Ave Maria Grotto
Cullman
The Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman County is located on the well-tended grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, the only Benedictine Abbey in Alabama and by far one of the most unique in the world. Unique meaning that this is where Brother Joseph Zoettel spent about 50 years creating the masterful works of art at the Ave Maria Grotto.
Born in Landshut, Bavaria, in 1878, Joseph
Zoettel came to St. Bernard in 1892 as one of the first students of the newly
founded college. He became a brother in the Benedictine Order and was later
assigned to work in Virginia and Tuscumbia before returning to Cullman. While he
was studying for the priesthood, the diminutiv
e man of God was injured during
construction on campus, and was left a “crippled hunchback” for life. The injury
prevented his ordination, but he stayed to fill other positions at the Abbey.
While working at the power plant, he began to collect odds and ends from the
grounds, and used his findings to create little cement shrines.
After a while, the gift shop offered to try and sell Brother Joe’s miniatures, and as it happened, they became popular items and much in demand. As their popularity grew, he needed more space to display his creations, so he moved them to the Ave Maria Grotto, which was dedicated in 1934. The Grotto is topped by an altar made of beads, broken jewelry, crushed glass, stone and cement. Many of the items he used were sent by people who heard of his work.
Brother Joe’s work was even more unique because he used available materials to create architectural elements for his little churches and monuments. For example, he filled small glass apothecary tubes with cement; once the cement dried, he broke the glass and had miniature columns. He used such things as old toilet bowl floats to create domes and pieces of broken colored glass to fashion tiny stained glass windows.
He created primarily religious structures, one of which travelers to Rome will surely recognize. It is St. Peter’s Basilica, and upon close scrutiny, note that he used an old bird cage to form the dome. See “Little Jerusalem” and other scenes from the Holy Land, St. Martins Church in his native land of Germany, among others. Brother Joe also paid tribute to his new home country by creating the Statue of Liberty and the Alamo. He eventually created 125 replicas, all completely life-like to the smallest detail.
The beloved monk passed away in 1961 and left the Grotto he so loved in the hands of others. He was laid to rest at the Abbey Cemetery. There is a small admission to the Grotto, open daily, and there is a gift shop.
