing this thousand-year devotion to a new home.