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Lady of Einsiedeln Statue at the St Meinrad Archabbey, in Spencer County, Indiana. Einsiedeln, also known as the Madonna with Child, or the Black Madonna, is the Patroness of the Archabbey. Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland is the founding monastery of St Meinrad.
The Lady of Ensideln statue was created by Herbert Jogerst, a German prisoner of war during World War II. Incarcerated at Camp Breckenridge (Morganfield, Kentucky) in 1943, Jogerst returned to Germany in 1948, but had a difficult time after the war finding work. Having gotten to know the chaplin at Camp Breckenridge, Herbert reached out. The chaplin, impressed by his work was able to arrange the commission of several statues for St. Meinrad Archabbey, that today stand above the entrance to the Archabbey’s church. In addition to the Lady of Ensideln statue, they include statues of St. Benedict, and St. Scholastica.
Also worth nothing, the Christ of the Ohio statue which stands above the Ohio River 14 miles south St. Meinrad, was commissioned while Herbert was working at St. Meinrad, by a visiting doctor who wanted a statue for his home. That statue was eventually purchased by the City of Troy, Indiana, when the doctor’s home went up for sale. The Christ of the Ohio Statue was dedicated May 1, 1957. Herbert Jogerst died in 1993.
